Affordable Lens for photographing Youth Ice Hockey

neverfacedefeat · May 22, 2012

I have a Canon t3i and I am going to be photographing my nephew's squirt hockey team. I need a lens for this, as all I have now is the 18-55mm and that doesn't give me the distance I need. I am thinking some where around 200mm since the camera has the cropped sensor, but I don't know what aperture to get. I understand the smaller the better, but I can not afford any of the lenses I have found with the smaller apertures. My price range is around $300 or so, and I would love some suggestions!

chuasam · May 22, 2012

Get a bigger budget

neverfacedefeat · May 22, 2012

i asked for suggestions, not smart ass comments. thanks though.

thisisbleep · May 23, 2012

I suggest the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II

Product Catalog - [ Canon Hongkong Company Limited ]

richard16154 · May 23, 2012

for $300.00 you can get a nice canon ef 75-300 usm on e-bay. i just purchased a promaster set by sigma ef 35-80mm and 70-210mm for only $41.00 including freight! i know it doesn't have the snob appeal a $1500.00 lens would have, but it takes awsome pics. will be posting some soon.

enzodm · May 23, 2012

thisisbleep said:
I suggest the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II

Product Catalog - [ Canon Hongkong Company Limited ]

on a budget, I agree. However, wait for someone that shoots hockey to better understand whether the typical hockey lighting needs more aperture or not.

On a side note, f/2.8 is a larger aperture than f/5.6. Only the f-number is smaller, but is a fraction, so the aperture is larger.

StandingBear1983 · May 23, 2012

Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Autofocus Lens 6472A002 B&H

table1349 · May 23, 2012

chuasam said:
Get a bigger budget

neverfacedefeat said:
i asked for suggestions, not smart ass comments. thanks though.

Frankly, if you are talking about indoor hockey, which in AZ I would assume is the case then that was not really a smart ass comment.

Indoor venues look brightly lit to the human eye however they are not when it comes to photography. You need a minimum of f2.8 to be able to achieve the shutter speed needed to freeze the action. For peewee hockey 1/320th will do, 1/500th is preferred. With an f2.8 lens you are still going to be cranking the ISO up to 3200 to get that kind of shutter speed.

I shoot sports, and I don't own a lens slower that f2.8 for several reasons. One of them being, that even in the NCAA Division I venues I shoot I still need fast glass to get the shutter speeds I need. You might want to consider a used fast prime rather than a zoom as you can get a better price on one.

Kerbouchard · May 23, 2012

Unfortunately, the words 'affordable' and 'indoor sports', don't really belong in the same same sentence when it comes to photography.

You need more reach, which means you will be shooting at longer focal lengths, which means you need faster shutter speeds, which means you need a larger aperture to let more light in, which means we have left the range of 'affordable'.

The only lens that I can think of that is in the range of your budget and will be able to perform under those conditions is the 85mm 1.8.

Dao · May 23, 2012

I never shot hockey games before, however I did shoot some photos in the iceskate rinks when my daughter practice ice skating. The 2 ice skate rinks are different in lighting with one being brighter than the other one. So not sure how well lit the site where your nephew play at.

With my 70-200mm f/4L lens, I need to bump up the ISO to 800 or 1600 to get a good shutter speed. (Sometimes, it was not even fast enough) If I use my 85mm f/1.8 and shoot it with a wider aperture, I was able to take some better shots as long as my daughter was closer.

So I believe you may want to look for a faster lens or shoot raw and bump up the ISO and reduce the noise in POST. And for a faster lens, you may need a bigger budget. Or rent a lens just for that event.

Sherm · May 23, 2012

I got into photography as my kids got started with hockey. They play mite developmental and I can sit on the bench (no kids on the bench) and get close to the action. I am happy with very few of my shots using a Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 VC lens and Canon Xsi with ISO 800.

Are you trying to get better at photography and improve your skills or do you want to give pictures to the members of the team? If it is the latter I think you are going to have trouble. If it is the former then you have to work with what you got and have realistic expectations (in order to freeze the action your shutter speed will be increased and photos will be dark).

I have had some help with the 430 EXII flash when the skaters are near me. Consider a fast used prime and an external flash.

Stradawhovious · May 23, 2012

I've shot indoor hockey before, and even with a 80-200 2.8 ($1,000 used. On a good day.) the ISO was at around 3200 depending on where I was at in the rink. A slower "kit" lens would have been in the "unusable" ISO range.

So unless the rink has AMAZING lighting.... which they generally don't, you are going to either need to save more money, or rent a decent lens to get good photos at a reasonable ISO.

Or, crank up the ISO and have some fun with what you have.

Or buy a 50 or 85mm 1.8 and sit right on top of the ice.

BlueMeanieTSi · May 23, 2012

I tried with the 70-300 F4-5.6 and it was impossible especially at anything over 150mm. You need a fast lens for that stuff.

StandingBear1983 · May 23, 2012

yea you'll have to shoot at 6400 ISO to get good results with f5.6, at 300$ there isn't a 2.8f super telephoto lens, if you had the Nikon D7000\D5100 maybe you could get away with 6400 ISO....I don't think the sensor of the t3i is so good in low light to be able to get away with it...maybe if you resize it later in post production..to computer size viewing...