Lens Suggestion for Cheer Competitions

[Ovacheerdad]

Hello all. I have an older 60D that I use. My daughter just started cheer comps and I'm looking for a lens that will do good with the 60d for those. Majority of the time they are fairly dark except stage lighting. Standing sometimes right at the edge of the stage/mat to 20-30ft away from the stage. We could be anywhere from the size of a college basketball arena to our local cheer gym. Open to not only lens suggestion but tips from anyone that's shot dance comps or low light concerts/comps. I've not had much experience shooting fast moving subjects but now is a great time to learn. As far as shooting modes, Are you all shooting in full manual mode, Av mode, or Tv mode?

Was thinking of a few lenses.. 70-200 2.8, 135mm 1.8

 

[greybeard45 17]

(imho) either of those 2 fine lenses will do the job. Years ago when I was band director at NMHS I shot a dance competition with my Nikon D7000 and a 105 f/2.8 macro. It did just fine.

 

[nokk]

ditto greybeard, either of those lenses will work.

as for tips... set your shutter speed to 1/focal length, shoot wide open and pick an iso that will give you a good exposure. you're better off having a higher iso than an underexposed image with a lower iso. you may even be able to stop down in some venues, depending on your light. if you're not comfortable with full manual, go with tv mode so you can pick your shutter speed. i'd use full manual with auto-iso over tv if the camera has that option, that's how i shot concerts for a few years. consider setting up your back button focus so you can focus, hold it and shoot at the right moment.