Home Forums Gear Photography What lense for indoor sports?

I haven't done a lot of indoor sport's but when I did I always used a 70-300. With the ISO as changeable today as it is, I don't think the ability to get light is anything like in film day's.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. Excellent lens, especially for the money.

Little update....picked up the Tamron 28-75 f2.8. I was able to try it out an a volleyball match over the w/e. Lens work fine, but I think I am running up against the abilities of my camera body(rebel t2i). I tried various settings, AV, TV and the Athletic mode. ISO 1600 and 3200, pics were in focus but very grainy. ISO 800 pics were not so grainy, but it was harder to stop the action with out blurring. We were in a old gym with crappy lighting. My FIL was along using his 60D, need to compare and see how his pics came out.

I would agree, the grain is from the older sensor. It will be a little better with the 60D but not a lot. You might want to look at a T5i or possibly a T4i to actually see the capabilities of the newer sensors in low light. Of course as the budget permits.

To really shine you'll need a full frame sensor. Granted, I'm from the Nikon camp, but I went from a D300 (maybe a little better than your t2i) to a D700. With my 70-200 f2.8 lens I've taken thousands of indoor volleyball pictures. I've settled out on F4.0-4.5 if I can get away with it (to give some depth of field - i.e. forgiveness on focus). So, an F4.0 lens should suffice in most situations (my 2.8 also doubles as a portrait lens). In very badly lit gyms I'll open it up more. I typically end up at ISO 12,800 but sometimes go to 25,600 (max for D700) to get at least 1/500 shutter speed. With some Noise Reduction in Lightroom, the D700 gives 'good-enough' pictures even at the highest ISO. We're not talking Sports Illustrated quality, but over 30 of my pictures landed in last year's yearbook (I donate them freely). Parents also love me since I post them online (for free) and only one other parent that I know of has the equipment to match mine. I also use the same camera for outdoor, night-time soccer games (another typically terribly lit venue).

I realize you have Canon equipment, but I hope the above helps in general. Canon certainly has equipment that matches Nikon's.

If you're interested in the quality of the pictures using the above setup, feel free to check www.beenphotod.com. You can navigate to sports - etc... from there.