Hi Folks,

I am rekindling my passion for sports photography after almost 15 years, and need help form the experts here.

I am a proud owner of a new Canon 30D and to get started I got myself a Sigma 70-300 / 4-5.6 APO DG to shoot sports. As soon as I get some money my first buy is going to be a 70-200L USM IS. The attached image is taken with a 70-200L USM IS which was kindly loaned to me by one of the pros at the event.

The info is: 70mm, f/2.8, 1/125

Honest comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
MM

Were you using AF?
I find it's easy to cut off feet evn when using the edge focus points.
The framing of the nearest player is great, apart from the cut off feet.

Hi Paul,

Yes I was using AF. I agree, I should have got both the feet in the frame. It was my first experience with the 70-200L and the weight of the lens was just overwhelming.

I am a bit worried :rolleyes: abt the white line passing thru the centre of the frame, what could it be? it appears in quite a few pics taken with the 70-200L, but not in all of them.

Thanks
MM

I agree the feet being cut off hurts the image. The lighting could have been better as well, you could fix that by using the highlights and shadows adjustment in PS.

JS

It looks a bit soft. Better to boost your ISO and have grainier photos that are tack sharp vs. trying to use a lower ISO and have shots that are a little bit blurry. For just getting back into sports photography you sure picked a doozy of a challenge. That lighting looks pretty tough :D

I agree a little love in photoshop could make this picture much stronger. And though not a rule, having the ball in the frame is always nice addition.

I agree JS, I should get the feet in the frame. I wanted to post the pic as is without retouching it in PS. The pic below is taken with the Canon 18-55 Kit :cryin: wish i had a better lens.

Thanks

It looks a bit soft. Better to boost your ISO and have grainier photos that are tack sharp vs. trying to use a lower ISO and have shots that are a little bit blurry. For just getting back into sports photography you sure picked a doozy of a challenge. That lighting looks pretty tough :D


I still think film :mad2: where the higher ISO film used, the grains ruined the image on enlargments. I'm sure that still holds true with digital, but the noise is more excepted.

These pictures were a great challange for me as not only was i learning the camera and it features but the lighting was soooo poor that i found it very difficult getting crisp images. But the next time i will increase the ISO. What is the max ISO you would shoot at to get acceptable 10x12+ enlagments? :confused:

Thanks Berrywise

I am a bit worried :rolleyes: abt the white line passing thru the centre of the frame, what could it be? it appears in quite a few pics taken with the 70-200L, but not in all of them.
If you're shooting through the glass wall of the squash court, then that lin could be reflection.
That would explain why it's not in all shots, as you change your position, or prople move about behind you, it may not appear.

The pic below is taken with the Canon 18-55 Kit :cryin: wish i had a better lens.
What focal length were you using there?
If you shoot indoors a lot, you will want a wide aperture lens, and the 50mm f1.8 Canon lens is surprisingly cheap for a fast indoor lens.

What focal length were you using there?
If you shoot indoors a lot, you will want a wide aperture lens, and the 50mm f1.8 Canon lens is surprisingly cheap for a fast indoor lens.

Thanks Paul for the info. Checked the price at B&H and it is under 80 bucks. I am definately getting it. Most of the times i shoot under very poor lighting conditions so this will definately help.

Cheers

I looked at your first photo again, and I can see three sets of light marks that I am pretty sure are reflections - most likely of fluorescent lights out in the background somewhere.

Unlike ordinary tungsten lamps, Fluorescents flash; either at the same frequency as the mains power or some modern lights have high frequency circuits to stop the flicker.
So with a shutter speed faster than 1/50 second there is a chance you will occasionally pick the time when the light is out and get no reflection.