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mark newcombe www.mcnphoto

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Posts posted by mark newcombe www.mcnphoto

    Question about sport photography..

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>G'day mate,</p>

    <p>ANZ will pull you up with anything that even remotely resembles pro gear, its a great ground with excellent light but without a press pass to get on the side lines it's going to be pretty pointless, other NRL grounds are better for ams to shoot at especially Brookevale Oval so I'd try there first if you want so decent NRL shots, Kogarah, Penrith and Parramatta are all pretty easy to move around and get close to the action aswell never had a problem at Brookey or Penrith with 300 2.8's they just don't seem to worry of course you will now have to wait until next season. GO MANLY, getting a press pass for finals season is going to be impossible unless of course you have the credentials already.</p>

    <p>Cheers<br>

    Mark</p>

    Editing computer build

    in Video

    Posted

    <p>Hi, it ran just under 2k probably closer to 1900 it always works out cheaper to build from what i can see plus you can add what you want like the gpu i picked because cuda cores work with some video editing progs.</p>

    <p>Cheers<br>

    Mark</p>

    Editing computer build

    in Video

    Posted

    <p>Hi Guys,<br>

    Well the build is done and it's really is great super fast with heaps of grunt. This is what i ended up with:<br>

    Corsair 600t case<br />I7 960 <br />Asus Sabertooth X58 mb<br />12gig hyper x ram <br />Noctuah cpu cooler<br />Cooler Master 700 mod psu<br />gti 560 hawk twin frozr gpu<br />Ocz SSD 120 for os<br />2 WD 6gb cav black storgage drives 1tb but will add more later<br />Pioneer burner<br />Pro 64 os<br>

    and some other bits and pieces, this was my first ever full build and it couldn't have gone better running the chip at 4ghz and slight oc on the ram and gpu get me great frame rates and still runs nice and cool.<br>

    Thanks heaps to everyone that replied, I was never looking at mac I think they are way overpriced and rated + the proprietry upgrades suck but each to there own.<br>

    Thanks again<br>

    Mark</p>

    College football! Help!

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>Ryan,</p>

    <p>Rent faster glass, a 70-200 2.8 as a minimum and even a 2nd body, see what a d3 is worth to rent and try it with with the 70-200 put a shorter pro lens 24-70 or even the older 28-70 2.8's on your d300, take spare batteries and heaps of mem cards. You don't really need a mono for a 200 lens but if you could get a hold of a 300 2.8 (rent wise) you will. Also get a grip for the 300 you will notice a big difference in the frame rate but remember burst shooting needs cards to go with it.</p>

    <p>Also practice, practice, practice, know your cameras ability and your own, learn how to pump the iso to get the shutter speed you need. Learn to position yourself to get the shot given the focal length of you lens etc. </p>

    <p>Dump that 70-300 it won't cut it if you are expected to produce great shots by the league, both you and they will be dissapointed from the results with that current lens and if its a night shoot forget about it unless you can get faster glass. </p>

    <p>If you go into something like this under equiped or even worse under skilled the results will show in the work. To be brutally honest if you are asking this question you probably have some learning to do. Don't let that sentence put you off we all have to learn when we get started but whatever you do, don't oversell your ability to the league because they will expect exactly what you tell them you can do and you must deliver that quality. Tell them your an amatuer up front mate so they know. </p>

    <p>I can't tell you the number of times and horror stories I have witnessed by people overstating what they can do and especially over valueing there equipment the reason we drop thousands of dollars on equipment is because we have to produce every time, whats worse is no one ever wins, not your rep or the league so be up front with them. If you want examples just go over to the wedding forums there are bound to be stories there of amatuers screwing up wrecking weddings and sports is no different ask anyone who does this for a living they'll tell you.</p>

    <p>Best of luck<br>

    Regards<br>

    Mark</p>

     

    Editing computer build

    in Video

    Posted

    <p>Hi Guys,<br>

    I have been a long time stills pro but have now retired due to illness and have taken up kayak fishing. I would like to make some videos on Kayak fishing so I have come up with the following computer build as my old trusty amd just doesn't cut it anymore.<br>

    Here is the build spec if anyone who knows about this stuff would like to adjust it please let me know looking at ordering the stuff next week.<br>

    CPU: I7 950 quad<br />Mobo: Asus Sabertooth X58<br />RAM: 12 gig corsair vengece 6x2gig sticks<br />Power: Antec 750 true power<br />CASE: Coolermaster 922HAF<br />Optical: Blueray combo (probably sony)<br />HDD: 120gig SSD primary and 2 x 1000gb wd cavier blacks in raid (i'll add more later if needed)<br />OP Sys: Ultimate 64 (but i can't really see any advantage over pro64 but for $20 there may be)<br>

    GPU: Issue I'm lost here something around the $250-300 mark. I'll be using vegas 10 so mercury is not important but i guess cuda makes a differance. I must run twin monitor set up and have decent speed so suggestions here would be great. I can't see the value in going for a top end gaming card but I'm probably wrong.<br>

    Footage will all be hd 3 cam set up but thats a discussion for another day I need to gett he editing system right first.</p>

    <p>Thanks for taking the time to read this looking forward to hearing any responses.</p>

    <p>Regards<br>

    Mark</p>

    Troubleshooting an older D1H

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>Hi Brian,</p>

    <p>Don't know if its the same but i experienced the d2h locking up and wouldn't fire either ended up being the pentaprism. try to reset it if possible otherwise off to nps unfortunatley.</p>

    <p>Regards<br>

    Mark</p>

    Lens(es) for Indoor Youth Soccer

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>William is right. get a 2.8 zoom over a 1.8 or faster fixed as you will get the advantage of composing the shots better. These days with the new dslr's we have it really easy just crank up the iso till you get a reasonable shutter speed and go for it. </p>

    <p>I have always found the 1.8 at 1.8 to have a very shallow dof probably to shallow for good sports stuff. Wilson may be a good one to chime in here he likes basket ball.</p>

    <p>Cheers<br>

    Mark</p>

    Need an honest snowsports pro advice

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>Hi Ry,<br>

    Yep the nikons better but the sigma is also a classy performer, get the sigma you'll be happy with it. I use a sigma 120-300 2.8 for a lot of pro stuff. <br>

    You will get a lot of elitist advice rubbishing anything but a nikon lens don't listen to it the sigma will serve you fine for a long time, put the savings towards a new body with better af.<br>

    Cheers<br>

    Mark</p>

    Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 APO EX vs Nikon AF Nikkor 300mm f2.8 AF-I EX

    in Nikon

    Posted

    <p>Here is a bit of a review i wrote a while back.<br>

    OK I have been raving about the 120-300 for a while so here is my take on it, I'm a sports photographer not a bird guy so my take is from another angle but this may help.<br>

    This is one of only two Sigmas I currently own the other is a 10-20.<br>

    Pros:<br>

    1/ Build is excellent<br>

    2/ HSM is really quick on D2H & X and pretty good on the D200.<br>

    3/ Image quality is first rate<br>

    4/ Team it with the Sigma APO 1.4 and it works really well, haven't tried it with any other convertors or the 2x.<br>

    5/ You can hand hold but not for too long, I've been pretty sick so I only use it with a mono now until I get my stregth back.<br>

    6/ Sharp at 2.8 but really nice from f4<br>

    7/ Price, I think it goes for around $2200us I paid nearly $4000AU for mine. You won't find a cheaper 300 2.8.<br>

    8/ IT'S A 300 2.8 THAT YOU CAN ZOOM there is nothing really in this class to compare against, baring maybe the 200-400 nikor(no comparison right).<br>

    9/ bokeh is nice and silky<br>

    Cons<br>

    1/ make sure you get the DG version or you'll be handing over another $150 or so to get the ts41 foot as the older one is hopeless. (too close)<br>

    2/ No rear drop in filter which means mega bucks buying 105mm filters I think the Sigma UV starts at about $150 and the big brands are even more.<br>

    3/ I don't think it's a true 300 more like 285 but thats ok with me given I can zoom, I'll live with it.<br>

    4/ Some samples seem to have front or back focus issues, mine doesn't and the guy from Sigma said it's just a recalibration if it did.<br>

    5/ It's a big lens and you need to have a good technique to get the best out of it.<br>

    6/ The hood is well made and fits nicely but could be a bit longer, although i have not had any flare issues.<br>

    7/ Stick VR into this and it would be perfect.<br>

    I use this lens for pretty much all sports including Soccer, Hockey, MX and the like and for sports it's pretty darn good.<br>

    I don't shot wildlife or birds but I guess it'd be just as good, reading here though most bird guys tend to go for the big primes.<br>

    I don't often use my 70-200 nikor any more, even though I'd never part with it, as the 120-300 covers my distance requirements better and I tend to hang 28-70 off my second body. I do however use the 70-200 more for hockey as we don't have glass down here and sometimes you need to duck pretty quickly, the 120-300 is too heavey for that also when I need VR.<br>

    Overall image quality is on par with the 70-200 and just slightly behind the 300 prime but not enough to worry my customers it definately produces pro images and I won't be parting with this lens anytime soon. Unless a VR or Nikor version comes out thats better.<br>

    Hope that helps email me if you need any other specifics.<br>

    Regards Mark</p>

    What is a great, (affordable) gig/festival lens?

    in Nikon

    Posted

    <p>Emmalea,<br>

    Camera rentals at redfern sydney should be able to hook you up with a 24-70 or a 28-70 2.8 they used to be pretty good i haven't used them for a few years now. I think i saw Colin Hay on the bill if thats correct i'll prob go up, if i do i'll email you i have all the gear and could probably hook you up</p>

    <p>Cheers<br>

    Mark</p>

    Some Kitesurfing photos from today

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>Very cool i have a bunch of kite surfers jut down the road, until now i have found them to just be annoying while i'm fishing, may grab one of those cams and give it a go especially for the price.<br>

    You know what they say "if you can't beat em you may as well photograph them and sell em the prints".</p>

    <p>Cheers<br>

    Mark</p>

    Aussie Mark Newcombe

    in Sports

    Posted

    <p>Hi Guys,<br>

    Well i just op number 10 and recovering still, put pretty much all on hold business wise and just starting up again now in a very limited capacity mainly studio stuff ore so than sports but hoping to get back on track there next year. </p>

    <p>Good news is they didn't see any more cancer so hopefully recovery by the end of 2010, thanks for your thoughts i don't get on here like i used to for now, but with luck things could get back to the old days later on.<br>

    Regards<br>

    Mark</p>

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