Poor indoor performance, possible lens/body upgrade

dhdev

dhdev

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Oli
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I originally bought my camera and lenses for the purpose of motorsport photography, but as is the way I find I use the camera for a wide variety of subjects. The equipment I'm currently using is a Canon 1000d body and a collection of lenses (18-55 kit lens, nifty fifty, 55-250, 28-135).
My problem is that I have had a few instances recently where I have wanted to shoot indoor sports and find that I just end up with blurred or very noisy photos. The first instance was a bodybuilding competition where the distance was too great for flash but the subject speed was slow, the second was a kickboxing tournament where the action was very fast but I was able to get a lot closer.
I have tried turning the ISO right up, but find that above 800 the pictures become very noisy. I have been requested by a friends mum to take some pictures at their wedding in January (I've explained that I'm a complete beginner, it's not their first marriages, they're not expecting much etc etc) so I want to make sure I stand a fighting chance of getting something reasonable and also wish to have kit suitable for future kickboxing tournaments etc.
The nifty fifty is obviously excellent in low light, but I find the fixed focal length make it's applications limited. I don't have a huge budget so I'm thinking that a body upgrade with better ISO performance would improve all my lenses (as opposed to a solitary lens upgrade) and also then give me a second body. To this end I have been looking at a 500d.
Does anybody have any thoughts/suggestions/opinions? Am I right to go for a body upgrade or better off selling lenses and upgrading? Or is there another route?

Thanks for reading,
Oli.
 
Apart from the nifty fifty none of your lenses are particularly fast. Something like the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 will help you with shutter speeds and it will be sharper than your other lenses too. I've not used the 1000D but on my 50D I find that I need ISO 1600 @ f2.8 with shutter speeds of 1/60 for indoor pics using available light and no flash. I'm happy with the results from ISO1600 though. That will be good enough for stationary subjects but for something like kickboxing I would say you are going to need a higher shutter speed.

If I were you I would sell the 28-135 and get the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 then maybe think about a better body or extra flash if you need it.
 
Another great low light lens is the EF-S 17-55 F2.8 IS. This is a constant 2.8 lens, so is good in low light. Also has IS, which will help you to get decent shots when the shutter speed may be a little low.

It's not cheap though, but personally I think it's worth every penny. Perhaps a change of camera to a 40d - You can pick them up for £400 ish and a 17-55 if you're feeling flush.

How much are you looking at spending?
 
I think the 17-55 F2.8 IS is out of my price range. The Tamron seems like a good shout and one I'll definately keep an eye out for S/H.
I was looking at a 500d body, so around £400-500 is the budget, obviously if I sell lenses that i have then the budget can increase accordingly.
 
im not sure the 500D would be your best move, its not much of an improvement and im sure you will find yourself wanting to move up again soon enough.
 
I'd agree you would get soem improvement going to the 500D compared to the 1000D not sure it would be good enough.

I'd maybe go for a 2nd hand 40D ok less mega pixels etc but it's not about mega pixels a very good prosumer camera. Try

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/

You get 6months warranty and they had 3 in stock before non at the moment but that could change.

Also London Camera Exchange do 2nd they have branches throughout the country despite the name.
 
dhdev said:
I originally bought my camera and lenses for the purpose of motorsport photography, but as is the way I find I use the camera for a wide variety of subjects. The equipment I'm currently using is a Canon 1000d body and a collection of lenses (18-55 kit lens, nifty fifty, 55-250, 28-135).
My problem is that I have had a few instances recently where I have wanted to shoot indoor sports and find that I just end up with blurred or very noisy photos. The first instance was a bodybuilding competition where the distance was too great for flash but the subject speed was slow, the second was a kickboxing tournament where the action was very fast but I was able to get a lot closer.
I have tried turning the ISO right up, but find that above 800 the pictures become very noisy. I have been requested by a friends mum to take some pictures at their wedding in January (I've explained that I'm a complete beginner, it's not their first marriages, they're not expecting much etc etc) so I want to make sure I stand a fighting chance of getting something reasonable and also wish to have kit suitable for future kickboxing tournaments etc.
The nifty fifty is obviously excellent in low light, but I find the fixed focal length make it's applications limited. I don't have a huge budget so I'm thinking that a body upgrade with better ISO performance would improve all my lenses (as opposed to a solitary lens upgrade) and also then give me a second body. To this end I have been looking at a 500d.
Does anybody have any thoughts/suggestions/opinions? Am I right to go for a body upgrade or better off selling lenses and upgrading? Or is there another route?

Thanks for reading,
Oli.
Click to expand...


Quick comment on the wedding compared to sport; you can use a tripod enabling a slow shutter speed to improve low light performance. Another vote for the Tamron 17-50 F2.8...
 
dhdev said:
I think the 17-55 F2.8 IS is out of my price range. The Tamron seems like a good shout and one I'll definately keep an eye out for S/H.
I was looking at a 500d body, so around £400-500 is the budget, obviously if I sell lenses that i have then the budget can increase accordingly.
Click to expand...

Save your money then. For what you are trying to achieve the body upgrade will do you no good. Look at the replies above, no-one has suggested a body upgrade and there is a good reason for this. It will not achieve what you say you want to achieve.

If you want to prove the case for better, faster glass then why not hire one before you take the plunge? Whereaboutsd in the country are you, because I will gladly lend you a 30D body so that you can use it with your existing glass on it and prove to yourself that that the body upgrade isn't what you need.
 
Well all I can add to this is that as a 500d owner I'm not happy with indoor performance either and that includes the 50mm 1.8 mkII. So I'm guessing this isn't really a road you want to go down... I'm basically in the same boat and looking for faster glass, which ain't cheap! Anyone know where I can sell a kidney?!
 
jj_glos said:
Well all I can add to this is that as a 500d owner I'm not happy with indoor performance either and that includes the 50mm 1.8 mkII. So I'm guessing this isn't really a road you want to go down... I'm basically in the same boat and looking for faster glass, which ain't cheap! Anyone know where I can sell a kidney?!
Click to expand...

same here and thought i was too green in dslr thus had no rights complaining. But am selling every other hobby I ever had in my life for a new glass :)
 
P-Chan said:
same here and thought i was too green in dslr thus had no rights complaining. But am selling every other hobby I ever had in my life for a new glass :)
Click to expand...

Yep exactly the same. The PS3, 360 and quad cored watercooled GTX295 powered PC are close to sporting price tags soon! And if I could sell the DVD collection as one lot that'd be going to!
 
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