Sports lens recommendations

[kgirl16]

Hey everyone! I wanted to know if you have any suggestions on what type of sport lens/zoom lens I should get. I've been in photography for a year now an I'm still new to the lenses, so could you help me out?

 

[seedubxj]

Budget? Body? Indoors/Outdoors? Current lenses?

 

[Tailgunner]

Budget? Body? Indoors/Outdoors? Current lenses?

This^

 

[DGMPhotography]

I'm just going to assume you're talking about sports in a very general sense. A quick Google search will tell you a lot of what we here will also tell you. Things you'll want to keep in mind are focal distance and aperture. If you're shooting sports at night you will want a much faster lens (lower f-stop). This also helps with isolating your subject to get a blurry background that all those pro shots have. And get close. If you can, shoot from the sidelines - looks much better than shooting from the bleachers. A wide focal range will help with this. A 55-200mm is surprisingly cheap (small aperture version) and will be a good lens to start off with sports.

Good luck!

 

[kgirl16]

Sorry I did not mention that first. I don't have a certain budget I just need some suggestions. I have a Nikon D5100, the current lenses I have right now are a 18-55mm and a 55-22mm lens. And both indoor and outdoor sports. Thanks.

 

[TheLost]

Nikon 70-300VR = $350 refurbished or $580 new
Nikon 70-200 f/4 = $1400 new
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR1 = $1400 used
Nikon 70-200 f/2.9 VRII = $2400 new

In that order...

[*edit*].. You want a fast auto focusing lens for sports.. the Nikon 55-200 and 55-300 are horribly slow to focus. No bueno for sports.. The 70-300VR (has to be the VR) is a great lens at a great price refurbished ($350!!). Its almost as fast focusing as Nikons 'Pro' 70-200 f.2,8 VRII. Its an awesome lens in the sun... its weakness is clouds and dark... that's when you have to spend $1k more to get an improvement.

 

[Tailgunner]

Nikon 70-300VR = $350 refurbished or $580 new
Nikon 70-200 f/4 = $1400 new
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR1 = $1400 used
Nikon 70-200 f/2.9 VRII = $2400 new

In that order...

[*edit*].. You want a fast auto focusing lens for sports.. the Nikon 55-200 and 55-300 are horribly slow to focus. No bueno for sports.. The 70-300VR (has to be the VR) is a great lens at a great price refurbished ($350!!). Its almost as fast focusing as Nikons 'Pro' 70-200 f.2,8 VRII. Its an awesome lens in the sun... its weakness is clouds and dark... that's when you have to spend $1k more to get an improvement.

Is the 70-200 F4 any good?

Anyhow, I was going to suggest something similar, the 70-300mm VR if you're on a super tight budget, the 70-200mm 2.8 VR I if you have a more relazed budget, and the 70-200mm 2.8 VR II if you have no budget.

 

[lurry]

Take look at this recommendation Sigma 120-300 mm f2.8 DG OS HSM Sports Lens Review (Canon, Nikon, Sigma)

 

[Solarflare]

The AF-S 70-200mm f4 VR is a very good lens, yes.

You basically lose one stop of light and the weathersealing, and the original tripod mount is a separate and expensive item that I skipped.

The autofocus is said to be about the same, the sharpness apparently is even a hint better, but the bokeh reportedly is not as good.

Its also a lot less expensive and a lot more lightweight - the later allows besides to use the original tripod mount of the camera.

Purely from its optics, this is currently my favorite in my personal trinity of Nikon FX lenses.