Toby

I shoot many wrestling events every year. The older High school gyms are frequently very poorly lit. I use a Canon 70D with an f 2.8 lens. Aperture priority at f 2.8, ISO at 3200 to 5000 as needed to get a speed of 1/320 or faster. With this set up the speed floats. Watch as you shoot and if you get any speeds under 1/320 switch to manual. The subsequent photos may look dark on your screen but they can be corrected with Lightroom.
I have both a 70-200mm and a 24-70mm. I prefer the 24-70mm if you can get to the edge of the mat. With the 70-200mm you are frequently too close even at 70mm.
Shooting in Raw is necessary if you want to do any PP.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The Tamron is a great lens as is the older Nikon 70-200 f/2.8. The older model (VR enabled) is listing at KEH between $1400 and $1500.

exposeu Loc: Wenatchee, WA

I agree with you Jerry. I had both the Nikon 70-200 and the 80-200 AF-S and I sold the 70-200 and kept the other. If you do not need VR I would look for one, they are great. My house was broken into and all my Nikon gear was stolen but the 80-200. I sold it here a few weeks ago for $800 as I no longer shoot Nikon, went to Olympus MU 4/3rds.

Good luck,

Randy

Caysnowman Loc: MN & SC

I want to thank you all for the advice you have given. I really appreciate the details and found them to be very helpful. Since this is his Senior year I think I'm going to rent the Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR II and an 85 1.8 and do ALOT of chimping! 24-70 has its merits but last year it was really difficult to get up to the edge of the mat unless you had a press pass - all depended on who was administrating the match.

Hope they have mats of the same color this year. Last year virtually every mat was a different color; really made a difference which mat the match was on especially when I tried to get shots of both the Grandson and his team mate who were wrestling simultaneously on mats of different color.

Again, I really appreciated all the detailed suggestions.

Bill

ABJanes Loc: Jersey Boy now Virginia

They may have a warm up session prior to the event, either way, getting there early to take some test shots might be a good idea.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Nikon 80-200 F2.8. The two ring version used is about $600 and the push pull version is a little less. Both are excellent, and the two ring version is still in production. These are AF-D lenses, so you can't use them on a camera that does not have a focus drive if you are expect autofocus. However, the push-pull version is extremely fast to use with manual focus. I am pretty sure the D7000 has a focus motor. Either lens will be better at F4 than the F4 70-200 at the same aperture.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...all good advice. I shoot alot of indoor/gym pageantry events and they (and therefor *you*) require a fast shutter (you could prolly get away with a 320th, which I used before acquiring better equipment)...your 7000 is a good body and you should be able to push the ISO (I find noise reduction in LR reallyreally good). The 80-200 will work wonderfully (I owned one)...and the Tamron 70-200 sounds like a great deal, too. One caveat here, leave VR off! I burned-up the vr motor in my 70-200 VII shooting fast-moving subjects...needed to learn *when* VR is appropriate (lucky Nikon had mercy and fixed it for me). Another thing which may affect your shoot is white balance and what happens if you encounter lights that cycle at 60 hz...if you run into that condition you're gonna have to make your adjustments in post (I will make a couple of presets in LR and deal with it that way), even in auto, WB will fluctuate 'cuz the camera simply can't compensate fast enough when *you* are shooting fast. Good luck!

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I really liked Tamron 70-200 2.8 that I had.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Bill - Look at LensRentals.com as a source for renting. If distance from the action is an issue, look too at Nikon's 300mm f/2.8G AF-S VR II.

trek6500mt

I never use VR when shooting sports. You will get more out of focus shots than in focus. I'd try some with and then without. As someone suggested to go early and get some practice shots in. Good luck to you sir!!

trek6500mt

Oh, also don't think you have to shoot at 2.8. Sometimes if focusing is an issue I'll shoot at 3.2 or 3.5 and increase my ISO. I've never liked shooting in aperture priority. To me it makes no sense when it comes to sports photography. But to each there own. 😉

Caysnowman Loc: MN & SC

Jim, curious why you used past tense for this?

Bill