Baseball photos too far away with 24-50mm lens on EOS R8

[suzigreenburg]

Help

I’m a newbie. No idea what I’m doing. Tried watching YouTube videos but I’m still lost. I have a Canon R8 EOS. I have a 24-50 lens?  
I bought it to take photos of my son’s baseball tournaments. What I have right now is not close enough or clear enough. I cannot spend over $1k. What should I get? I know nothing about cameras or lenses I just picked this group because it said lenses. Help

[suzigreenburg]

 

this is what it looks like 

[March411]

The image is under exposed so if you can give us a little detail it would be helpful. Were you using the camera in one of it's auto-modes or did you set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO manually? The group here can assist once there is more information. 

To stay within your budget the RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM is a good lens and will give you significantly more reach, it is $749.99 new. If you are in the states BH Photo ships fast and can have the lens in your hands in a couple days. You can also pick one up used at BH Photo and take a look at KEH and MPB for one used in excellent condition. KEH has one like new for $637. 

[wq9nsc]

Baseball is a sport that requires a long focal length lens and a 24-50 even on an APS-C size sensor is going to be primarily a "cover the whole field at once" lens even if you are fairly close.  If you have very close access (i.e. shooting through the chain link fence) then a lens in the 200-300mm range becomes workable.  Buying a used lens from a trusted retailer is a good way to reduce costs to get what you need when new isn't in your price range.

As an example of focal length, the first two of these photos were captured with an EF 400 f2.8 lens and the third with a 70-200 f2.8 near its maximum telephoto length and this was shooting from the dugout and coaches area (locations not readily available to photographers and done ONLY with approval of the umpires who I knew well).  The further out you are, the more focal length you will need because excessive cropping will quickly reduce image quality to the unusable level.

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

Your example photo may be underexposed but the bigger problem is focal length (FL). You don't have enough by a huge amount.

"To stay within your budget the RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM is a good lens ..."

While the addition of the 100-400m will improve your situation buying the wrong lens just b ecause it fits a budget will almost always come back and bite you in the butt. And, you end up buying what you should have in the first place which yo already chose the wrong FL lens as you have noticed.

It does not look like you were very close to the action in your sample is that true. As my friend Rodger indicated he was in the dugout or coaches box. Here are the three most important things shooting sporting events. 1< location, 2> location and 3> you guessed it, location where you shoot from. Seriously, the second most important thing is know your sport. Knowing what is going on so you can anticipate what will happen next is hugely helpful. Guessing in photography lowers your success rate by a lot. On to number three, go d/l DPP4 form Canon and use it to convert and transfer your images to your computer and always, always shoot raw file and never ever use jpg. The things i just recommended are free they won't cost you a dime. Nice to save a dime or two these days!

Now onto the money and what gear to buy. Yeah free has flown out the window.

My favorite and often repeated saying is,"The lens you have is always better than the lens you wis you had." And in that regard the RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM zoom will do that for sure. It fits your budget. It is not heavy. However, you will spend most of the time shooting BB using the 400mm side of that lens. The 100mm side almost never, 200mm perhaps a bit more and the 300mm will be somewhat more useful. The downside is at 400mm the lens will be at f8. F8 is fairly slow but not impossible. My suggestions would be to use Av mode. Set the R8 to a constant f8 aperture. Set a high to very high ISO number 1600, 3200 and even 6400. Use One shot no Af assist or servo mode. Always set the file to raw and use DPP4 to u/l to your computer. no other camera setting beyond good focus is necessary but DPP4 will use those settings for conversion to your computer, it automatic and seamless to you so don't worry about that. However you can set the white balance to daylight or night  or cloudy or set it to Auto and forget it. You can also set a Picture Style or whatever setting you want but keep in mind raw does not save or use those settings you will set them yourself on your computer in DPP4. By far the best place to do it, not on the baseball diamond!

Good luck and come back and tell us how you did.

[ebiggs1]

Even on your not really very good sample here is what it took me 2 minutes to do in a post editor like DPP4. I use Photoshop but you can do nearly the same editing using DPP4 and remember DPP4 is free from Canon.

[ebiggs1]

"Tried watching YouTube videos but I’m still lost. "

Yeah, I understand. I almost feel like telling folks to not watch YouTube but there are some good things on it so watch but be careful because most or at least some of them are just YouTubers and not real deal photographers or worse photography teachers. And, IMHO, reviews should be avoided period. To much agenda involved. 

[March411]

While the addition of the 100-400m will improve your situation buying the wrong lens just b ecause it fits a budget will almost always come back and bite you in the butt. And, you end up buying what you should have in the first place which yo already chose the wrong FL lens as you have noticed.

What would be the right focal length and expense given what our guest suzigreenburg requested in the original post?

What is your recommendation to help answer the question asked? 

[Tintype_18]

I have a 75-300mm lens that I use for baseball photos. Does a good job and as mentioned, be aware of the action and anticipate what happens next. I love to experiment with settings, download and critique them, saving the settings in memory for future use. Nice thing about DSLR...no film to develop.

[ebiggs1]

"What is your recommendation to help answer the question asked?"

I think I laid out a pretty concise outline, above, of what I recommend. It is common to answer a question like this with, "Oh, you need a new lens." Well, duh, yes she does but that is only the beginning and most likely by itself will not help her get good shots as just a lens is not the answer. She needs a far more in-depth program to get good shots.

The RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM might well be the perfect fit but not unless she does the rest of the work. Not until she understands the "how to".

Few people have the inborn talent you and Rodger seem to have. If I gave her Rodger's top of the mark gear would she get the same results as he does? I doubt it unless she got some education about how it all works. That is why I answered the way I did and exactly the way I instruct everybody in her position. If she chooses to follow it she can successful, if she doesn't I doubt the RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM will make a great deal of improvement.

The heart of a teacher.