Best lens for action photography

vince31 said:
I use a Nikon D5300 and take a lot of my dogs running, currently use a Nikon 70-300mm lens....... what lens would you recommend to capture the speed!
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Action means fast moving subjects means fast shutter speeds. If you want to keep your ISO low, you need a faster aperture. If you're in good light, you'll probably get away with it.

As others have said, there's a lot you can do with your existing gear. What's holding you back? Are you using green box mode?
 
I'm guessing your talking about focus speed? Most cameras have a fast enough ss to cover most fast moving things.
 
Nostromo said:
I'm guessing your talking about focus speed?
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Good point, Dominic!

As for wildlife and sports, anything moving will require
fast and following focus.

As I consider your gear as good enough for the task, I
must push the fault on your settings.

Try BBF in continuous focus!
 
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I'm guessing you have some shots that you aren't too happy with. Post a couple of them here, Vince and folks will be able to give some more specific help.

Dave
 
70-200 2.8 lens would be best IMHO

Can't believe all these clever people and not one single person answered your question :) All gave good advice that I would agree with.. but not one answered the question :)
 
vince31 said:
what lens would you recommend to capture the speed!
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I understood, like the clever people, the question but,
like them, I think the problem is not there!

I think Vincent would have the same problem what
ever lens he may use!
 
KIPAX said:
70-200 2.8 lens would be best IMHO

Can't believe all these clever people and not one single person answered your question :) All gave good advice that I would agree with.. but not one answered the question :)
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Don't understand how you can draw that conclusion - OP asks for an 'improvement' but the definition of improvement depends on his usage scenario.

Comment above about AF speed is completely valid, I'd only thought to ask about aperture speed.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
I think Vincent would have the same problem what
ever lens he may use!
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so do i and i did agree wiht that.. and here i am having to agree a second time.. :(

doesnt alter the fact that nobody answered his simple question :)
 
Well, I guess it depends on how close he is to his subject when he takes the image - I mean I took this with a 10-22 lens at 11mm on the floor whilst it came at me with a 5 foot wingspan.
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Or if he's shooting the dog running far away then a decent telephoto.

So I'm amazed you can answer the question without further details
 
Byker28i said:
So I'm amazed you can answer the question without further details
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based on doing a lot of moving dog photography ..i certainly wouldnt post a picture of a bird to prove a point about shooting dogs haha
 
double post
 
KIPAX said:
no he didn't.. he simply asked what the best lens would be..
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Still don't follow the logic - why is the 70-200/2.8 the best? Maybe he's shooting in a confined space and the 70-200 is too big and heavy or un-subtle. Maybe the best for him is a 300/2.8 or a 135/2 or 200/2. This is why nobody is giving an answer.

The point is that any answer provided before the OP gives more info could be poor advice.[emoji1]
 
UKmitch86 said:
Still don't follow the logic - why is the 70-200/2.8 the best? Maybe he's shooting in a confined space and the 70-200 is too big and heavy or un-subtle. Maybe the best for him is a 300/2.8 or a 135/2 or 200/2. This is why nobody is giving an answer.

The point is that any answer provided before the OP gives more info could be poor advice.[emoji1]
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A simple question gets a simple reply.. if poster wants to give more info then he will get a more info reply


I was the only one to answer his question and your queing up to have a pop ?
 
I agreed with all the advice offered in my reply.. i agreed twice that its probably the way he is shooting not what he is shooting with.. I did that in my original reply.. i then answered hsi question...

now everyone wants to ignore the fact i agreed with you all and just attack my advice ..

hard work just trying to help people isnt it :)
 
UKmitch86 said:
If you go to someone and say you want the best car, what answer would you give?
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NONE i dont know enough about cars but i do know a lot about shooting moving dogs as he asked

what a completly stupid question :(
 
If I would only be able to have one lens for my sports photography... without a doubt the Canon (or any) 70-200mm f2.8 ... no question about it.
But.. always dependant on the sports you cover I guess. But for the ones I do.. this would be my choice.
 
UKmitch86 said:
Bit too quick for that conclusion, no?! He's only made one post!
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Rather than whiteknighting and taking Kipax to task, why not do something logical?

See that original post? There's a link on it. That leads to Vince's Flickr account.

Now given the pictures that he's displayed, which do you think would be the most logical and best lens to use?

Oh, that might just be a 70-200/2.8.
 
OP as others have suggested any lens can capture speed and just requires the right technique. That being said some lenses are 'better' as they can acquire focus faster, and/or have a wider aperture allowing for a lower ISO. Depending on what action/sports I'm shooting will depend on the lens I use, for example for boxing I use a combination of 24-70mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8, for cycling I use the 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 VRII, and for running the 70-200mm f2.8 VRII. For dogs running I would use the 70-200mm f2.8, in fact I did when I shot flyball last year, and so looking at your photos this is what I'd suggest, although what you don't like about your images already I don't know?
 
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In general I would agree w/ the 70-200 recommendation. If distances are a bit longer, then a 120-300/2.8. Or for greater flexibility in good light the 80-400/4.5-5.6 VRII. They will all focus faster than the 70-300, and they'll be sharper as well.
But, IMHO those are all too expensive for taking pics of your dogs considering that your current gear can deliver good results in a lot of situations. Even if you do spend £2-3K on a lens, you would still be using a camera with a bit of a handicapped AF system, figure another £1.5-6K to rectify that...

I would just embrace the challenge... it's not like there's a shortage of opportunities or that you have to get "that shot."

If "practicality" is of no concern, then I would get a D500 and the 70-200/2.8 FL (around £3k)
 
KIPAX said:
based on doing a lot of moving dog photography ..i certainly wouldnt post a picture of a bird to prove a point about shooting dogs haha
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Apologies - been working, but it's an action shot of a large animal moving, therefore a perfect example. If I'd have used a 70-200 I wouldn't have got the shot. The right lens depends on the size of animal, the distance etc

DemiLion said:
Rather than whiteknighting and taking Kipax to task, why not do something logical?
See that original post? There's a link on it. That leads to Vince's Flickr account.
Now given the pictures that he's displayed, which do you think would be the most logical and best lens to use?
Oh, that might just be a 70-200/2.8.
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OK, so there's several sized dogs shown there at several distances, including greyhounds on a track. He says he's using a 75-300 which is probably a decent focal length for the running shots shown. DX crop would help with distance so if thats the criteria then a 70-200 would suit. On my full frame canon I tend to use the 100-400.

Which brings us back to - whats the limitation with the current setup?
 
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Thankyou for all the feedback on my question, I get frustrated with the distance sometimes but maybe I should go back to the settings a try something different.
 
So you've the holy trinity of ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed. To get a higher shutter speed, you may need to open the aperture, or raise the ISO, depending on light... Then of course you've the issue of raise the ISO too far and you introduce noise. Open the aperture too far and you reduce depth of field. It's a balance depending on conditions and your equipment.

If it's focusing speed thats the issue, then try manual focussing - used to use it a lot for motorsport. I.e. for your greyhound shots, pre focus on a spot the dogs will run past and shoot as the dog passes that point.
 
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DemiLion said:
Rather than whiteknighting and taking Kipax to task, why not do something logical?

See that original post? There's a link on it. That leads to Vince's Flickr account.

Now given the pictures that he's displayed, which do you think would be the most logical and best lens to use?

Oh, that might just be a 70-200/2.8.
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But how can you recommend without knowing budget:)
 
I used to use the 70-300 VR on a D7100 to capture sport. The lens was always quick enough!

Before that I was using an Olympus E-620 and that was no speed demon!

Now i'm using the 70-200 F4 and find it a pretty good action lens.

I would quite happily still use a 70-300 VR for action - its quite a capable lens. Maybe its the speed of the body? I have no idea how it compares to the D7000 series.

The 2.8 is nice, but IMO not essential.

BUT...

As mentioned, post up some shots you are not happy with, inc the exif data, it would give us an understanding of whats not working for you.
 
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If the 70-300 VR is AFS then the AF motor speed from the body is irrelevent .........
 
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