Railfan Technology > Indoor lens suggestion

Need some quick help.  Wife has requested that I start taking pics of our kid's indoor high school volleyball games and to be honest I've never really shot indoor sports.  I have an old d90 body that I plan on using but I have no clue in terms of what type of lense.  Would like to keep the price below $300.  Not looking for anything fancy and would go the refurbished route for sure. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciatied.  

Would something like the Nikor 85mm 1.8D be something I would be looking at.  High school lighting is the pits and I do not think I need an incredible zoom, not that I could afford one, since I can be right on the sidelines.

Thanks,
Phil

Despite your close position on the sideline, I'd still get a zoom.  There's a lot of great photos to be had by zooming in on a single player rather than getting a bunch of overall group type photos.    

The Nikkor 18-105mm zoom would match your D90 very well.  B+H has one listed currently at $279.  The box has been opened but the camera is said to be pristine.  B+H is very trustworthy in regard to these things.  The lens warranty will be honored by B+H. I would also check the used listings at B+H.

My concern with that would be if it would work in poor high school lighting situations.

Bump up the ISO and use a zoom.  Sports photography usually needs a telephoto focal length and a high shutter speed.  Although the 85 f1.8 is a great lens, at 1.8 it won't have any depth of field and your photos will suffer because of it.  I have the 18-105mm that the other poster recommended.  It's a great lens.

Indoor sports photography is very difficult.  Don't invest many dollars in this project.  Good photos are a matter of luck until you get a great deal of experience.  By the time you get good at it your child may be no longer playing.  (Sorry if that sounded a bit negative.)

KG

The 18-105 lens is great.  It's the lighting in most gyms that is your problem.  Many newer cameras offer a list of white balanaces for different lighting sources...

I'm a Canon guy so I can't suggest any equipment but generically speaking, the 18-105 lens mentioned by others would be a great choice.  If You have a kit lens, something like an 18-55mm, you might want to supplement it with something like a 55-250mm.  High school gyms are not well lit compared to college or pro venues.  When you are up close or zoomed in, movements blur rather quickly.  You will need to play around with shutter speed, aperture, ISO to get a working combination but ISO 2000 or higher would seem reasonable.  

The attached photo was taken at a University of Kentucky woman's game last year.  ISO was 2000, 1/320 sec., f1:5.6, 55-250mm lens @ 250mm (sorry, I was in the cheap seats.)  I ws usig a Canon 70D with cropped sensor.  The lighting here is probably better than most high schools gyms.  

The higher ISO will introduce some noise (spots) in the photo but that is most noticeable in the dark areas.  You should not have a real problem in light areas.   

Hope this is helpful.

John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/17 18:34 by wa4umr.

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