Camera and Lens for Indoor/Outdoor Sports (Ice Hockey/Baseball/Softball)

[dbick20]

Hello,

I am looking to update my current Camera (EOS Rebel T3i) and Canon EFS 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens to capture my kids sports. The original purchase was obviously not looking at action photos. This is just a hobby so I am not looking to break the bank on my purchase but I want to try to get something that will provide decent photos. Outdoor sports photos aren't too bad with what I have now but indoor photos are very graining at times. I try to shoot in manual mode and play around with the settings until I get something decent. I do not shoot in raw and I do minor editing with Lightroom Classic. I was looking at the following as upgrades EOS 90D and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II or III telephoto lens so I have a few questions that I was hoping to get assistance with to help with my purchase. 

1) Is this camera good enough to support EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens

2) Is this lens sufficient for low light amateur but less grainy photos

3) Any suggestions on range for ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture for ice hockey?

4) Should I be doing more in Lightroom? 

The other camera I looked at but may be out of my price range is the EOS 5D Mark IV.

Any suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dean

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

Again, IMHO, the Canon 90D and the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens combo make one of the best camera/lens on the market. There isn't any other combo that can significantly produce higher IQ photos. Period!

Also the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens has no peers. It is simply the best lens of this type made. And once again, period!

Now that said understand all photography gear has its limits. There are situations where even the most expensive top drawer equipment can not get the shot. The 90D and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens will give you the best, or at least a good, chance at a reasonable price point.

The top three things to remember in sports photography is location, location and location. That's right where you shoot from is paramount. The 4th most important thing is know your sport. If you don't know what is going on or what is about to happen forget it. You will not fair well. And, to keep this trend going number 5 is Lightroom. You must post edit, and once again, period!

Hope this helps, good luck.

[ebiggs1]

First off..........

1) Is this camera good enough to support EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens-------------absolutely

2) Is this lens sufficient for low light amateur but less grainy photos--------------one of the best available

3) Any suggestions on range for ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture for ice hockey?----------see below

4) Should I be doing more in Lightroom? -------------------------------------------------absolutely, always shot Raw.

The other camera I looked at but may be out of my price range is the EOS 5D Mark IV.-------also a great choice.

Any suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated.

It's always best to follow what the real pros do. The current prefered settings might be-- Av mode, Auto ISO, WB doesn't matter when you use Raw format as do most other settings. Generally One shot, less often A-servo focus.

Av mode set the lens to its most open aperture or the most open you can live with. In the example of the 70-200mm f2.8L that might be f2.8 or perhaps f4.

Auto ISO set the upper and lower range. Perhaps 200 to 12,800 again whatever you can live with.

WB setting has nothing to do, as most other settings, with Raw file format. However the settings you choose will have an impact on how LR converts the Raw unviewable image to a viewable image. The big advantage using Raw is the very much increased editing ability in LR. You can adjust exposure bt 4 stops sometimes or even more.

IMHO, the Canon EFS 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS  is a poor lens, near the bottom, as a choice for sports photography. Any zoom lens with the zoom range over maybe 1:3 is not a good choice. Too many compromises have to be made to get that extended zoom range. IQ is usually the first thing to suffer that compromise as is slow variable aperture.

[dbick20]

Thank you, this information is very helpful! 

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

Again, IMHO, the Canon 90D and the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens combo make one of the best camera/lens on the market. There isn't any other combo that can significantly produce higher IQ photos. Period!

Also the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens has no peers. It is simply the best lens of this type made. And once again, period!

Now that said understand all photography gear has its limits. There are situations where even the most expensive top drawer equipment can not get the shot. The 90D and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens will give you the best, or at least a good, chance at a reasonable price point.

The top three things to remember in sports photography is location, location and location. That's right where you shoot from is paramount. The 4th most important thing is know your sport. If you don't know what is going on or what is about to happen forget it. You will not fair well. And, to keep this trend going number 5 is Lightroom. You must post edit, and once again, period!

Hope this helps, good luck.

[dbick20]

Definitely helps a bunch, thanks again!

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

One last thing make sure you use Raw file format. Always!  It gives you way more editing possibilities over what jpg does.

Good shooting to you.

EB