?bother upgrading

I've been thinking of upgrading to maybe a 7D, but now I'm not sure. I mostly shoot my daughters figure skating, and for several years have been bumbling along ,learning about using autofocus, center point, back button, etc. I have a rebel xs, and added a 70-200L. Problem is, in the lowlight of these ice rinks and the ISO at 1600, my keeper rate is really low. Alot of out of focus pictures, probably partly because I can't get my shutter speed fast enough because of the light. So.....should I just "give up" on this, and stick to what I have, or forge ahead and upgrade to a new body like a 7D? I can accept the fact I stink at this, but I do really enjoy it.....I'd enjoy it more if I got some pictures worth keeping!

is it the 2.8 is? or the f4?

Which 70-200L is it?

The 7D would give you a boost in ISO performance. I think you could safely shoot at ISO 1600, possibly 3200. Which 70-200 did you get? It might be that you are better off with a faster lens..

I think it's time to upgrade if you can afford to. The XS has great image quality, but like you said the ISO only goes to 1600 and it has the worst AF system and burst speed currently offered by Canon. Upgrading to a 50D, 60D, or 7D should make a big difference.

oops, sorry....it's the 2.8 70-200L

I guess I'm just questioning putting more money into this....."sports photography" seems tough for an amateur like me, but I just want to get some decent shots of my daughters.....but I do enjoy it.

timconnelly wrote in post #11837150
oops, sorry....it's the 2.8 70-200L

If it was me, I'd follow what tkbslc said then.

timconnelly wrote in post #11837162
I guess I'm just questioning putting more money into this....."sports photography" seems tough for an amateur like me, but I just want to get some decent shots of my daughters.....but I do enjoy it.

Amateur or not it does not matter. If you like photography and of course it's your daughters and for your family, then you should spend what you can with in your budget to make sure you get the shots you want.

timconnelly wrote in post #11837150
oops, sorry....it's the 2.8 70-200L

Good lens, but indoors, fairly low-lit skating... you'd probably greatly benefit from an IS model, unless you're already shooting on a tripod. 7d is a massive step up in performance from an XS. For around $600 used, you can pick up a 1d mk II, which might be a decent compromise. Don't expect stellar ISO though.

timconnelly wrote in post #11837162
I guess I'm just questioning putting more money into this....."sports photography" seems tough for an amateur like me, but I just want to get some decent shots of my daughters.....but I do enjoy it.

Try renting a 7D, or perhaps a 85 1.8. Both would gain you an extra stop. But you are right to question the expense of new gear for one limited set of circumstances. The nice thing about adding lenses, is when you are done with the project you can sell them back at a minor loss that you can call a long term rental.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #11837194
Good lens, but indoors, fairly low-lit skating... you'd probably greatly benefit from an IS model, unless you're already shooting on a tripod. 7d is a massive step up in performance from an XS.

I don't think IS would matter since you'd need 1/400 to prevent motion blur anyway. That's outside of the realm where IS helps.

I guess maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask what kind of shutter speeds the OP is getting now. It could be that an f2 prime is the answer.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #11837194
Good lens, but indoors, fairly low-lit skating... you'd probably greatly benefit from an IS model, unless you're already shooting on a tripod. 7d is a massive step up in performance from an XS. For around $600 used, you can pick up a 1d mk II, which might be a decent compromise. Don't expect stellar ISO though.

IS wont make a difference in the speeds needed to freeze a skater.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #11837194
Good lens, but indoors, fairly low-lit skating... you'd probably greatly benefit from an IS model, unless you're already shooting on a tripod. 7d is a massive step up in performance from an XS. For around $600 used, you can pick up a 1d mk II, which might be a decent compromise. Don't expect stellar ISO though.

IS model won't help any

Post a picture thats in question with exif intact.