Shooting Wrestling Matches

[ttotsis]

Hey there,
I just bought the Canon T3 and it came with a 18-55mm lens. I am desiring to take crisp, clear, close-up pictures of high school wrestling (in a gym where the light is always questionable). I took the camera to the camera shop and the man who shoots freelance for our newspaper told me that I would need to buy the Tamron 28-75mm lens to aquire such shots. Problem is, I don't have that kind of money after purchasing the camera! The lens I have hardly zooms AT ALL and I am afraid that at this point I just wasted my money. Does anyone know if there is a cheaper alternative in lenses that will give me a nice zoom that is able to stabilize the photo so that it doesn't blur?
Thanks for your help,
Desperate!

[Rentham]

When dealing with zooms "good" and "cheap" are mutually exclusive. Cheap zooms will have variable apertures which will make them slow in poorly lit gymnasiums. Fast zooms with good reach are very expensive. Either save your money for a good lens or get closer to the mat.

[Nicole]

How comfortable are you with knowing how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work together? While your lens isn't going to be ideal, if you can get closer you'll find it should work ok as long as you understand those 3 things. My apologies if you feel you already do, but before getting too disappointed about your lens spend a bit of time with the camera. Try starting here: Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials

Meanwhile, I'd consider saving for something a bit longer than the 28-75mm lens that was suggested. And Mike is definitely right, cheap and good zooms don't really exist. You might also consider something a bit lower cost like a prime lens (sometimes), which won't zoom but will let a lot more light in making it easier to take pictures in the gym.

[ttotsis]

I am a newbie to this camera and am NOT all that familiar with f stops, aperture and ISO but it was explained to me a little bit. I'm kinda in a pinch because there is a match this weekend. Would something like the 75-300mm f/4-5.6 telephoto do anything for me? It's on sale at Target right now at a price I can afford, but would I be wasting my money?

[RichardTaylor]

For that application a total waste of money.

If you can get close enough a 50mm F1.8 may do the trick as far a gettiong a correct exposure goes.

You may find this multi part tutorial on exposure helpful.

Exposure (1) A balancing act

and this one on lenses, especially part 6.

Lenses #1 - Introduction to DSLR lenses.

[photobum]

In order to stop the action and get clean, sharp images of sports you have to have a very fast shutter speed (probably 400 or higher). In order to use a very fast shutter speed and have your images well exposed you need good lighting,or a wide aperture (fast) lens, or both. The smaller the f/ number, the wider the aperture of the lens. So a lens appropriate for shooting indoor sports and getting sharp, well exposed images would have an f-stop of 2.8. Then it's a matter of how close you can get to the action to decide what zoom range you need. Keep in mind that lenses with an f/2.8 are going to be more expensive.

As far as image stabilization goes, IS won't freeze action. It only helps with camera shake, and a tripod or monopod can help with that.

One cheaper option you might consider is the Canon 50mm f/1.8. It runs around $100. It doesn't zoom, but with an f/1.8 it is fast and good in low light. It might buy you some time while you save for another lens.

Hope this helps.

[Hill Country Hack]

Originally Posted by ttotsis

I am a newbie to this camera and am NOT all that familiar with f stops, aperture and ISO but it was explained to me a little bit. I'm kinda in a pinch because there is a match this weekend. Would something like the 75-300mm f/4-5.6 telephoto do anything for me? It's on sale at Target right now at a price I can afford, but would I be wasting my money?

If the lens you mentioned is the non IS lens, I have the same thing for my Rebel XSI. In a poorly lit gym, this may not be the best tool for the job. It does very well for me in well let areas or outside for daytime football.

I would think you would require a shutter speed of at least 1/150 or higher to stop movement and you may not be able to get that while zoomed to 300mm. It may be ok for capturing slow movement zoomed to no more than 100mm? The ideal is to have a ratio of 1:1 of focal length and shutter speed. If your focal length is 200mm, then a minimum shutter speed should be 1/200 as to not have camera shake.

The closer you can get to the mat, the less you will have to zoom and the more open the apeture can be which will increase the shutter speed. You can always increase the ISO to increase the shutter speed, but be aware of the digital noise it will induce.

I would try shooting in either Apeture or shutter Priority. In apeture priority dial the smallest number you can get and leave it there, the camera will make the rest of the adjustments. Or in shutter priority dial in 1/200 and see if you can shoot without a blinking light in your viewfinder.

Another option is to purchase a 50mm f1.8 prime for just over $100. This will give you a more open apeture to speed up the shutter. The downside is this is a fixed focal length meaning you will have to "zoom with your feet" (move closer or back up). I also have this lens and did pretty decent at volleyball.

I will take a lot of practice and trial and error to find out what works best. Good luck and tell us how it went.

[ttotsis]

Thanks for all the info and tips guys! I'm guessing that the 50mm 1.8 is NOT for me, since I am a zoomer I'm probably going to have to break down and dish out the cash because I know I will not be happy if I can't produce the pictures I need for the newsletter I put together for the team and their families. I'm the coach's wife, so I can get a little bit closer than other's might be able to, but unless I'm on the mat and standing over the wrestlers then I won't be able to get the pics I want with the lens I have in hand right now! So again, thanks everyone for putting in your 2 cents, it really added up. I will definitely come back to this forum in the future. It's rare to actually get replies on other forums! You guys rock!

[bigben6]

Originally Posted by ttotsis

Thanks for all the info and tips guys! I'm guessing that the 50mm 1.8 is NOT for me, since I am a zoomer I'm probably going to have to break down and dish out the cash because I know I will not be happy if I can't produce the pictures I need for the newsletter I put together for the team and their families. I'm the coach's wife, so I can get a little bit closer than other's might be able to, but unless I'm on the mat and standing over the wrestlers then I won't be able to get the pics I want with the lens I have in hand right now! So again, thanks everyone for putting in your 2 cents, it really added up. I will definitely come back to this forum in the future. It's rare to actually get replies on other forums! You guys rock!

My thoughts after fighting simmilar issues;

1: A prime fast lens is perfect for this application, i know you LIKE your zoom, but for what you describe, a prime lens 85mm would get you pretty darn close and i think would be perfect, firstly though you need to find out what zoom you WANT to shoot at then buy the prime.

Of course at that price point your darn close to the tamron 28-75 you previously mentioned.

2: You have a 12mp camera, how big do you intend to print? Cause with that many pixles you can do alot of cropping in post processing and not give up too much quality assuming your printing 4x6 or 5x7 you might have enough leeway. I have printed 8x10 with my 6.1mp nikon D40 and its fabulous, so with roughly 20% more resolution you should have no problem cropping in and zooming through your computer essentially.

3: RENT a lens locally, find out locally if someone will rent you something nice (a 60mm or 75mm prime or even the 70-200 f/2.8) to try out, on the cheap it may be your best bet.... and if you have a long full tournament it may be worth extra coin to get something realy nice AND you may find renting that once you shoot the Tamron or the Canno prime it IS worth the coin to you cause it shoot SO WELL!

4: Crank your ISO, you can shoot up to 6400, prolly not with great images they will prolly be really noisy, but i bet 800-1600 would be acceptable, and then again try noise ninja to reduce some of that or any other noise elimination filter/program.

I work at a high school so I know what it's like to try and shoot in a gym, without flash, with some form of zoom, your first priority should be to shoot what you have, worst case scenario you end up shooting grainy stuff at 6400iso, best case they let you really close and you only shoot at 1600ISO, then see what your results are, post them in THIS thread so we can follow your progress and help trouble shoot based on results (make sure posting kids is ok with their parents) and go from there!

Hope that helps!!!!!