Need a lens recommendation

[Masmak]

My sophomore made varsity basketball! I want to get some good pics of him this year. I have a Nikon D3000. Can you make a lens recommendation for indoor games fast action shots?

[El Viejo]

The 70-200mm f2.8 can't be beat. I have the Canon lens. My buddy has the Nikon. Both are top notch. I've heard that some of the off brands are good also, but I don't have any experience with them. I do know that for indoor & low light sports, the 70-200 is THE lens to get.
P.S. Congrats to your son for making the varsity as a sophomore!

[Shane]

^Yep

[Trouble]

The above advise is great.

An f2.8 anything should work great for you in terms of speed (light gathering ability).

Most gymnasiums are not real large so you may not need anything more the a 150 mm. On the low end a 50mm is as small as you might need. So if you can get something covering most of that range or more will serve you well.
Don't be afraid to go with Manual focus lenses.

[Bonesplitter]

70-200 f/2.8 is perfect...Im drooling for one myself.

[Limbwalker]

Nobody bothered to ask what his budget was? Am I the only one here who thinks a $1K+ lens is a bit much for family photos of HS ball?

Masmak, do yourself a favor and search the KEH.Com lenses for sale. Unless you're made of money, any Tamron/Sigma/Tokina telephoto zoom with a 2.8 max aperture will more than suffice.

That is, unless you think your son will be an NBA hall-of-famer someday and you need professional-quality images for his rookie card.

If it were me, I'd be buying something like this: https://www.keh.com/246969/tokina-80...s-for-nikon-77

[Limbwalker]

70-200 f/2.8 is perfect...Im drooling for one myself.

Bonesplitter, get one of those Tokina 2.8's to use while you're drooling. At least you'll be capturing images in the process.

[Bonesplitter]

Bonesplitter, get one of those Tokina 2.8's to use while you're drooling. At least you'll be capturing images in the process.

Ive got a 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 but its slow focusing. How does the Tokina compare? I'm a newbie so I don't have much experience. I get some good shots but the majority aren't very good quality. I'm hoping the 2.8 will focus quick and sharpen everything up with good bokeh.

[Limbwalker]

I think the Tamron will focus faster than the Tokina, but like you said, at 2.8 max. aperture, it's bound to focus better than the 70-300.

Personally, I'd rather compromise on a lens that I have, than to miss opportunities because I don't have a lens at all.

I have a lot of photos of my daughter at swim meets I took with a VERY old Tokina AF lens. Yes, it was slow focusing, and yes I bought it for $45, but for the outdoor swim meets, I was always shooting at F8 or F11 and I knew where to pre-focus to get the shot I wanted.

I've always been happy with every Tokina lens I've owned (about 5 or 6 by now) and most of the Tamron lenses I've owned. I'm much more leery of Sigma lenses, but lately their quality has really improved. Enough that a professional photographer I know shoots almost exclusively Sigma lenses and her work is outstanding.

John

[Bonesplitter]

Thanks for the info.

[scotty]

When I shoot basketball, I set up against the wall behind the basket, to the shooters left. From that vantage point, a 35mm or 50mm (either a f1.4 or f1.8) will work great. I shoot a 24-70 f2.8, and most of my shots are between those focal lengths.
You can pick either of those up very reasonably.

[Masmak]

Since i was on a budget being close to xmas - i bought a Nikkor 50 mm F/1.8 Wide Angle Lens. This is what i got from the baseline.

[Limbwalker]

Not too bad. Actually, on a 1.6x crop body, that 50mm is the equivalent of an 80mm short telephoto lens. At 1.8 it's very useful indoors. You could drop a 2x converter on it and have a 100mm F/2.6 lens which is still pretty darn useful indoors.

Check your white balance though and make sure it's set for tungsten lights if you shoot indoors. It will make a big difference.