VR Nikon for Sports

[Andrew Vlcek]

I recently purchased a Nikon D80 to replace my old Canon. I am now looking a lense for the Nikon and have 2 in mind. Here the links to them...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...780&is=USA&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...669&is=USA&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

The first one has VR, the other does not. I will be using this lense for indoor sports photography and want to freeze the action under the low light. This is taking place in highschool gyms. I wanted a telephoto zoom with f2.8, which they both are. Heres the question though... The VR function says it can take shots 3 stops faster with your shutter speed, however it also says it elimates camera shake, not subject movement. From what I understand it measuers the movement of the lense and compensates for that. With shooting indoor sports under low light would this help me freeze my subject? I understand it will help to reduce blur caused by camera shake, but what about your subject swinging thier arm? This feature does nothing for that, right?

The other way I see it working is Nikon says its a 3 stop "equivalnt". Does that mean I can pump up the shutter speed and get the same shot, just frozen better?

Any other thought on those 2 lenses would be apreciated. My end goal in all of this is to shoot with a lower ISO, at 2.8 and faster shutter speed. Will either lense achive that goal better than the other?

Thanks for any help,
Andrew

 

[fmw]

No, it means you can hand hold at a lower shutter speed and avoid camera shake. It won't do anything about subject motion.

 

[Andrew Vlcek]

What about the 3 stop faster deal? I am shooting hand held. But in the end would I be able to freeze the action any better?

 

[ericande]

No. It only allows you to shoot at about 3 stops slower shutter speeds and still have shake-free images. You'll still have people blurry from them moving.

 

[Andrew Vlcek]

Ahhh... I was thinking about that backwards for some reason. No wonder it made zero sense to me. I read it as if you can shoot 3 stops faster, not slower. For some reason when I saw 3 stop improvment my subconsions made me think "faster". Duhh... Now it makes sense.

So for my needs the VR lense isnt really worth the extra money.

 

[Big Mike]

So for my needs the VR lense isnt really worth the extra money.

Well, VR will still help to prevent or reduce blur from camera shake. So even though it won't help with subject movement...you shots may still be sharper with VR because you are only worrying about one cause of blur and not two.

Technique may something that has to be perfected...because if you are moving the lens around to follow the action...the VR may be counter intuitive.

 

[nolatome]

I found the VR invaluable in my indoor sport photography. People movement occurs, but image sharpness is amazing. Also think about monopod, and SB800 flash. I have found great success with that combo shooting wrestling, cheerleading and football.

 

[Devananda]

I am also concertinaing these two lens myself -(for wildlife thought)
have fun choosing... it's been a really difficult one here.

so if any one else has any thoughts helps us out.

 

[mascafe]

My personal lens recomendation for sports in your, sorry, in any Nikon DSLR is the Nikkor 70-200VR f/2.8. As said before, use a monopod too and raise the ISO to 800 or 1600 for indoor sports.

Cheers.
www.juanparmenides.com

 

[Sw1tchFX]

My 80-200 f/2.8 is stellar for sports. I cannot see how VR would help for sports photography unless you're using a 300mm+ lens. I would think VR would get in the way becuase you're constantly moving and the VR would be counteracting that.

 

[EOS_JD]

My 80-200 f/2.8 is stellar for sports. I cannot see how VR would help for sports photography unless you're using a 300mm+ lens. I would think VR would get in the way becuase you're constantly moving and the VR would be counteracting that.

Watch the pros. What lenses do they use for sports.... IS/VR almost exclusively because they are the best. you may not need IS/VR all the time but when you do it's a godsend. It works fantastically well in panning too.