My favorite image from this high school volleyball match came from the 300mm. So did most of my misses. After going back through the photos, I don't think there's a best lens for volleyball photography. But I do think falling in love with one lens can cost you shots. This is the last part of my high school volleyball series, where I look back at what I learned.
Watch it here, then keep reading for the short version and a free lens guide.
If you missed the earlier episodes, start with the plan I laid out before the match, then editing and why moving a few feet beats new gear.
I've said before that keeper rate isn't a number I care much about. These numbers are a little different. They start with the images that survived my first cull, the quick pass where I toss blurry frames and obvious misses. The question is how many of those made the final gallery.
| Lens | First cull | Final gallery | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300mm | 126 | 32 | About 25% |
| 70-200 | 118 | 68 | About 58% |
| 135mm | 9 | 4 | Too few to say |
The 300 and the 70-200 started almost even. More than twice as many 70-200 images made the final gallery.
A quick read says the 70-200 is the better volleyball lens. I don't think that's what the numbers are saying. The tighter I shoot, the less room I have to be wrong.
With the 300, one athlete can fill the frame. That's the appeal and the problem. A player shifts and ends up half out of the shot. The ball leaves the frame. Hands and feet get clipped.
I shoot it at f/2.8, wide open. On a long lens, that makes the depth of field, the slice of the image that's actually in focus, very thin. That's what melts a busy gym background away. It's also why tack sharp is harder to get.
So why keep using it? When it works, I get images a wider lens can't give me. I'm trading fewer final images for better ones.
You don't need a 300 for this to apply. Zoom any lens all the way in and the same thing happens. Tighter framing means less room for error, whatever you shoot with.
When I don't know where the play is headed, the 70-200 gives me space to follow it and adjust. I can always crop later.
Wider isn't worse. A celebration might include half the team. Sometimes the background is part of the story. That might sound funny after two episodes about cleaning up backgrounds, but a clean background doesn't have to be an empty one. It should add to the image, not distract from it.
Sometimes the fix isn't a longer lens at all. It's getting closer with a wider one, like stepping in near a huddle. Just know that the wider you go, the more background you have to manage.
If there's no best lens, how do I choose? I start with the shot I'm most likely to get from where I'm standing. Then I pick the lens for that shot.
Early in the match. The 70-200. With a team I don't know, it gives me room while I figure out who's hitting and where the ball is going.
Once I see the patterns. A longer lens. The narrow view works best when I can anticipate the action.
Late in the match. Back to the 70-200, sometimes with the 24-120 nearby for the winning team's celebration.
Switching lenses is also how I get variety. Different angles, different actions, different looks from one match.
Your comments on earlier episodes gave me a few things to try. Kevin Deadwylier brings a soft gardening kneeling pad, sits on the floor, and shoots from a low angle. I'll come back to shooting low in the football episodes.
One viewer suggested using different subject motion settings for different kinds of action. Subject motion tells the autofocus how predictable the movement will be. Erratic for digs and bumps, steady for blocks and kills at the net, with each one on a custom button so you can switch fast. I haven't tried it yet, but I want to.
I put together a free lens choice guide for volleyball. It lays out which lens fits which moment in a match. Sign up at the link below and I'll email it to you, along with new guides as I make them.
Every lens I brought to this match did something the others couldn't. Which lens would you have reached for, and when would you have switched? Is there a lens you've fallen in love with? No judgment. I have a few. Leave it in the comments on the video. I read all of them.
Next episode, we're heading outside to high school football.
Get out there and make beautiful images.