What Lens to Use for HS Wrestling Photos - EOS R7

[Jhatfield]

Hello,

I am very much a newbie to photography. I have an EOS R7 that came with the RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM. I got a camera solely to take photos of high school wrestlers (my husband is the coach). 

When taking photos of fast action wrestlers in a gym, I'm finding out with this lens the aperture is not low enough to keep my photos bright. I have to increase my ISO to a very high level, which is obviously not ideal for noise. I've tried the auto settings just to see what the photos come out at, and while the photo looks better, the shutter speed is too slow to capture the action, those or similar settings wouldn't work for what I'm doing.

What type of lens would be best for keeping my aperture low (I don't think this lens gets as low as I need), so I don't need to increase my ISO, while maintaining fast shutter speeds? I need the light.  🙂  

I have friends with DSLRs that shoot wrestling photos that have f/2.8 70-200 lenses, however the lens world is confusing to me, I am not confident I understand what the lens details mean. Some are older, some newer. I know they make mount converters but it seems a mirrorless lens would lend to better quality when using a mirrorless camera?  

I know nothing about photoshop or other similar software, I'm not opposed to this, but when I take hundreds of photos at a tournament, I don't have time to edit this many photos if it's for lighting. Is it too lofty to think I just want the photos to come out decent right out of the camera? 🙂  

Again, please excuse my newness and naivety. I just need help and I live in a rural area where there little to no photography resources around  -stores, courses, etc., (at least in the sense of a live person to ask questions to). 

Thank you,

Jody

[Jhatfield]

Thank you, I really appreciate the information. That's a lot to take in, but I'm slowly learning! I have no idea why they started making two different cameras (full and crop) but that's a question for another day - and then to make separate lenses that are interchangeable but do different things on each - that's why it's so confusing to figure out what's best for me!  🙂  I appreciate now knowing that the RF-S is designed for the cropped camera, I did not know that. I'm all about buying native lenses, just a little nervous that there isn't as much to choose from yet compared to the cameras that have been around longer. Without trialing it myself, I'm agreeing with your statement about the zoom over the fixed, although getting down to the lower aperture on a fixed lens is an appealing thought. I suppose I could trial not zooming during matches and seeing what I think of that. They move around so much on the mat, sometimes it's been nice to zoom in to try to capture the face expression better, though.  I hadn't thought much of the tripod because I don't see many photographers there with them, but I can see how that could really save your arms by the end of the day. Thank you for the information about lens rental. I may look into that, especially for state wrestling if I take photos there. And nice to know that information about refurbished lenses through canon - I hadn't realized that about the warranty, so that is good to know. One thing you mentioned that I hadn't even thought of was when zooming, the aperture was wide open at the 18mm and goes up from there - I noticed that I couldn't lower my aperture at times even though my lens offered that, but hadn't yet figured out the correlation. I know I can probably google all these things, but when I'm out at an event taking photos, I get caught up in what's going on right then, and don't think of those inquiries later on when I have time to look into them. Thank you so much for the info!

[Jhatfield]

Thank you so much for the information. Ok, I may be naive, but I don't think I have a TV mode setting. Maybe I do and just don't know which one it is, but I don't see the same icon that others have for TV mode. The other girl that takes photos with me does have this on her Canon, which is a different model than mine. I do find that with the lower shutter speeds I catch a lot of blur (they move so fast!). I appreciate your comments on increasing the ISO noise reduction to high - I am going to look into this. I hadn't realized that how much I was zooming lowered my aperture - I just mentioned this in the post up above. That is very helpful information and may explain why so many others have the larger zooms during meets than what my lens offers. Thank you!

[Jhatfield]

Thank you so much for the information. So you used two prime lenses. I have no idea why they are called prime? To note they do not zoom? Why did you choose those lenses to use? I only have a tiny bit of experience with the one lens I own, so maybe it just makes more sense when you have multiple lenses that you just know what you like. I have been shooting in jpeg, only because I have no idea how do do anything with the raw photo. I was saving them in both formats, but then just went to JPEG. Maybe that's a mistake and I should just be keeping the raw version anyway, but I have no idea how to edit photos, or at least haven't taken the time to do so. I like your comment about you cannot clean up blur, that really has resonated with me. As far as placement, I'm learning! My husband is the expert in wrestling, (I'm just around it all the time so it is slowly making sense to me through some form of osmosis, I think) 🙂 and trying to figure out the camera alone has me all sorts of distracted while taking photos when the action happens so fast. It's a learning curve for sure. Thank you for posting your photos, I enjoyed looking at them and am very much impressed with your abilities. Are you in IL? I am right over here in Iowa. I appreciate your lense recommendation, I want to make sure I'm on the right track. This is a dumb question, but are there multiple types of the Canon 70-200 f2.8 that fit my camera, (similar models for each year they release, some just a little newer/possibly tweaked with updates - like a new Toyota Camry is released every year for example, but they are all Camrys, however some have been upgraded in time), or is it like, 'here is the Canon 70-200 f2.8 lens you use for this camera, if you don't have this exact lens it's possible an adapter is available.' So if you have a 70-200 f2.8, it is the exact same lens, manufactured the exact same every year, no changes. Does that question make sense? Thanks again.

[Jhatfield]

Thank you so much for your advice, much appreciated! Well, I can shoot from anywhere except in the wrestling circle - 😂.  No seriously, I'm lucky because I can sit up to 5 foot away from the circle, so close enough I have to watch out that I don't get run into at times by the wrestlers. I appreciate your recommended settings. As I mentioned in a comment above, I have been shooting jpeg only because I haven't gotten into editing photos yet, but I also have the option to shoot both simultaneously so I should probably at least go that route so I have them. I completely agree that editing would greatly benefit my photos and I'd like to get to the point I'm learning to do that. I'm not opposed to paying for something like photoshop, as long as I know I'm going to have time to learn editing. Do you have a preference in software you use? I'm guessing since Canon is free it may be more limited in offerings, but obviously it's better than what I have now, which is nothing. 🙂  I need to just get in at least learn how to edit the lighting at a minimum. I've only shot two tournaments so I feel I'm just trying to figure out the camera at this point. Not going to lie, the thought of editing gives me a little heartburn because I'm afraid I'll get in there and there will be these unlimited choices on how to tweak the photo - I'm pretty OCD and this is why I wouldn't make a good artist. (Ironically, something both my brothers do for a living.)  But again, I completely agree that editing is more than worth the time and would love to learn. I'm sure once I start, I'll think 'why didn't I start sooner, this is more user friendly than I thought it would be.'

[Jhatfield]

Thank you again. The little I do know about lenses, I agree in that I'm leary on a fixed lens choice. (I'd hate to make that investment and then regret it, for the purposes of photographing wrestling, anyhow.) Even if I'm close, the wrestlers move around a lot in the circle, and sometimes the option of zooming in to get a good face shot is appealing. People I've talking to taking photos at wrestling meets seems to have a zoom lens, not a fixed lens. I don't think a fixed lens is wrong, but might limit me more in what I'm trying to capture. I really appreciate your recommendations. 

[ebiggs1]

OK, kido, here's the scoop on editing. Canon's DPP4 is no lightweight. It can do almost anything that a photographer needs to do. It can't do the very much more intense and involved edits like multiple layers and masks. etc., like Photoshop, the industry standard, can. Editing is as difficult or as easy as you want it. You already u/l the photos to your computer, correct? Well simply let DPP4 do that for you. If you like what you see you are done. That's all. Using Raw can be that simple!  However, if you see that a certain crop would make the shot a lot better just do that. Again done. Of course there can be serious edits that you can take as far as you want, Like color balance, exposure, sharpening, and such and such.

When you save the photo from DPP4 you can tell it what you need. Like you want to make a full beautiful print or email it or a FB picture, etc. Another beauty of Raw is if you do tons of edits and come to the conclusion you don't like what you've done its OK. Raw does not ever change. You never alter the original Raw file. This is not true with jpg as it destroys the original each time you do any edit, even tiny edits, or even just simply save it.

You see there is no good reason or even a bad reason to use jpg. Not even as a second save on you camera.

[ebiggs1]

" I can shoot from anywhere except in the wrestling circle"

That is super! My suggestion for best lens is the RF 24-70mm f2.8L Repeating the best starting settings, Av mode. You will set the lens to f2.8 but try f4, also. Set Auto ISO and set the lower and upper limits again I suspect 100 to 6400 should work for most gyms. But again these are stating points and may need adjusting. Use One Shot and not Ai-servo or any other auto AF mode. I would use just the center focus point and turn the others off. And of course shoot Raw. You don't need jpg but if it make you feel warm and fuzzy no foul no harm done.

The two things that editing cannot do or is very difficult to do is focus and blur.  You need to nail these. You will also want to use the Minimum Shutter Speed for ISO Auto setting. Again experiment with this. Perhaps 1/250 to 1/4000.

Let me know how it goes, OK?

EB

[Jhatfield]

Thank you so much! Dumb question, but then does the DPP4 allow you to save the photo in jpeg once done editing? I was thinking that you can't use the raw format to upload photos to Facebook, etc, so just trying to figure out how to get the more-user friendly file once done with editing?

[Jhatfield]

Thank you for the advice, very much appreciated! I agree that I need to nail the photo clarity, something I know I'm struggling with right now. Question, why do you think most people use the 70-200 that I've encountered, when they are not much farther away than I am? What would you think the differences in the photo would be between the 70-200 and 24-70 assuming you get the lighting you want? The other girl that takes photos with me actually uses a 100-400, sitting not much further away. 

[ebiggs1]

Perhaps you missed this, "When you save the photo from DPP4 you can tell it what you need. Like you want to make a full beautiful print or email it or a FB picture, etc."  Further you can specify if you just want a jpg and how much quality you want in the jpg. A Raw file is not viewable by anybody or anything. It is simply ones and zeros. It has to be converted and that is what DPP4 or Lightroom or Photoshop does when you u/l to your computer. It is seamless and you do not even know it happens. Actually no different than you looking at you LCD scree on your R7.