Lens for second camera - indoor track & field

Hello,

Let me start off by saying, I am a hobby photographer, not a pro. I take photos for my daughter's track & field team during the year. Photos of her as well as the team. The team photos are used at the end of the year banquet for a slideshow, which the coaches produce. I just give them the photos.

Anyway, usually it is just me shooting the event but this week my son is free and will be able to attend with me. He has done some photography in the past so not a complete novice. I will use my 7D MkII with a 70-200 f2.8 and I have my original 7D that he will be using. But I need a lens for that body. In this indoor venue, you can get pretty close to the track in most areas, but being indoors, lighting is a issue but this is a pretty new facility and is relatively well lit. I have a 50mm f1.8 STM or I could rent a lens such as the Canon 85mm f1.8 or the Canon 18-55 f2.8 for the event on the second body.

I have read that the 85mm f1.8 can be a good indoor sports lens. I don't know if the AF on the 50mm f1.8 is as good as far as speed? I will not need anything longer than 85-100mm as the second camera will be used more along the track as opposed to shooting from the stands or from the end of the track, down the straight because I will use the 70-200 for those shots

I think the 85 1.8 would be a good option.
I've been very pleased with it as a (temporary) stand-in for my 70-200 when lighting really sucks.

Thanks.

Looking at some information from photos I have taken in this venue before, I see quite a few in the 80-100mm range, although many of these were from the bleachers

I'd say it depends on whether you want to take advantage of having 2 setups to add some variety in "look". I've actually been pretty happy with my 35mm f/2 IS indoors, and I've seen a lot of people make wide work well. Backgrounds are definitely an issue, but sometimes I think that helps set the scene a bit. The 17-55 2.8 would give him the option of getting wider shots and some nice medium-telephoto shots too, and be a nice complement to the ones you get yourself.

That said, the 85 1.8 is a great option, I've used it a fair bit and never been dissatisfied. I think the importance of AF speed kind of depends on what events your son will be shooting, and his style. If you have time to track them, runners move predictably enough that I think most lenses honestly keep up pretty OK. However, if you're trying to shoot relay handoffs, things can be so chaotic that he may appreciate the higher AF speed of the 85 over the 50.

I would second the idea of an 85 1.8 on the 7D. You will want to keep the ISO down a bit on the 7D vs 7D2 (at least a stop) to nearly equalize the two, so a faster prime makes the most sense to me. For very wide shots, even the 18-55 kit lens would work pretty sell, because usually the wider, the more light you are getting and thus you don't need a fast prime for that kind of shooting. You didn't say whether you had a 18-55 STM, but that would work for wide angle shots and then the 85 1.8 for closer action-stopping shots.

The 50 STM should be fine too, I would try it out on the 7D beforehand just to see how fast it focuses. Try to find some pets or moving cars in the area to see how well it tracks and locks AF. Many of the STM lenses focus very, very fast, but I have no experience with that lens.

Thank you for the suggestions.

I have not tried the 50mm with anything moving, it has mostly been a walk around lens/indoor lens for me. I will let the dog out in the yard and experiment a bit.

I borrowed a 17-55 f2.8 for a Africa trip last summer and used it quite a bit for a number of shots and was quite happy with it but again, not really on any moving subjects. It seems from reading that the USM AF motors tend to be faster than the STM motors but maybe not always?

Most of the shots will be with runners coming towards us or on the curve, like the one photo above. Will try to get a few high jump and pole vault photos as well.

There are several different types of USM motors. STM is pretty fast, but again, there are varying levels of performance with them across generations.

This doesn't make it sound promising though to use the 50 STM for what is needed.

https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=17895529

Thanks for the link.

Reserved a Canon 85mm f1.8 at the local camera shop. I looked through the information from photos that I took last year at this facility and most were from 80mm to 115mm, so 85mm should be OK

Not going to be able to try out the rented Canon 85mm f1.8 as the meet for tomorrow was cancelled due to all the flooding in our area. Bummer. Might have to go out and take some photos of the flood damage