Amateur Sports Photography advice, lens etc...

Jofspring

Hi,

I'm very new to photography and was wondering what kind of a lens I should go for and what kind of money i'd have to spend. The photos will be for the moment just local soccer, mainly the team I am involved in. Most the games ,unless we get very good weather, will be played in poor enough light as most games seem to be dull weather wise. I have taken a few photos with the standard lens that came with the Nikon D3000. The main problem I was having was with the amount of zoom I could get. Close up action wasn't too bad but anything any distant away was poor enough. Basically I'm wondering will I have to spend between 700-900euro to get decent action photos at a distance or am I jumping the gun a bit looking for a 300mm lens just for local soccer. I can move around the pitch a bit and get pretty close at some places but in other teams grounds here in Limerick i'd prefer not to be strolling around the pitch with my camera if I'm being totally honest. I'm also willing to go through plenty of trial and error because the photos are only going to be for our club Facebook page.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

Jof.

keps

what lens did you get with the camera?

Jofspring

keps wrote: »

what lens did you get with the camera?

18-55mm f/3.5-22 VR Zoom Lens.

keps

This is not an easy question to answer - because I think that to take good sports photography you have to just have a good grounding in basic 'honest to God' photography.

Like with playing golf - you cannot go in to a golf shop and buy the top of the range equipment and without knowing the basics of the game and expect to shoot a round of 72.

Just forget about the 900 euros on a 300mm lens- first you need to learn the skill of photography.

My first recommendation would be to join a photography club in Limerick and just learn the basics of how to think out what you want in a photo and then have the level of basic knowledge to achieve that aim.

The D300 is a really great camera but like a €900 euro pitching wedge is no use unless the person using it knows how to use it to best effect.


I hope this does not sound off -putting- but it's my best shot at an answer this evening.

Jofspring

Ya I'm trying to get to grips with the basics alright. I'm reading through Understanding Exposure to try understand a few basic about shutter speed, aperture etc...and trying out a few different setting combinations on the camera. I'm mainly keeping it set to M in the hope this will help bring me on a little quicker than using the standard presets. I probably don't get out enough when it comes to taking photos but feel while the opportunity is there being involved in a football team i'd take it. I'm definitely going to enquire about a photography class as I hear there are some very good ones in Limerick. Cheers.

pete4130

Keps, he wants advice on what lens to use to shoot his local soccer matches. I don't think going to a camera club and learning what he likes to shoot and what lens they think he should use will solve his immediate issue.....a lens to shoot football. Camera clubs are great and all that if thats what your into. They don't teach you how to take photos. The best way to do that is to pick up your camera and use it. You learn a lot quicker that way than going to a camera club for an hour or two each week.

With the D3000, as far as I know, doesn't have a built in auto focus motor, so you need to look at lenses that are AF-S lenses that have an autofocus motor in the lens itself. The best lens for the cash is probably the Nikon 70-300 VR lens. It's got an autofocus motor and it has VR (Vibration reduction) to get clearer shots at lower shutter speeds. The VR won't help to get clearer shots or freeze the action if the light is poor. It isn't the fastest focusing lens in the world either.

If you can push your ISO up on the camera as much as you think is acceptable then you should hopefully get some results.

I used to have the 70-300 I was talking about and it worked really well. They aren't overly expensive used so check out prices.

Paulw

Start off looking at a 70-200mm lens range. After that you can look for a longer range lens (300mm, etc). I've no idea about Nikon, but those are the lenses you should consider.

Plenty of tips on taking sports photos on my website.

Basically, bump up your ISO, shoot as wide open as you can (smallest f number) and shoot as fast a shutter speed as you can get.

pete4130

I started with the Sigma 70-200 2.8 but it was useless. I actually got better results from the 70-300 VR. The 70-300 is usually cheaper than a comparable 70-200 for a D3100.

Jofspring

Cheers lads. I have bookmarked your site so will keep that for referencing. Some good advice there.

I must keep an eye out on adverts.ie and that for a second hand lens. Anybody know any good sites or stores that might deal in second hand lenses at a decent price? I don't mind spending a few bob but don't want to go over the top either.

bullpost

A fair few Nikon used lenses here - should help get you started.

Jofspring wrote: »

Cheers lads. I have bookmarked your site so will keep that for referencing. Some good advice there.

I must keep an eye out on adverts.ie and that for a second hand lens. Anybody know any good sites or stores that might deal in second hand lenses at a decent price? I don't mind spending a few bob but don't want to go over the top either.

keps

pete4130 wrote: »

Keps, he wants advice on what lens to use to shoot his local soccer matches. I don't think going to a camera club and learning what he likes to shoot and what lens they think he should use will solve his immediate issue....

yeah you are dead right - I went off in a bit of a tangent and didn't address the real issue. It was late:)

Jofspring

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-55-300mm-4-5-5-6G/dp/B003ZSHNCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345671343&sr=8-1

What do ye think lads? It seems to get good reviews with a few saying they have used it for sports. A good place to start? Works out about 290euro before postage.

amdgilmore

I'm not a Nikon man, so i don't know, but there's an in-depth review of the lens here:

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/nikon_afs_dx_nikkor_55_300mm_f_45_56_g_ed_vr_review/

I've only skimmed the conclusion but the gist seems to be that it's a very good lens for the price, but that the autofocus is a bit slow - which will be a problem for you. They specifically mention that it might not be the right choice for sports photography.

Just to pick up on an earlier point - for sports it might be better to shoot in shutter priority mode, rather than manual, to start with. You're working outdoors, and in Ireland (so changeable lighting is a given), plus you're shooting fast-moving action, so taking the manual aperture settings out of the equation might be a better idea. At least until you're more comfortable with the camera, anyway.

And remember that a faster shutter speed (say 1/1000 sec or faster) will freeze fast action (like rain-drops or beads of sweat flying when somebody heads the ball). It can make for some pretty dramatic photos. Test it out on the water coming out of your tap at home!

SuperWoody101

@Jofspring Are you from the city? I have the 50-200 and the 70-300 lens for Nikon, next time your shooting a game let me know and I will bring them along if you want to test them out. Feel free to PM me

mayo.mick

Jofspring wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-55-300mm-4-5-5-6G/dp/B003ZSHNCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345671343&sr=8-1

What do ye think lads? It seems to get good reviews with a few saying they have used it for sports. A good place to start? Works out about 290euro before postage.

Thats the lens that i use for mayo matchs (pix link in my sig)
I find it great, and with my season ticket i'm usually on the halfway line and have full coverage of croke park. I bought it here
I got it for €420 from pixmania, i see its €355 now:mad:

Jofspring

SuperWoody101 wrote: »

@Jofspring Are you from the city? I have the 50-200 and the 70-300 lens for Nikon, next time your shooting a game let me know and I will bring them along if you want to test them out. Feel free to PM me

Ya living out the ennis road side of town. Cheers for that offer, fairplay. Might pm you about that.

mayo.mick wrote: »

Thats the lens that i use for mayo matchs (pix link in my sig)
I find it great, and with my season ticket i'm usually on the halfway line and have full coverage of croke park. I bought it here
I got it for €420 from pixmania, i see its €355 now:mad:

Don't worry its coming up at 505euro at the moment

Seems like amazon are doing the best price on it with a few second hand ones also.

Gregor Samsa

Jofspring wrote: »

Don't worry its coming up at 505euro at the moment

Look on the right hand side of the page, in the "Other offers for this product ?" section. €352.11 + €9.99 delivery.

Jofspring

phutyle wrote: »

Look on the right hand side of the page, in the "Other offers for this product ?" section. €352.11 + €9.99 delivery.

Ha nice one, I never spotted that before.

I see a 55-200mm for 230euro of other offers which looks decent.