I'd like to get a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8, but wonder if the AF is fast enough for indoor sports " Basketball, soccer, floor hockey, volleyball etc." Or would the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 with it's HSM be faster?
Thoughts please.
How much more difference do you think one brand's f1.4 would be compared to another's f1.4? There are relatively about the same in most case. The quality is not just about the f-stop but the result constrast, colour reproduction..etc
And if you are shooting sports as you mentioned, why are you even considering a 50mm? That is like using a super wide to capture close up fast action as a sport photography analogy. heheh How close or far you want to get? I am certain to shoot those scene you want to get as close to the action thus a 50mm will get you nothing unless you are running along side the player or in the field.
For sports you need the fastest longest lens you can afford as an amatuer, if you are a pro you HAVE to buy the fastest and longest that is the difference but you will have to get the fastest and the longest to get anything half decent...but would it be worth spend that money practically?
Also alot depend on the ambient lighting in the stadium too. The brighter the lights shone on the game the more options you have...not just in terms of shutter speed but f-stop and ISO setting. If you want to use ISO 100 to 200 then you find your options very limited if not bleak to ever get a decent shot unless the sportman is not moving and just stand there for you to shoot.
A decent shutter speed for action shots is about 1/500 to 1/1000 to stop down action. Keeping that in mind you then choose your aperture accordingly alone or at the same time up your ISO setting up. You might end up with something abit more grainy depend on how old your DSLR ( if you have the new D300 or D3..it has gret noise filtering even at very high ISO setting) or you learn to live with it. Grain photo does not alway make for a bad shot...some people are just silly to think that way. Sometime grain added to a shot can give it more impact. Thus it depend on you. The shooter.
Getting back to your f-stop. 1.4 is already the lowest you can find unless your pocket is really deep and you want to track down old classic collector lens like the legendary Nikon 58mm f1.2 NOCT that one is super sharp even when you fully open up the aperture. But you want to shell out about S$2000 or more for this collectable old lens? I am not even sure if it will be usable on the current line of DSLRs abeit alot of manual setting up heheh..
How crucial is that little bit more f-stop? Think about cost versus practicality. Plus really man...if you are shooting sports and indoor...you are looking at a long lens and fast apertures...not a 50mm type lens.
