Best sport lens

[Tlee05]

What is the best sports lens going at the moment for the price, as im on a budget of $600, I am shooting a thing called parkour(freerunning) its like doing gym in the urban surroundings, So i need a fast sharp lens, Im using a 18-55mm lens at the moment but im not getting the sharpness also it is too slow for the movement,

[Jon]

Checked the Top Ten Lens Sticky (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56752)? There are threads for best indoor and outdoor sports lens, as well as best starter lenses.

[DavidEB]

indoors or outdoors? How much light (what kind of exposures are you using now)? how fast is the sport (similar to gymnastics speed?) -- how fast a shutter speed do you need? how close are you to the subjects, and does that distance change a lot as the sport progresses (in other words, do you need a zoom or can you get by with a single focal length).

if you can use a single focal length, then get the prime that matches your need (85f1.8, 100f2, 135f2...). Avoid the 50 f1.8, it focuses too slowly for action shots.

If you need a zoom then the best is canon 70-200 f2.8, at a lower cost the sigma 70-200f2.8 is quite good (I have one). If the light is bright enough, the canon 70-200 f4 might do.

if you are a looong way from the players, then you need a longer lens. All of these are expensive. canon 300f2.8, 300f4, 400 etc... sigma 120-300 f2.8

if played in really bright light, then a slower f4-5.6 zoom (cheaper) might do: canon 100-300 USM, sigma 70-300, canon 75-300, etc...

[rklepper]

Indoors 85 f1.8 outdoors 200 f2.8L, IMHO.

[Tlee05]

Thanks for the help.
In answer to your questions the sport I'm trying to film is parkour. It's speedy and gynastic in style and most of what I shoot will be outdoors.

Here's some examples of some parkour photos I've taken, but as you can see there's some motion blur in them that I want to get rid of:

http://wide-eye-media.co.uk/parkourphotos/80012.jpg
http://wide-eye-media.co.uk/parkourphotos/800small3.jpg
http://wide-eye-media.co.uk/parkourphotos/800small2.jpg
http://wide-eye-media.co.uk/parkourphotos/800small.jpg

[DavidEB]

cool. for most of these, you're up close. a wide, fast lens is what you want. 50 f1.4, maybe even wider, like 28 f1.8. If you feel the need for zoom, 17-40 f4 if you think that's fast enough, or 16-35 f2.8 (expensive).

[Biko]

I photographed Parkour a couple of months ago and found my 16-35 2.8 was ideal (pic also needed flash) and my 100 - 400 due to some of the distance I was away from them.

http://www.btinternet.com/~i.c.palmer/parkour.jpg