Express Action Sports

I have the Canon Rebel T1i, and I’m looking to take better pictures of outdoor sports as well as indoor events. I currently have the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/1.4-5.6 IS, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, as well as a Canon EF 50mm f/1-1.8. Would a Speedlight be beneficial? Or more cost efficient?

It sounds like you have the lenses that should do the job. There are of course better faster lenses but they cost a ton of money. What I think you need to do is learn how to use your camera better. A good class in photography and some practice will improve your pictures.

The 55-250mm should do a fine job with outdoor sports during the day. You will have trouble with it indoors or at night because of the small aperture. The 50mm F1.8 should do a good job with indoor sports if you are reasonably close.

A flash is not recommended though. It would be completely useless with outdoor sports as the action would be too far away for the the flash to be effective. Indoors it would work if you were within about 30ft. but do you really want to be sending a bright flash in the athletes eyes over and over again. I think they might have a problem with that.

If you really want to upgrade lenses be prepared to lay out some serious cash. The 70-200mm F2.8 IS lens is nearly $2,000. A 50mm F1.2 is also nearly $2,000 and a 24-70mm F2.8 or 18-55mm F2.8 are over $1,000.

Is it something that pays off when you take action shots? Or, is it as helpful when taking landscape photos?

IS can help when you need to take a relatively long exposure time which is not normally achievable hand-held.

The rough rule that people use is to try and not use a shutter speed longer than the focal length you’re shooting at. For example. Shooting with a 200mm telephoto lens, most people can hold it no longer than 1/200s to take a steady exposure. Depending on the version of lens, the same person may be able to take the same shot with a shutter speed as long as 1/25s with assistance of IS which is particularly handy in low light environments such as indoors when flash photography is not possible.

Some lens which are geared up to sports photography (such as the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS) even have a second IS setting allowing you to pan horizontally whilst smoothing your vertical movement.

I’d like to take action photos as well as team photos for youth sports in my area. I will be purchasing a canon 7D in the near future and a letter board, but beyond that I don’t know what I’ll need. If anyone has advice I’m all ears. My budget is about $5000 after I buy the 7D. I want to make the most of my money without buying things I don’t need.

Thanks in advance,

For team photos, you would need a lens that is "normal". A standard zoom, in a range of like 24-70mm, works well. A prime lens, maybe a 35mm, also works well. Is it team and individual photos? In my area, these types of photos are usually taken indoors because weather in April is so iffy. If that is your case, too, you would need to invest in some lighting equipment as well.

For action shots. you’ll find that you can get the batter and the infield with a zoom that goes to 200mm. You’ll get the batter at full length with a 200mm. To get the outfield or to zoom to get more of a headshot of the batter, you’ll want a bit more. You need to be sure you get every player on a team when you do this (or you’ll hear about it!).

So if you really are OK spending $5000, the Canon 24-70 F2.8 is excellent, though you are probably get by with a less expensive lens if needed. It is around $1,200

The Canon 70-200 F2.8 is an excellent lens for sports. It is heavy, you’ll probably want to pick up a monopod. The F2.8 non-IS version is around $1,500 and the IS version is around $2000. There are good primes in the price range, too, look at the 300mm F4 (the 300mm F2.8 is a dream but $4,200). The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is a good alternative with good range, but if you are going to do any night games it might be limiting (though the 7D has pretty decent ISO performance)

The lenses can be found at http://www.bhphoto.com

Look at AlienBees for lighting. You’ll need a couple of lights, lightstands, umbrellas and wireless trigger/receiver. http://www.alienbees.com. If you want to use them outdoors, they also sell the vagabond battery.