Recommended by genre
As with wildlife photography, sports photography is technically challenging, usually involving photographing a fast-moving subject from some distance away, often in poor light. For this reason the most essential tool for sports photographers is usually a long telephoto lens with fast autofocus, allowing photographers to fill the frame with a distant subject and ascertain focus very quickly.Â
That said, some sports allow the photographer to work from much closer up, in which case a shorter zoom or a prime might be preferred.
Sigma has a wide range of lenses that are ideal for sports photography, especially the longer lenses in its Sports line, that you can read more about below.
Recommended by genre
As with wildlife photography, sports photography is technically challenging, usually involving photographing a fast-moving subject from some distance away, often in poor light. For this reason the most essential tool for sports photographers is usually a long telephoto lens with fast autofocus, allowing photographers to fill the frame with a distant subject and ascertain focus very quickly.
That said, some sports allow the photographer to work from much closer up, in which case a shorter zoom or a prime might be preferred.
Sigma has a wide range of lenses that are ideal for sports photography, especially the longer lenses in its Sports line, that you can read more about below.
Sports photographers commonly use both telephoto zooms and telephoto primes. Zooms are the most popular choice because they’re usually considerably more affordable and more versatile if the subject is moving towards or away from the camera. On a football pitch, for example, a player can be anything between 1m and 120m from the camera as they move around the pitch, making a zoom the more flexible option. On the other hand, primes tend to have wider maximum apertures, meaning faster shutter speeds and a shallower depth-of-field.
70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM
Extremely popular with sports photographers, the 70-200mm is ideal for subjects a short distance away, providing a constant F2.8 aperture, Optical Stabilizer and sharp optics.
100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS
Weighing just 1.14kg, this full-frame zoom is ideal for photographers needing to travel light. On APS-C the effective focal length is 150-600mm. A DSLR version is also available.
60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS
The only 600mm full-frame lens with a 10x zoom, this highly versatile, weather-sealed zoom delivers superb image quality and ultra-fast AF. A DSLR version is also available.
In some situations it may be possible to get closer to the action, such as photographing trackside at a rally event, or capturing downhill mountain-biking on a woodland trail. In this case, a wider-angle lens is needed. Many photographers prefer primes for their fast apertures – in the Sigma range most Art primes are F1.4, producing a very shallow depth-of-field. Alternatively a zoom such as the 24-70mm F2.8 or 24-105mm F4 provide plenty of flexibility. For mid-range subjects, a 70-200mm F2.8 is a very useful lens.
Sebastian is an outdoor photographer who specialises in landscape, sports, lifestyle and travel. Follow him as he photographs snowboarders on the Stubai glacier in Austria with the SIGMA 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports.
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