Best decently priced lens for shooting near and far fast action football on 80d for beginner

[Freakarius]

Hello all. I am a beginner purchasing a 80d for basically the sole purpose of shooting kids sports also with video. I am looking for recommendations on lens’ to fit my needs for fast action shots. Most of them are from a good distance away. Let’s say 30 yards or so. But I sometimes also like to take close shots of them on the sidelines. From what I can tell now I will be able to stand a little closer on the track instead of the bleachers. Also the games will be shot during the day with full sun. All and any info would be greatly appreciated. Like I said I’m going in this blind but would like to have a lens that can stand up to the speed of the game instead of wasting my money on something that doesn’t. Thanks all!!

 

[jaomul]

I reckon the canon 70-200mm f4 without the IS might be a good low priced (especially used) would be one to look at. It's not super close but a good performance lens, f4 should be ok in the good light you describe

 

[Jeff15]

Hello and welcome, there are lots to choose from take a look on eBay...

 

[Fujidave]

On your 80D either of the F4 70-200mm would be great. I use to have the IS version and loved it.

 

[KmH]

Day or night games?

 

[astroNikon]

Day or night games?

OP stated ....

.... Also the games will be shot during the day with full sun.

It's nice to have full control over the sun and clouds with no evening/early games, etc.

 

[TCampbell]

I have good news & bad news.

First the good news: You have a lot of options.
Now the bad news: You have a LOT of options. (Canon makes 16 different lenses in this category).

Daytime games makes a HUGE difference in light. (electric field lights only seem bright until you take a meter reading and realize... they aren't all that bright). The reason this is an important difference is that to freeze action and avoid motion blur, generally a shutter speed somewhere around 1/500th or above would be good (faster if you can get away with it). When you don't have great lighting, you're forced to push up the ISO gain in an effort to compensate. To avoid having to push up the ISO gain so much... a low focal ratio lens could be used and that would buy you at least 2 full stops of aperture (lens collects 4x more light) which means you can use a shutter speed 4x faster in trade.

But low focal ratio zooms are expensive (think $2k+ category)

Since you're shooting in daylight conditions, you shouldn't need a low focal ratio zoom.



A 70-200 zoom is a good choice if you can get close to the action. For things like football and soccer fields... this can mean you're moving up and down the sidelines to follow the action ... a longer lens might make that easier.

Canon makes FOUR different 70-200 versions. All of them have extremely good optics.

There's an f/2.8 version with Image Stabilization (IS) and a version that doesn't have IS.
There's an f/4 version with IS, and another without IS.

They recently updated the f/4 version that includes IS (so now it's version II).

They did a very minor update to the f/2.8 version that includes IS (they improved the lens coating to reduce lens flare... not that the previous version had a problem with lens flare, but ... apparently now it's even better.) That lens is now a version III.

I'm not sure what "decently priced" means to you.

The f/2.8 with IS is about $2100. The f/4 version with IS about $1300.
The f/2.8 non-IS version is about $1250. The f/4 non-IS version is $600.

BTW, the f/2.8 IS version II is still in abundant supply (because they only announced the new lenses last week) and it's $1800.

Aside from the 70-200 group of lenses, what else is there?

Well... for about $2500 (that probably violates the "decently priced" objective) there is the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM and while I've never used it, it does get very high marks from those who have used it. It's the "I'm not sure what I'll need so I'll just use this lens that doesn't everything". Usually super-zooms really compromise on image quality... this one doesn't.

Coming down from the $2500 range... there are also a number of "70-300" family lenses.

The first and cheapest of these is actually the Canon 75-300 and, well... it only cost $200. After you use it, you'll understand why it's only $200. Let's just leave it at that. Cross it off your list. "Move along... these aren't the droids your looking for".

Next up are the 70-300 lenses.... the most desirable would be the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM at about $1350. (Anytime you see the red "L" after the focal length, it's a high-end Canon lens).

The L series lenses have the best build quality. Most (but not all) are weather sealed. They have the best optics. They usually (but not always) have very fast/snappy focus motors. And they usually have the best image stabilization system.

You can recognize a Canon L lens at a glance because they have a red stripe/ring around the front of the lens barrel. The telephoto L series are all white (instead of black ... allegedly because black absorbs more heat in the hot sun so they thought they'd paint the lenses white instead. But I suspect it's more to do with marketing because they like how it sticks out in the crowd.)

There is also an EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS II USM ... not an L series, and priced at about $500. It's not going to compete with the capabilities of the "L" series lens, but it cost considerably less.

Finally, there's the new EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM ... this lens uses a Stepper Motor instead of the UltraSonic Motor, but they've remade the optics vs the older 55-250mm f/4-5.6IS II (non-STM version). BTW, you don't want that version (I owned that lens and was never impressed with it. Slow focus. Poor optics. Lots of color-fringing (chromatic aberration), etc. but the new STM version is much better.

 

[ac12]

Daytime games . . . you lucky stiff.
As Tim said, day games are MUCH easier on gear requirements than night games. And you have a better choice of reasonably priced lenses.
I've been shooting high school football and soccer night games under lights, and while you can see fine, the camera is struggling. And FAST Pro lenses are EXPENSIVE and heavy.

Your 80D is an APS-C crop sensor camera, which is similar to my Nikon D7200, so my experience should be directly usable without sensor format conversion.

Since you are back from the sidelines on the track, I would go with the 70-300 IS USM.
When I am on the sidelines, I found the 70mm end of the 70-200 (on an APS-C crop camera) to be too long for close shots when the players get close to you. I have had to back up onto the track, to get more distance from the sideline, when the players got close to me.
300mm should give you adequate reach to the other sideline and decent downfield reach.

If you can get close to the sidelines, I would go with the 18-135 or 55-250 IS STM.
I shoot with the Nikon 18-140 on the sidelines for both football and soccer, for day games when that slow lens does not drag me down. It does not have the reach that the 55-250 does, but I can keep shooting when they get dangerously close to me. Which at my age I should not be doing, as I can't move as fast as I used to.
So I guess maybe the 55-250 would be a better sideline lens.

BTW, what lens(es) do you have now?

 

[Derrel]

I think the older, 70-200mm f/4 Canon L-series zoom, the model with the 67mm filter threads and NO Image Stabilizer feature, would be a good $600-$650 used option. I shot a borrowed one back in the 20D era...it focuses pretty fast, and it's easy to handle. Since it'll be daytime outdoors, f/4 is amply fast. Price is good.

The 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 L-series lens Tim C mentioned is _the favorite_ lens of one of the world's more-famous old-school paparazzi...he LOVES the lens because with a 28-300mm zoom range and L-glass quality, he has every focal length needed, in one lens. Uh, yes, it's large and weighty, but it covers a huge range of focal lengths.

 

[beagle100]

daytime football ---- old or new 100-400 ... 70-300 - 70-200 - 200-400 --- plenty of options
Untitled by c w, on Flickr

 

[ac12]

daytime football ---- old or new 100-400 ... 70-300 - 70-200 - 200-400 --- plenty of options
Untitled by c w, on Flickr

200-400 would be up on the bleachers, not down on the track.
Or you are shooting to the other side of the field, or TIGHT head shots.

 

[beagle100]

daytime football ---- old or new 100-400 ... 70-300 - 70-200 - 200-400 --- plenty of options
Untitled by c w, on Flickr

200-400 would be up on the bleachers, not down on the track.
Or you are shooting to the other side of the field, or TIGHT head shots.

I suppose it depends on the size of the field but most pee wee, pop warner football is played on high school fields (40 to 40 yard line)

w/ old old original Canon 100-400

 

[ac12]

daytime football ---- old or new 100-400 ... 70-300 - 70-200 - 200-400 --- plenty of options
Untitled by c w, on Flickr

200-400 would be up on the bleachers, not down on the track.
Or you are shooting to the other side of the field, or TIGHT head shots.

I suppose it depends on the size of the field but most pee wee, pop warner football is played on high school fields (40 to 40 yard line)

w/ old old original Canon 100-400

Only 20 yards, goal to goal?

 

[beagle100]

daytime football ---- old or new 100-400 ... 70-300 - 70-200 - 200-400 --- plenty of options
Untitled by c w, on Flickr

200-400 would be up on the bleachers, not down on the track.
Or you are shooting to the other side of the field, or TIGHT head shots.

I suppose it depends on the size of the field but most pee wee, pop warner football is played on high school fields (40 to 40 yard line)

w/ old old original Canon 100-400

Only 20 yards, goal to goal?

maybe it was 30, I can't remember ...

old old original Canon 100-400

Patriots Score ! by Local Photog, on Flickr