70-200 2.8 IS for sports???

[Carrjam]

What are your thoughts on IS for indoor sports? When I shoot basketball and volleyball, I tend to follow that fast moving ball to the receiving person because that person might shoot a basket or spike it. (Depending on the sport.)

Can the Canon IS keep up with the rapid movements? I few years ago I used a 75-300 IS for slow tracking and static objects, but I'm curious if "L" lenses with IS perform well with fast tracking.

Thank you for your input. :)

Jason

[pagnamenta]

In my experience, the IS holds up. I use a 300mm f4 IS USM which has two stop IS and I don't have any problems. As long as you're using Al Servo, the lens continues to IS. If you use One Shot, the IS kicks in as you focus. However, since you're doing sports, you'll be fine.

IS also comes in handy in other situations so it's not something you'll regret buying. If you have the extra cash, buy it.

[xchupacabrax]

Have you also thought about using a tripod? Most shooters using the 70-200 2.8 I see use tripods or some kind of mount for sports.

http://www.postcrescent.com/includes/newspaper/blogs/sidelines/uploaded_images/REMOTE3-763188.jpg

[cdifoto]

IS is activated with the half-press. It takes a split second to activate from a cold start, but if you keep your finger on the trigger ready to fire as you should when tracking, the IS will be active.

[SarahJD]

Hi Jason. I shoot sports with the 70-200 2.8 IS lens and LOVE it -- the pictures from that lens are incredible. Please remember though that the IS is there to stop camera shake -- not sports action. The shutter speed you need to shoot sports would get rid of camera shake by itself. I wouldn't trade the IS on my lens for anything, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that.

Sarah

[sadowsk2]

Hi Jason. I shoot sports with the 70-200 2.8 IS lens and LOVE it -- the pictures I get are incredible. Please remember though that the IS is there to stop camera shake -- not sports action. The shutter speed you need to shoot sports would get rid of camera shake by itself. I wouldn't trade the IS on my lens for anything, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that.

Sarah
Correct,

The IS will NOT do much for sports photography other than minimize hand shake... It will NOT help freeze motion of the atheletes.

[TheSportsGuy]

Hi Jason. I shoot sports with the 70-200 2.8 IS lens and LOVE it -- the pictures from that lens are incredible. Please remember though that the IS is there to stop camera shake -- not sports action. The shutter speed you need to shoot sports would get rid of camera shake by itself. I wouldn't trade the IS on my lens for anything, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that.

Sarah

Just about to add this...... IS only stops YOUR motion, NOT the subjects motion..

So, IS is not very useful to sports photographers.

[joysmahal]

Have you also thought about using a tripod? Most shooters using the 70-200 2.8 I see use tripods or some kind of mount for sports.

http://www.postcrescent.com/includes/newspaper/blogs/sidelines/uploaded_images/REMOTE3-763188.jpg


That thing looks cool! What is it called and how much did it costs? Thanks...

[emtp563]

Just about to add this...... IS only stops YOUR motion, NOT the subjects motion..

So, IS is not very useful to sports photographers.

Umm, yes it is. Sometimes, err a lot of the time I like to capture the "illusion" of motion with relatively slow shutter speeds, IS does help with that. IS eliminating camera shake is one factor you don't have to worry about when, let's say for instance, panning.

[TooManyShots]

Correct. Regardless, once you are shooting hand held, IS will help no matter what.

Umm, yes it is. Sometimes, err a lot of the time I like to capture the "illusion" of motion with relatively slow shutter speeds, IS does help with that. IS eliminating camera shake is one factor you don't have to worry about when, let's say for instance, panning.

[xarqi]

The ability to track is more a function of AF, rather than IS, and the 70-200L should be fine. Don't put too much store by your previous 75-300 experiences as that is really rather a poor lens.

[SilverHCIC]

I have used the 70-200IS2.8 for outdoor track & field extensively. All I can say is AWESOME lens. Fast and sharp as a tack. ... And as youy can imagine, track & field events are, well, FAST!!

THe lighting in doors will not be nearly as good as outdoors, but with the ability to open larger than f/4 and by pushing ISO to 800 or 1600 I would suspect you can get some pretty good performance indoors even without flash.

You will want to make sure WB is adjusted properly, though, since WB is often the main problem with High-ISO indoor shots under the various lighting conditions that may exist.

[Carrjam]

I already knew that IS wouldn't stop the action. I guess my theory is: by adding IS into the mix I could (hopefully) verify that any blur would most likely be from too slow of shutter. I'v also thought about trying a monopod, but haven't yet.

Would most of you agree that: in most cases, the required shutter speed to stop the action will also eliminate camera shake? (Following the shutter speed rule of 1/x of course.)

I'm shooting with an F4 non-IS now. I was seeing a LOT of blur on faster players using 1/320. I ramped up to 1/400 and 1/500 to fix it, but now I'm ramping up the exposure by at least 1 f-stop in post. Hello, "noise!" :(

[xarqi]

Would most of you agree that: in most cases, the required shutter speed to stop the action will also eliminate camera shake? (Following the shutter speed rule of 1/x of course.)

I guess as a ball-park figure you could say that. What's important is the angular velocity of the image across the sensor as this causes the blur. That can be from shake, or from subject movement. Camera shake depends on technique, and inherent nervous system performance (and coffee intake); subject movement depends on distance and velocity. Focal length magnifies both effects. Whether a shutter speed that counteracts one will also counteract the other depends on the relationship between the sources of shake and the motion of the subject, and these are independent phenomena. But yeah - what fixes one could fix the other - sure - why not?

[FZ1dave]

So what happens if you toss the 1.4 extender into the mix? Does the slower autofocus make the 70-200 unusable for the faster action? I haven't had the chance to try the combo yet and am just curious...

[Stan43]

I've shot a lot of volleyball, much with the 70-200 2.8 IS. I sold it and prefer the 135L,200L and yes even the 85 1.2L. I think anticipating a particular back court player getting the serve will produce more keepers in the long run unless ,as someone pointed out , you want to emphasize motion in the shot. I prefocus quickly on a player when I see a set coming their way. You have to have a pretty fast shutter speed to follow the ball and hope to get sharp shots. Most Gym's don't have adequate light for that.

[jdaly]

I haven't used an IS lens as of yet, but I'm having great results with my 85 f/1.8 and 135 f/2. This is for volleyball and gymnastics. Allows me to shoot at 1/500 or 1/640.