Best lens for night photos?

[elguaposooner]

I recently purchased the Canon EOS Rebel T3 bundle and love everything about it for the most part. There are only a couple of issues I'm having.

1) When I attempt to take action photos (usually from the stands) with my 70-300mm lens under stadium lights (i.e. football game photos), most everything winds up being blurred. I've tried adjusting the settings and typically use sport mode for these shots. I have also tried the auto setting and night setting, both without success. Does anybody have any suggestions for the best type of additional lens that would be best for taking these types of photos? I am trying not to break the bank here, really looking for something around $250-$500 max as I'm still a novice. Any input is appreciated!

2) I have what appears to be a "smudge" or distortion across the center portion of my photos. It is especially noticeable on a solid, light colored background (i.e. blue sky). It appears to be specific to the camera as the distortion is present regardless of the lens I use.

3) There is a dark, horizontal line across the entire image area which shows up only on photos taken at night. It is always in the same spot of the photo. Daylight pictures appear to be free of this horizontal line. All thoughts and/or suggestions welcome. Fortunately I have an extended warranty on all equipment but am hoping there's a way around having to go that route.

Thanks in advance!

 

[shootermcgavin]

You are trying to take a difficult picture to begin with, there could be a lot of problems maybe you have ISO locked on 100 I don't know if full auto would over rule that or not. I definetely don't recommend using sports mode, infact I wouldn't use anything with a picture on it myself. Tv is better for sports as you can tell it just how fast you want to snap off the photo, around 200 is good for sports. I just shot a high school football game and the ISO was at around 1600 for all the shots to get a quick shutter time. The pictures were good but not wonderful because of noise.

The smudge in lines could need cleaning I'd post a picture somebody will know what it is.