Hello,

I've been out of DSLR/photography world for quite a while now, so I'm not really sure where the technology has gone with regard to the title.  These days I'm mainly interested in capturing my kids and relatives at their various sporting and music events where I won't have any supplemental lighting, but that type of photography is something I've always struggled with.  My most recent camera that I still own, but rarely use is a Canon D10 with a handful of lenses.  These days my smartphone will do probably 95% of what I need on a daily basis.  Still, both that older model DLSR and a Galaxy S22 Ultra struggle to capture clear images of indoor sports and concerts.  Is there a DLSR or mirrorless that excels in this regard?  It looks like high ISO cameras and onboard image processing have come a long way, but I'm not totally sure that's the answer.  I'm ready to purchase a new camera body and lenses if need be, but need a starting point for recent technology advances, and a leg up before I select lenses, etc.  Anyone have any advice for me?

Thank you

Canon 5D mk III with a fast lens in the range of f2.8 or faster should do well.  The 5D mk III is an older camera but is one of the best in low light situations.  It's the one camera body I refuse to part with.

ISO 102,400

ChickenChopper High ISO by FredMan, on Flickr

ISO 51200

ChickenChopper High ISO-1 by FredMan, on Flickr

Indoor sports photography requires higher end equipment to get the desired photos. You need a shutter speed that freezes the action, usually 1/500 or higher.
Given the poor lighting in most school gyms, this means a high ISO and wide lenses are the key.

My high school volleyball photography in the average light is usually running with
shutter speed 1/800, f/4, ISO 12800

Some of the poorly lit gyms in the Seattle area have gotten nice lighting upgrades.
1/800, f/2.8, ISO 3200

I am shooting Nikon full frame DSLRs that will easily handle the high ISOs with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I could shoot at f/2.8 to cut the ISO in half, but my cameras will handle the ISOs so I use f/4 for a slightly deeper depth of field. I shooting raw files (NEF). Post processing in Lightroom is a breeze.

Since no one is going to see the full size images, not a lot of noise reduction is really needed -- but some is -- since the visual reduction of the resolution to fit the viewing screen -- and printing -- will eat lots of the digital noise from the high ISOs.

In the end you need to see how badly lighted your gyms are and what the needed ISOs will be since you need to sacrifice everything to get the needed shutter speeds. Consumer grade f/5.6 zoom lenses will kill you.

You can play with the shutter speeds to see how much motion blur in the hands/feet/ball you will tolerate. For volleyball, 1/1000 will freeze everything, but I don't mind the slight blur at 1/800 or even 1/640. Worst case, converting the images to black&white will hide lots of noise problems. Once you get the exposure settings figured out, learning the auto-focus settings is the key.

The current selection pro-sumer level DX cameras from both Nikon and Canon will do very well if you don't want to spend on the FX sensors.

Lenses are the key, not cameras. Figure out what lens you need and go from there.

$5000 is NOT a mid range camera.


If you are shooting with a Canon 10D that's pretty old tech. The new canon mirrorless is the way of the future. I'd look into the new Canon R10, that coupled with some midrange f4 lenses would serve you well.

A 5dmk3 is an old camera now, good used are about 800 on keh, and would be a good choice. Find a good lens preferably with a 2.8 aperture to get the most light in.

I do agree the 10d is crazy old, if it works it works, and you can probably get a few decent shots, but pretty much any entry level dslr made in the last 5 years would crush it.

If you want new new, the canon r10 is a great choice, it’s the entry level mirrorless at 1k, but if you could swing it, the r7 is the next step up, about 1500, and it’s more of an entry level sports and wildlife camera so it’s going to have more features that you want, like ibis (in body stabilization)

And to get the most out of the camera body, you need the best glass. So looking for the 2.8 aperture to get the most light in for indoor use.

I always enjoy your informative posts, as I'm sure others do.    Thank you.

Thank you for all of the responses thus far.  There's a ton of great information here to digest.  A faster lens is on my list undoubtedly.  I get that an expensive body doesn't equal great shots on its own, but the new technology sure doesn't hurt.  I've been looking at some of the items discusses in JosephK's post.  Specifically the Nikon D850 and NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens.  That combo would be at the very top end of what I'd budget.  

There were a couple mentions of the mirrorless too.  Whats the concensus? Everybit as capable as as a DSLR, not worth it yet?

As always, I appreciate the wealth of knowledge and experience this place has to offer.

I still think a D750 coupled with an older Nikon or Tamron G2 70-200 lens is still nothing to sneeze at.   You cld get into those for a fricking steal off Facebook Marketplace.....

Dslr and mirrorless both have some pros and cons, but however good they are, dslr is pretty much dead as far as camera companies are concerned, so going forward there will be pretty much no more dslr. The most modern round of mirrorless from Sony and canon are best of the best currently and will only be improved in the future, Nikon seems to be just a bit behind in the technology, but that’s really just splitting hairs.

Great body, I just bought one.  With a 50 mm f/1.8 prime it's pretty good with available light.  The downside is that it doesn't have a built-in flash.

Go micro 4/3

https://www.adorama.com/iomom1.html

https://www.adorama.com/iom4015028b.html

I shoot a lot of indoor sports at the HS level in smaller towns. The lighting in the gyms is generally horrific, but the kids generally aren't as fast as they are in larger areas. I can generally shoot at 1/320, ISO 1600, and an f stop of 2.8. It works well for me.

My Canon M50 with an adapted 55-150 EFS f/4-5.6 lens manages well for my boy's Special Olympics trips.

Considering I got it to take macro pics of guns, I'm pretty pleased.

This thread of "mid-range" makes me feel poor.  I am still shooting with my old Rebel T3i and a couple decent lenses.  I fully understand that with camera equipment it is easy to end up in the tens of thousands, but I wouldnt think a $5k setup would be considered mid-range.  Then again, everything is expensive as hell now.

Everything was just as expensive as back when that camera was released. If you shop for consumer equipment, you would never see the prosumer or professional equipment prices.

Indoor sports is a tough cookie,  I have done it before for friends and they were plenty happy with the results.   BUT most photographers aren't going to be happy with the noisey higher ISO photos that represent event the best case scenario with that kind of lighting.

My recommendation is buy/rent the fastest lens you can that focuses accurately and fast.  Then run a noise reduction filter and don't pixel peep, for your own sanity.

I can’t stress this enough. And I HATE noise. Hate it more that blur.

Makes me think I’m looking through a dirty window.

But the fact of the matter is, low light fast action means you need fast glass and a certain higher level of tolerance for noise.

You're both right, it's solid advice. I too hate noise, but that's secondary if I can't even capture a clear image. None of my current lenses will make it happen without unusable levels of noise, to me anyway.   Fwiw, I'll be primarily shooting wrestling, which isn't nearly as fast paces as other indoor sports, but might as well cover all of my bases anyway.

Thanks for all the replies, keep it coming.

Some of the de-noising software in post is pretty good. You could try some of those.

Lightroom is pretty good, but I’ve seen amazing things with the DxO noise filter. But I’m too cheap fo dat!

I do a lot of indoor sports, primarily ice hockey in a dark rink.  1/400 f/2.8 4000ISO, and Topaz Denoise get's things pretty clean.: