Lens for indoor Figure skating or tennis

My 8 year old is in Tennis and Skating. (indoors for both)

I have a crop body and 55-250 but its rather slow for indoor use.
I don't want to spend a fortune until she makes it to the big leagues

In the meantime what do you suggest to get good shots?
I was looking at:
- Sigma 70-200 f2.8
- Canon 85 f1.8
- Canon 100 f2

Obviously a zoom would be the best flexibility but its expensive and I am a little worried that f2.8 is not enough in the indoor skating ring and indoor tennis.
On the other hand I am not sure a prime with 85 or 100 is either too short or too long?

Are there better options?
Any recommendations from people that have shot in these types of conditions?

I get decent results for indoor skating with my 135L (f2.0) - I get the full range of framing, depending on the distance to the skater - from a small group shot (at the far end), to head shots (when really close). f2.0 really helps - I have to use ISO 800 and 1/500s at f2.0 for exposure and freezing the motion. With f2.8 zooms I'd have to use ISO 1600, which is unacceptably noisy on my 50D.

135L is expensive though. I'd say 85 f1.8 should be perfectly adequate for skating shots. I've never done tennis shooting, so cannot comment.

I would go 70-200, as you don't know your distance and your not going to be in a position to zoom with your feet. Keep increasing your ISO until you get the shutter speed you require. Best to have a noisy image than non at all.

If you shoot in RAW you'll be surprised what you can fix in LR.

It all depends on the indoor hall you take your pictures at. The lights in these places are usually pretty bad, but some more than others. In some halls you'll be able to use f/2.8, while in others f/1.8 will already be difficult.

I suggest you try to take pictures of your daughter with the equipment you have at the moment. When you come home, assess how much mm's you need and if f/2.8 would be enough.

pulsar123 wrote in post #15181961
I get decent results for indoor skating with my 135L (f2.0) - I get the full range of framing, depending on the distance to the skater - from a small group shot (at the far end), to head shots (when really close). f2.0 really helps - I have to use ISO 800 and 1/500s at f2.0 for exposure and freezing the motion. With f2.8 zooms I'd have to use ISO 1600, which is unacceptably noisy on my 50D.

135L is expensive though. I'd say 85 f1.8 should be perfectly adequate for skating shots. I've never done tennis shooting, so cannot comment.

Thanks for the advice!

The 135L is expensive but if that is a good focal range why not the 100 f2 over the 85 f1.8?

I used to have a 70-200 f2.8 and it wasn't enough for many indoor environments. It might, at a pinch, be ok for skating, but almost definitely not for indoor tennis, where the light can be fairly poor. I have tried a number of systems for indoor dog agility (often held in the same facilities that host tennis or soccer), and my best results have been with the 85 f1.8. However, it's very short. Especially for tennis, you'll have to be very close to the game for it to work. These days, I often leave my camera equipment at home for indoor events because my results are just ok at best.

135L for sure. I realize that may be out of your price range. The 85mm and 100mm are good options as well, but the 135L will give you slightly better results wide open.

I recommend that you go to the Sports forum and look for hockey photos. The Canon 70-200 f/2.8 is, IMO, the most commonly used lens for hockey. Indoor rinks often have poor lighting but there are a number of people who post excellent results.

What ISO are you typically using? The T2i should be capable of some dect images up to 3200. If you can post some images with the EXIF data attached.

I recommend a 70-200mm f/2.8. You might want to practice panning with the aid of a monopod for the shots.

I forgot, also your 85 and 100 are more than fine when the subjects are within range.

The best bang for the buck for a crop and your situtation:

The New Sigma 50-150 2.8.

For moving subjects you need a zoom. I shoot indoor gymnastics - 85 & 135L does not work for floor - same applies to skating.

I used the 70-200 f2.8 IS V1 when my daughter was figure skating. Depending on where you sit it still might not be long enough. Shooting at f2.8 and ISO 1600-3200 (this was when all I had was a 40D) got me usable results in some rinks and not-so-usable results in others.

If I had to go back in time I would have looked at the 135 f2 since I was usually able to get down close to the rink without having to shoot through the glass. In some cases I would just shoot over the glass standing on a bench or chair. Check out my Summer's Edge Competition gallery in the Figure Skating section here: www.bkimaging.com to see what I was able to get with the 40D and 70-200 f2.8L IS V1 combo.

Another possibility if you're on a budget would be the 200 f2.8L II. It's a lot cheaper than the 70-200 and since you'll most likely be zoomed out for most of her routines it shouldn't make that big of an impact in terms of flexibility. I was almost always at 200mm when shooting my daughter's routines.

The AF for the 85/1.8 is super fast, and the IQ is great. I shoot indoor basketball in sometimes terrible (and varying) lighting - the 85 is great for indoor sports.

And if the action is at the far end of the court/rink/whatever, go ahead and capture it and crop to format the action. Sometimes need a bit of sharpening at high ISO, but you'll get the drift.

The 100/2.0 is also very good - maybe better if you're up in the stands and if you don't need high ISO.

I also have the 200/2.8 - it is very sharp, and has good IQ ... but you need space for this one - otherwise it's difficult to get full-body shots. If you can afford it, the 70-200/2.8 is every photographer's dream lens.