I know that we have a few "Professional" photographers here so I thout I would ask this question.

I am looking to take pictures of my sons sporting events. One is in Wrestling and Lacrosse.
The other is in Hockey.

I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi with 2 lenses. A EFS 18-55 and a EEF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 zom lens.

I can take OK pictures but I get a lot of blur, especially with Hockey. I know that I need a faster lens, a 2.8 I think. And I know that they are very expensive.

So I am looking for any helpful suggestions on how I can take better pictures with my current setup or if anyone has any idea where I can pick up a better lens cheap.


Thanks alot for any help

L series IS USM lenses are what you need. Be careful, when it comes to the lens, you get what you pay for.

The IS is image stabilization, which lets you use a slower shutter speed in lower light conditions, the USM is fast and silent and the L series lenses give you the best clarity. Be wary, they are expensive and you can spend in upwards of $1500 for a good lens.

Hope that helps

PS There are a FEW good non canon lenses that can get the job done, but read the reviews before purchasing.

IS helps stop you from shaking the camera it does not stop motion blur from a moving subject.  You need a fast lense like Astrodad said, you can also try the sport setting on your camera and see if that helps.  I have the XTi also  and have the Canon L series 24- 105  2.8, it is a great walking around lense and very fast, cost around $1150.00.

I am hoping for something in the $500 range used. Probably just wishing .

I'm a Nikon guy so I don't know good or bad Canon glass but the basic laws of optics apply no matter what camera.

Forgive me if this is remedial to you but I'll type it anyways:

The blur you're seeing is the camera adjusting the shutter speed down to account for the lack of light in the 'arena' or wherever you're shooting.
I'm assuming you're shooting in 'program' mode. In that case, the camera has 'opened' up the lense to the maximum aperture it can for the focal length your shooting. Since it can't get enough light through the lense with that aperture it's adjusting the shutter speed down to try to get the optimum exposure. There's a really good chance that even with 'fast glass' or f2.8 glass you still won't have enough light. The other tradeoff with the 2.8 glass is that you're going to decrease your depth of field quite a bit, which is going to make focus critical, which is compounded by being in a dark arena.

Generally, when shooting sports, we try to have shutter speeds at a minimum of 1/250th with 1/500th preferred. There's probably no way realistically you're going to get that kind of shutter speed in an arena with mid level equipment so I would suggest:

Set your camera on 'Shutter' priority. This will allow you to control the shutter speed independent of what the camera thinks it should be. Your aperture is going to go the the widest setting allowed since you're in a dark area. Check your camera manual and adjust your ISO setting up. ISO is the equivalent to a 'gain' setting for the sensor in your camera.

I'm not sure what kind of range the camera you have specfied has in regards to ISO, but if you can get it up to around 800, and get your shutter speed up to at least 1/125th you'll probably start to see a marked improvement in your images.

The trade off with higher ISO's is more 'noise' in your images. Noise will be most prevalent in the shadow areas of your images, and will look a bit like multi-colored 'grain'. There are several good noise removal tools out there (noise ninja and neat image being my 2 favs) that can help remove noise. You might find though that if you're printing the images at 4x6 the noise isn't as bad on prints as it is on the screen.

I hope you find that info useful, feel free to pull me aside on TS if you wish to discuss further.......glad to help.

I'm not familiar with the quality of the Canon, but to some degree I agree with Baument.  With my Nikon D100, any increase in ISO level reduced the quality of the image, and introduced noise.  But that camera is about 7 years old, and digital technology was new-ish and quickly changing.  My new D700, I've moved the ISO up to 3200 and have seen no appreciable grain/noise in the shadow areas of my images and this is in 8x10 sized prints.  If I were you, I'd play with he ISO before investing in the lens.  ISO is no substitute for a good lens, but in this case, your needs may not justify the expense.  Try raising the ISO and see what it does.

I never trust the auto mode. Everything I shoot I do in full manual mode, that way I can determine the output of the photo. For example, shutter speed is everything when taking sports photos, but it is a balance and previously described by the others responding to the post. It is all about practice and understanding the relationship between F-Stop and Shutter Speed and how it can change the results. Moving one F-Stop can dramatically change things.

I always suggest the following:

A good lens makes a world of difference
A good tripod or monopod is a requirement
A good proper set of filters is very helpful
Bracket Bracket Bracket - most digital SLRs can bracket a photo, moving the F-STOP up or down as you require with a single shutter release. This gives you 2, 3, or 4 photos of the same subject and you can see the results of taking it at different steps.
Learning the basics of photoshop can make an ok photo and spectacular one.

Practice practice Practice...I take my Canon 10D everywhere, I also lug every lens I have with me everywhere, you never know when you are going to see something that with a true macro lens is going to make an amazing shot.