Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L for INDOOR sports?

Is this lens fast enough for indoor sports- Taekwondo?

According to the lens description:

A 100mm macro lens with a relatively wide aperture, superb image quality, fast AF and an impressive IS implementation has a huge number of uses in addition to macro photography - including portraits, landscapes and indoor sports.

So it is a f2.8 with IS , so this equals to at least f2.0 ?

Depends on the lighting of the particular Taekwondo competition you are at. I've used my Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and it worked well at ISO 800.

However...for $1000, I'd get a 70-200 f/2.8 L instead for more versatility.

I used the 100 2.8 Macro to shoot indoor middle school basketball before I bought my 85 1.8. It worked, but just barely, if I remember correctly I was shooting at ISO 3200 and had a SS of 1/400, which was generally at or below proper exposure. From what I've found, f/2.8 just isn't fast enough for indoor sports. Granted mine was not the L version, and did not have IS.

IS is meaningless for fast/high shutter speeds.

f/2.8 for indoor sports is cutting it close but it really depends on how well the venue is lit. I'd give it a try and report back. It also depends on how high a shutter speed you require for TKD to avoid excessive blur.

AWGD8 wrote in post #1016440
So it is a f2.8 with IS , so this equals to at least f2.0 ?

Absolutely not. IS does NOT get you faster shutter speeds. It just allows you to handhold at slower shutter speeds (as if you had a monopod/tripod). Faster shutter speeds are what is needed for sports.

HeaTransfer wrote in post #10164457
IS is meaningless for fast/high shutter speeds.
.

Yup! The reason being is that IS can't stop the motion of the competitors so... and since you'll need such a high shutter speed to stop motion the IS becomes mute.

How far are you from the object ?
I think the 100 mm (on a crop) not wide enough for taekwondo, except for portrait / headshot / cropped action.

IMHO.

Indoor sports call for 50/1.4, 85/1.8 or 100/2 or 135/2.

nonick wrote in post #10165237
Indoor sports call for 50/1.4, 85/1.8 or 100/2 or 135/2.

+1 on the 100 F2 compared to the 100L....faster aperture mean higher shutter speed and that it your friend.

I was going to buy the 100/2 (to complement my 50/1.4) for this sort of thing, better shutter speeds and damn cheap..

I have to say that I love IS even for shots with high shutter speed. I use it for manual focus via live view, with the 10x magnification. Its easier to find the exact focus plane at 135 on my kits lens than my 50 1.8 this way.

I don't know, maybe some techie or pro can tell me this is a bad way to shoot for some reason, and if it's a good one I'll switch methods. But when shooting a headshot with IS i can zoom to 10x and set that focus center RIGHT on the eye. Or choose which flower in a field i want sharpest.

That being said, I can't imagine that method working for sports.....at all.

Ask yourself when looking at your own shots which is currently more important to your work; focal length or aperture. Do you need to be "closer", or do you need more light in your shot? Both very vague terms, but i think it's a good way for you to compare lenses in this case. Ask the simple question to avoid all the technical details floating around; helps me!

I'm selling my steadicam to upgrade my glass, and I'm looking at 135l 2.0, the 100 2.8 Macro, and the 70-200 4 IS. Similar lenses for different purpose, but I find I always wanted to be "closer" in the shot.

AWGD8 wrote in post #10164401
So it is a f2.8 with IS , so this equals to at least f2.0 ?

This is really a wrong assumption. With fast moving objects the IS probably doesn't mather. You have to have a high shutter speed to stop the motion and that only be done with a greater diafragm or higher ISO, not with IS.

That said, I think the 135L or 100mm f2 are better for indoor sports.

depending on how close you can get to the action, better choices might be 85 f/1.8 or the 135 f/2.

MOST HS gyms aren't really well lit. The basic recipe for action sports is f/2, 1/640 on shutter and raise ISO until proper exposure is achieved.

I've tried to shoot basketball in standard gym light with a 70-200 f/2.8. Can usually only hope to get 1/400 on shutter which is just too slow to stop action.

dave

Id spend a bit more than the 100L and get the 135L AND the 85 1.8!

Great info guys! I was just wondering, if I can hit two birds with one stone....I like to try macro photography, but at the same time want to get a decent sport lens.