topic Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

mmwellsfarm — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 16:44:49 GMT

My son has a tournament coming up that I want to try to take pictures at and I know my one lens is too big down by the mat but my smallest is an EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS II. That's all I have to work with. What settings are the best to set on my Rebel T3? I usually just use the action setting but I want to make sure the come out decently and not blurry. I'm not camera savvy with changing settings and what everything means but I take a lot of photos just with the action setting with other sports.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

rs-eos — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 16:58:31 GMT

By "too big", are you saying that your larger lens wouldn't be allowed at the venue? What is that lens though?

One concern with the EF-S 18-55 lens is that if you're going to be zoomed to its maximum and wanting to freeze action, you'll need high ISO values (leading to lots of noise).

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

mmwellsfarm — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 17:27:40 GMT

By too big I mean I won't be able to zoom out far enough to get them in the whole frame. I don't know the technical term for that, I apologize. It is EF--S 55-250mm 1:4-5.6 IS II. Those are the only two lenses I have and it's next weekend so I don't have time to save up for another lens.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

rs-eos — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 17:54:46 GMT

Ah, so the field-of-view with the 55-250 would be too narrow. Got it. Yes, the 18-55mm would be better in that respect.

There are very experiened sports shooters on this forum, so will defer to them on the best advice. Though I'm going to assume that using shutter priority (Tv) may be a good start.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

wq9nsc — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 23:59:50 GMT

I had full access when I shot wrestling and due to lighting I used my 135mm and 200mm f2 prime lenses shooting from the floor. Those are effectively equivalent to 216mm and 320mm respectively on a T3 so I am surprised that your 55-250mm doesn't work well for this activity.

Hopefully the gym has good illumination, that will determine what shutter speed you should use. Wrestling isn't as shutter speed critical as some sports but I would first try 1/500 with your lens wide open (maximum aperture) with ISO set to auto and see where that puts the ISO. If it is too high, or if the image is too dark once it hits maximum ISO, then you could try slowing down to 1/400 or even 1/250 but hopefully that will not be needed.

With current camera bodies that have auto ISO, I shoot in manual mode setting the lens aperture wide open (lowest f number), shutter speed to as fast as possible while maintaining a reasonable ISO (not too much noise), and ISO set to auto to allow for a standard exposure.

You can determine these settings before the match starts, find anyone on a mat and see how fast you can set the shutter speed and still allow for a standard exposure with an ISO low enough to avoid excessive noise.

These were shot using Canon 1DX series DSLR bodies with 135 and 200mm f2 primes wide open @ 1/640, depending upon the spot in the gym (it was a large match) ISO ranged from 2,000 to 4,000. And shooting wrestling is definitely NOT my sport of expertise!

Rodger

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

mmwellsfarm — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 04:09:53 GMT

I'll take both but being right on the edge of the mat and my son being 8u and 43lbs they move fast and to the edges so if they get too close to me I would not be able to get pictures using my 55-250mm. My kid is one that flies across the mat fast so I wanted to make sure no matter how close he got I would still be able to get a decent photo and not miss any moments. He's known to end matches in 10 seconds also so I have to be prepared for anything with him.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

wq9nsc — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 05:07:20 GMT

With your son moving that quickly, you are likely to run into an issue with focus tracking speed with that body and lens when you are that close and the movement is towards or away from you. Even with a wide angle lens, the depth of field is going to be shallow allowing very little margin for focus error if you are very close and the AF/lens system has to be extremely capable to handle that situation which in terms of percentage distance change is huge. I have never used a T3 but I doubt the body/lens combination is going to do well under those trying conditions which push the capabilities of most camera bodies and glass.

I think you will get better results by backing off a little and letting the lens do some of the "closing the distance" work. Usually in sports, it is tough to get close enough but in wrestling it is easy to get too close. Your major concern will be staying close enough that nobody else gets in your line of view but being back a little provides a few degrees of freedom for the focus system to handle the action.

With that fast movement, you are also going to have to experiment with how to best utilize whatever focus point grouping options are available with the T3. Most of the time I use a single focus point or a single point with 4 point expansion but you may find it difficult to hold a single point on a point of the uniform that provides decent material for the AF system. With a little more distance, you will find it easier to keep the focus array where it needs to be on the subject so in this case reasonable distance is your friend.

Rodger

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

mmwellsfarm — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 05:24:20 GMT

That's the hard part is distance. Parents, kids, and coaches don't seem to care and get right in front of you aren't right there at our tournaments. No one listens to the announcers and stays off the mats no matter how many times it's said. I'll play with it and see what I can figure out. I don't know much about changing my settings and shutters as like I said I usually only use my action mode for everything else as it seems to work for my kids sports and I never had the chance to learn more about my camera when I got it 10 years ago. Life got a tad busy.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

rs-eos — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 12:04:51 GMT

In this case, I would recommend sitting further away and using the 55-250 lens. The field of view at 250mm will be quite narrow and should lead to less of the crowd being in your shots.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

wq9nsc — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 12:37:55 GMT

That lack of audience control is crazy! What age level is this?

For high school sports, the AD should be all over this because it is a risk and liability issue for the school. I am well known in the conference and no longer need to present ID at HS athletic events in the area but I have had to provide credentials at some regional and all state level events along with some D1 university level stuff I have done.

Some middle school facilities don't have an AD but there should still be a school official (principal, vice principal, etc.) representing the school and maintaining order. Sports officials generally won't put up with this sort of crowding either because it creates problems for them and presents a safety issue for the student athletes. When I coached youth soccer, it was very clear for any spectators that they stayed on the fan side of the field and well away from the side marking to give the officials working space and to provide safe run-off room for our players.

Rodger

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

stevet1 — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 14:28:24 GMT

In this case, I think I might agree with Ricky.

Back off some distance and use the 55-250.

Also, learn how to use the burst shooting on your camera. If your son's matches are over in 10 seconds, that's not very much time to acquire and frame him in the viewfinder.

Have you given any thought to doing video instead of still photos?

Steve Thomas

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

Waddizzle — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 15:38:18 GMT

I recommend a fast prime with a wide aperture. Your camera will struggle to gather enough light with your current lenses

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

Waddizzle — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 15:42:16 GMT

A shorter focal length may also yield greater depth of field.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

ebiggs1 — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 18:38:27 GMT

"I recommend a fast prime with a wide aperture."

I don't and almost always never recommend or suggest an amateur photographer buy or use a prime. Besides the faster aperture, which is all they offer, they are way more difficult to frame in limited space. Plus the wider aperture will reduce your DOF considerably.

But first off besides Rodger great advice, my opinion for amateur photographers is to use Av mode. I very much prefer it over any of the Sports modes that the T3 offers. Here is how I would set up the T3 but keep in mind you may need to change settings a bit depending on the lighting. And most of all always remember even the best high dollar photo gear has its limits. Set Av mode, this allows the T3 to select the fastest SS it can for proper exposure. With your lens I think that will be f5.6. Set Auto ISO. You can set a lower and upper limit as you prefer. Somewhere like 200 to 1600 or even 3200 if grain isn't a problem for you. Set the T3 to One Shot and just the center focus point. Don't try any Ai-servo modes or multiple focus points. Ai-servo screws up more beginners than any other thing you can do.

The very best thing you can do is get there early and try some shots. Consult your manual if you don't know how to set these settings but they are pretty simple to do.

"Back off some distance and use the 55-250."

This too, IMHO, is bad advice. Closer is almost always, 95% of the time, better.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

ebiggs1 — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 18:39:52 GMT

BTW, it is going to be a hard task indeed to get the results that Rodger gets. He has the best of gear and is extremely talented. 😊

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

Waddizzle — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 19:30:06 GMT

“ I don't and almost always never recommend or suggest an amateur photographer buy or use a prime. “

This is true. He never recommends using a prime. Never.

There is a LOT for a new photographer to learn from using a wide aperture prime. There are a few bad habits that you can develop by always using a zoom lens.

For indoor sports, you really need a wide aperture lens. A wide aperture prime will almost always cost far less than a wide aperture zoom. You might want to take a look at the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 zoom lens for indoor sports.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Wrestling Photography Recommendations

ebiggs1 — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 15:42:47 GMT

"This is true. He never recommends using a prime. Never."

Ah, but my friend, it is not true. I do recommend primes when a prime fits the situation. However in the case of the OP it is not a good thing.

I own several (six) primes. I use them when they are needed. Prime lenses I consider to be the best.

"You might want to take a look at the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 zoom lens for indoor sports."

Last time I checked that is not a prime nevertheless I thoroughly recommend it.