Action/sports lens. Sort of urgent! Thanks!

Hi all, by all account I am a photography noob.

I have a tennis tournament coming up this weekend and I have asked my friend to help take some pictures. I understand exposure and what not but she doesn't. Besides, I'm more concerned about capturing the moment, versus getting the PERFECT exposure. Having said that, I will be leaving the camera on auto setting.

Now I will need to go rent a lens for the tournament. It will be held indoors so I'm thinking of renting a fast lens to compensate for the lack of natural sunlight. I don't think I'll need anything more than 300mm. Haha I'm not playing in a stadium. Can you guys recommend a lens for me to rent?

Also, if I'm thinking about this the wrong way (with the auto setting and lens), please let me know.

Thank you guys!

Full Auto is likely to be a bad idea as you need to ensure your shutter speed is high enough to freeze action. You could go TV mode and fix your speed high enough, or conversely you could go AV mode wide open and watch what that does to your shutter speeds. I dont know how far you are sitting, but a 135L would be great if you are close enough, or a 200 F2.

gonzogolf wrote in post #13343492
Full Auto is likely to be a bad idea as you need to ensure your shutter speed is high enough to freeze action. You could go TV mode and fix your speed high enough, or conversely you could go AV mode wide open and watch what that does to your shutter speeds. I dont know how far you are sitting, but a 135L would be great if you are close enough, or a 200 F2.

Oh yeah, I forgot I can set it to give shutter speed priority. Thanks!

I don't know how far the courts are from the stands/watching area, I've never been to that facility. But I really think 300mm would be a bit overkill?

I'm thinking about the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM. Because it's the only one that's still available, doesn't cost over $40/weekend, and it's zoomable.

Say Chi Sin Lo wrote in post #13343557
I don't know how far the courts are from the stands/watching area, I've never been to that facility. But I really think 300mm would be a bit overkill?

Regardless... A fast 300 is quite large and heavy... Do you think your friend would be up to lugging it around?

In Tv mode, too low of an ISO yields underexposure with the lens wide open, so be sure to get high enough. Don't be surprised if it takes ISO 6400 or more to get 1/800 kind of speeds. Of course, too high an ISO and the camera will stop down your expensive fast lens. This is why Tv is actually a worse choice than Av if you are even a little experienced. Better a too fast shutter than stopped down at extreme ISO. I suggest renting one of the Canon 70-200/2.8 lenses for this and get out of your seat and move around if possible.

Two options:

1) Shoot in Av, set the aperture to something like f2.8 (or smaller number), and set the ISO as high as your taste will allow. Not sure what camera you're using, but of course this means you rent a lens.

This option will let you blur out the background very nicely.

2) Shoot in Tv, set the shutter speed to at least 1/500, and your ISO as high as your taste will allow. 1/800, as recommended above, is a better ideal.

This will help ensure you don't get motion blur. 1/500 is still tough for tennis, but indoors I'm not sure how fast you can get the shutter speed.

It's going to be tough indoors. 1/500 is likely enough freeze the player, but maybe not the ball... although, that might look cool.

I'm a newb when it comes to action/sports photography too, but i'd shoot the 70-200 f2.8 L IS

I will be letting my friend use my T2i.

Great advice! Keep them coming.

Nathan wrote in post #13343611
Two options:

1) Shoot in Av, set the aperture to something like f2.8 (or smaller number), and set the ISO as high as your taste will allow. Not sure what camera you're using, but of course this means you rent a lens.

This option will let you blur out the background very nicely.

2) Shoot in Tv, set the shutter speed to at least 1/500, and your ISO as high as your taste will allow. 1/800, as recommended above, is a better ideal.

This will help ensure you don't get motion blur. 1/500 is still tough for tennis, but indoors I'm not sure how fast you can get the shutter speed.

It's going to be tough indoors. 1/500 is likely enough freeze the player, but maybe not the ball... although, that might look cool.

I think 1/500s will be fine? I don't care about the ball. I just want myself to look all pretty and everything .

People who don't know how to use a camera will probably benefit from using a zoom lens. The 70-200 is probably your best bet. Otherwise, don't trust your friend to run around trying to compose the shot using a 135, 200, or 300 prime.

assuming it's a tournament...get there a little early, and take photos of the competitors before you...just keep the settings the same...as for what to rent it's pretty difficult when you don't know the conditions...the 70-200 is probably your safest bet...just hope they have enough lighting

Say Chi Sin Lo wrote in post #13343470
Now I will need to go rent a lens for the tournament. It will be held indoors so I'm thinking of renting a fast lens to compensate for the lack of natural sunlight. I don't think I'll need anything more than 300mm. Haha I'm not playing in a stadium. Can you guys recommend a lens for me to rent?

The standard indoor action lens is a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. A Sigma version of this lens generated these images:

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Nathan wrote in post #13343683
People who don't know how to use a camera will probably benefit from using a zoom lens. The 70-200 is probably your best bet. Otherwise, don't trust your friend to run around trying to compose the shot using a 135, 200, or 300 prime.

I'm staying away from fixed lens. No way am I going to rent 3 separate lenses.

I will go with 70-200mm f/2.8. I hope she'll have steady hands, because the only one available is the non-IS version .

http://www.borrowlense​s.com …non_EF_70-200mm_f2.8L_USM

Say Chi Sin Lo wrote in post #13343700
I'm staying away from fixed lens. No way am I going to rent 3 separate lenses.

I will go with 70-200mm f/2.8. I hope she'll have steady hands, because the only one available is the non-IS version .

http://www.borrowlense​s.com …non_EF_70-200mm_f2.8L_USM

It's not like you need IS to shoot 200mm @ 1/500 or faster shutter speeds.

I was assuming you'd rent only one lens... each of those were brought up by previous replies, so I just wanted to list them.

IS won't be critical since you want your shutterspeed high. She's not to play with the settings, right?