lenses for tennis

sportysnaps

sportysnaps

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A friend at work showed me a website of a photographer that had covered an indoor tennis event that his young daughter had competed in recently. i was shocked :gag: by how bad the work was.the website was poor the prices were high and the photos were poor, with this in mind i wondered what lenses people would typically use to cover an indoor tennis event for children (8-16??) - assuming that you had good access - i.e you were the official photographer? the target audience would be the competitors and their parents not magazines and newspapers

i have my own ideas as we fully intend to cover some events later in the year i just wondered on other peoples thoughts?:shrug:
 
One of my parents uses a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR for covering pony events. Lots of horses dashing quickly around a ring, similar distances between 'tog and subject, feet are moving pretty fast so I'd wager that might work out alright.
 
The 135L is popular for indoor events where you can get fairly close to the action.
 
can we have a link to the site!? not to laugh but to get a good i dea on images and stuf like that!
 
I think there are going to be two considerations here, as usual.

Firstly focal length, and that depends on how close you're going to be to the action. A 70-200mm zoom feels about right, and gives you some flexibility, but if you've got time to case the joint and work out the angles than a prime of some sort would be preferable because of ...

Secondly aperture, and you want a lens as fast as you can manage in order to (a) freeze the action and (b) separate the subject from the background. (Tennis backgrounds are usually quite cluttered.) Primes have a clear advantage here.

The Canon 200mm f/1.8L springs to mind as the ideal tool if the range is right. Or the 135mm f/2L, as pxl8 suggests, if you can get closer.
 
33L said:
can we have a link to the site!? not to laugh but to get a good i dea on images and stuf like that!
Click to expand...


No

i dont think it would be pofessional to do that and also it is password protected anyway due to the ages of the kids - i'm not about to post the password on a forum(or PM it)

feel free to have a look when we do though www.sportysnaps.com
i will post a link and put some photos on here when we do the events later in the year so you can have a look then

The advice given in general here is in line with what i was thinking - it all depends on light levels and access - i think that the 70-200mm IS will be the most flexble, the 135 f2 would be a good tool to have as well.

i dont have a 200mm f1.8, would be great to try one - not really in budget though :shake:

i was wondering how the 120-300mm f2.8 would cope...
 
StewartR said:
The Canon 200mm f/1.8L springs to mind as the ideal tool if the range is right.
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That's the one that came to mind straight away for me. If I was going to be doing these week in and out, I'd probably look to get one in the camera bag. If it was just once in while, a 120-300 f2.8 sounds like a great option. :thumbs:
 
StewartR said:
I think there are going to be two considerations here, as usual.

Firstly focal length, and that depends on how close you're going to be to the action. A 70-200mm zoom feels about right, and gives you some flexibility, but if you've got time to case the joint and work out the angles than a prime of some sort would be preferable because of ...

Secondly aperture, and you want a lens as fast as you can manage in order to (a) freeze the action and (b) separate the subject from the background. (Tennis backgrounds are usually quite cluttered.) Primes have a clear advantage here.

The Canon 200mm f/1.8L springs to mind as the ideal tool if the range is right. Or the 135mm f/2L, as pxl8 suggests, if you can get closer.
Click to expand...

I'd disagree here.

I'd suggest two lenses to be sure of coverage, a 28-70(ish) f:2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 or if you're just looking for one I'd look at Sigma's 50-150mm f:2.8 especially if you're on a budget.

Given the nature of the competition, you may be closer to the court at some events than others. Also, the players will be running all over the court, from side to side and front to back. Primes simply aren't flexible enough to any use.

I have the Nikkor 200mm f:2 and besides it's fixed focal length it's far too big and heavy for this kind of event
 
I think you have received some good advice here particularly about wide aperture lenses.

However, I must say that the longer the lens is physically, it will allow you to return the ball with more pace.

:coat:
 
PsiFox said:
I think you have received some good advice here particularly about wide aperture lenses.

However, I must say that the longer the lens is physically, it will allow you to return the ball with more pace.

:coat:
Click to expand...

New balls please :exit:
 
NorthernNikon said:
Given the nature of the competition, you may be closer to the court at some events than others. Also, the players will be running all over the court, from side to side and front to back. Primes simply aren't flexible enough to any use.
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The same can be said for most field sports but primes are still the order of the day. Inside they become even more important because you can get an extra stop of shutter speed and that can make all the difference. Indoor court games such as basketball, tennis, etc. typically 85, 135 and 200mm @ f/2 or faster in use. As for big and heavy, that's what monopods are for :thumbs:
 
pxl8 said:
The same can be said for most field sports but primes are still the order of the day. Inside they become even more important because you can get an extra stop of shutter speed and that can make all the difference. Indoor court games such as basketball, tennis, etc. typically 85, 135 and 200mm @ f/2 or faster in use. As for big and heavy, that's what monopods are for :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Bear in mind the position of the OP. No pro tog would just have prime lenses, they all carry a 70-200 and for pure flexibility a prime is the best choice to start off with. Recommending a 200mm f/1.8 or f/2 is plain daft. They're like hens' teeth 2nd hand and new the Nikkors are £2600 upwards. Yes they're lovely lenses, but the they're not the best lenses for this application. While you can get an extra stop plus with fast primes, don't forget that the reduced depth of field will mean that the focus will have to be spot on, tricky enough but on a moving target? Better up the ISO especially for this type of shot where a little noise certainly isn't going to be a deal breaker. What is going to secure extra sales is having a full variety of shots and it's far easier to get a variety of shots with a zoom on your body than when you're rummaging in your kit bag for another lens.

(By the way, the above is based on owning a Nikkor 200 f/2 and also shooting badminton at the Manchester Commonwealth Games and being a Photo supervisor at the wheel chair tennis at the Sydney Paralympics)
 
ok guys thanks for the advice i can see the pros and cons of primes or zooms, and clearly with tennis the primes would work well when serving as you know where they are going to be and so position accordingly. Zooms give more flexibility, and i'm sure the 70-200mm IS (that i have) will be put to good use on one body, i'm just not sure if the 24-105mm f4 will work well enough in the low light - it's only one stop but it maybe one stop too many...


there will be two of us covering events and we have three cameras 3 x 1dmk2 n 2 x 24-105mm f4 IS 1 x 70-200mm f2.8 IS and as maybe a dozen matches take place at the same time we may have maybe 10-15min at each match.

maybe we need to see how light the venues are - the first event will not be before November (we have too much work on)

I think the 135 f2 and the 24-70 f2.8 best fill the gaps in our range

Thanks pxl8 and northern nikon for your well thought out input
 
maybe we need to see how light the venues are
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Hopefully it should be pretty good. You need quite a bit of light for tennis anyway.... small ball, going pretty fast and all that. :)

Will be interesting to hear how the 24-105 does. It is a bit of a jack of all and as you say, may just be that stop too slow.
 
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