EOS R6/R6 Mark II lens recommendations for ringside wrestling photography

[theperfectplex]

Need a lens to go with an r6 or r6II. Waiting till Black Friday to see if one of them go on sale. But I do mainly ringside pro wrestling photography. I am ringside most of the time, light isn’t always the best. I’ve tried Reddit but some people can be a bit mean. 18mm with some distance capabilities would be great. $600 and below is my budget. I don’t mind refurbished. I think a lens with a 3.5 f stop with be my limit so I don’t get to much noise. I’ll buy an adapter if I need as well. 

[p4pictures]

When you say ringside, is that on the floor outside of the ring, or actually on the edge of the ring outside and hanging on to a neutral corner post? I've done kickboxing photography from the neutral corner post in the past. I used an EOS 5D Mark III at the time with an EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens as that was what I had. The 50mm on a full frame worked well for me on the corner post though at times I had to lean back if the fighters were in my corner as they were inside the lens minimum focus distance. If you are on the floor you may want something longer like an 85mm or more. 

For more light gathering then go for a single focal length "prime" lens as they usually have faster apertures and prices inside your budget. But if you need flexibility then a zoom is the way to go, but then you will compromise aperture in your budget. Personally I selected the prime lens since I was largely shooting with one hand on the camera and the other holding on to the corner post.

RF35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM 

RF50mm F1.8 STM 

RF85mm F2 Macro US STM 

[March411]

Rick nailed it in his first response, at $600 budget you may be challenged to find a lens that suits its purpose. Lighting ringside may need a little faster lens then a F3.5/F4.

The RF28-70mm - f2.8 IS STM would give you decent range to reach across the canvas when the action is away and the 28mm when it's in your corner. You are most likely going to be shooting at higher shutter speeds to grab the action and the f2.8 will give you additional flexibility in a established low light, fast paced sports photography event.

New the lens is over your budget but it would be best to make sure the investment is worth while especially since you know your shooting in a challenging environment. This is one of those times that expanding the budget would most likely be a good idea.

RF28-70mm F2.8 IS STM - $1100