Lens for indoor/outdoor sports... SUGGESTIONS PLEASE?

[danielle.beebe]

I have a Canon Rebel XTi, the 18-55mm kit lens, and a 75-300mm 4-5.6 lens. I have an internship shooting sports for Big Red Report magazine and have enjoyed it so far, but not happy with quality of my photographs. I would like to be able to shoot volleyball in the fall but my current lenses provide lightly blurred photographs. Any suggestions for a lens that would be good for indoor and outdoor photography, and other purposes?

I appreciate the help! I'm fairly new to this and can use any advice I can get.
Thanks,
Danielle

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[Dao]

You may want to take a look at EF 85mm F/1.8 USM. I know someone using that for indoor volleyball.

[CxThree]

I'd suggest a couple of options. For an immediate help, pick up the Canon 50MM 1.8 lens. $100. You will have to use your feet for a zoom, but it will help you immediately, as it can go to a much wider AP than your current lenses. For a longer term solution, it's probably going to mean investing in the 70-200mm F2.8L or 70-200MM F208L IS lens. both are AWESOME, but they are expensive.

The main issue you are probably seeing now is the lighting indoors is causing you trouble. Faster glass should help you out in that situation.

[tsaraleksi]

For outdoor sports, you'll want to look at the 70-200/2.8 as a base. Some other options are the 300/4L IS, which is fairly reasonably priced, and the more pricey options: 300/2.8L IS, 400/2.8L IS, 600/4L IS -- these are the lenses that you'll see shooters from AP, SI, etc using. They're terrifically expensive, however, which is why you might want to look at the 300/4 (about $1k) for a longer out door lens.

For indoor, the 70-200 is probably going to do the trick-- assuming you're shooting at a D1 school, the lighting is certainly good enough that 2.8 will do just fine.

All that said, it looks like a 70-200/2.8 is your best bet. Check out KEH Camera: Used Cameras, Digital Cameras, Film Cameras, Laptop Computers and More. for some used options if the price tag puts you off.

[danielle.beebe]

Thank you for the advice! I had done some research and the 70-200mm f2.8 USM IS was what I had my heart set on, but I wanted some experienced advice to help reassure I was doing the right thing with such a big purchase. From reading other threads it seems like a lot of people really love this lens. Thanks for the help!