andrew_daniel

Dont forget to wear a diaper in the event the bear gets angry at you. HAHA

Andrew

To do:

Purchase Sigma 120-200mm f2 lens ~$600

Will be worth the money to get the shots

Practice prefocus

Purchase monopod

Shoot slightly underexposed, setting shutter priority at at

least 1/125

Try making adjustments to lighten in Photoshop (What is your recomendation?)

Check into "grain removal" program/action/script or whatever I can find (I saw at one time an action for PS for this)

Next summer: Upgrade to EOS-10D (Ive been looking at the 1D, its just too rich for my blood)

Although the picture didnt come out as well as I desired, the action in the shot and the framing was pretty good though, aye??

Thanks again,

Andrew

I did find this on ebay, mainly for reference:

Sigma 120-300mm F/2.8 EX IF HSM APO Zoom Lens

Price: $1,668

I also found:

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX APO HSM Zoom Lens

Price: $578

The pictures I took were in the stands, and 300mm was doing a fine job as far as magnification, but Im weary to think I need to spend $1,100 more to get another 100mm of zoom. (I was mid way up the stands) The bummer of it is, 120-300 is where I want to be. Sigh.

If I got down on the field (Guess if I dressed and looked like a photographer, I could mingle with the others without question? hehe) a 70-200mm would do plenty good.

One more thing, some of the photographers were shooting flash down on the field. I know thats going to help a lot, but how strong are these flashes? There measured in jouls, right? My el'cheapos dont have a rating and I know there not strong enough. Can someone suggest the strongest manual flash a small dollar can get?

I thank you *all* for posting answers, you all have been a great help! Ill be returning for several more games this season and would like to get better pictures. Im mostly interested in good quality results, not spending a few house payments on one lens. Dont get me wrong, I know you get what you pay for, but you can also have decent quality for less if you shop smart and informed. Semi-Pro equipment.

Thanks again,

Andrew

Heres the EXIF from the image, I was already at 4.5, but 1/45 is *WAY* too slow.<br>

<table>

<tr><td>ExposureTime</td><td>1/45Sec</td></tr>

<tr><td>FNumber</td><td>F4.5</td></tr>

<tr><td>ISOSpeedRatings</td><td>1600</td></tr>

<tr><td>FocalLength</td><td>190.00(mm)</td></tr>

<tr><td>Focal length of lens</td><td>70-300(mm)</td></tr>

<tr><td>Focused AF Area(AiAF)</td><td>Center</td></tr>

</table>

<br>

Im of the opinion, at 2.8 I should be able to pick up some shutter speed and limit the blur and practice with preset focus. Odd thing, in the viewfinder the image looks in focus, it takes a micro of a cm and the focus is either sharp or off... Sigh...<br><br>

Heres what I got:

Below, the full image resized to 600 wide. You can see the bluring in the action, I need to get at *least* 1/250. This one actually focused pretty good, only about a dozen out of 200 came out this good. <br>

<img src="http://danielphotography.us/assorted/football1.jpg">

<br><br><br>

Below, is a 600 wide crop of the original image. Problems: Slow shutter makes for blur, image is out of focus, grain sent straight from Hell.<br>

<img src="http://danielphotography.us/assorted/football2.jpg">

<br><br><br>

Thought it would help to show my results.

Just got done shooting some nite football. I started shooting at

6:30pm, some of the warm up and stuff and the pictures look okay.

<br><br>

Heres what I was using: EOS-D30 with Sigma 70-300 f5.6

<br><br>

When I has some setting sunlight, I was able to shoot 200-300mm at

around f4.5 to f5.6 at ISO 100 and 200, no problems.

<br><br>

When the sun set, I had to push all the way to 1600, and I realized

when I looked at the pictures that that was "grain Hell". To boot,

all action shots were blured, most pics were shot at 1/60 or in that

ballpark, the fastest was 1/90 if Im not mistaken. (Daytime, I was

shooting 1/500+ no problem)

<br><br>

Anyway, Im really disappointed with the results. I know the field

doesnt have NCAA or whatever lighting, its not the brightest.

<br><br>

Now, I need some specific advice from other photographers working in

the similar or same environment pls, no guesses or "out the butt"

answers.

<br><br>

Im going to upgrade to the 10D next summer. Im hoping the DiGIC

engine will help quite a bit, from what I saw photos taken at 1600

ISO are *UNREAL*, almost NO grain at all. Is this typical of the

10D?? (<-Hint, thats a specific question needing a specific answer,

not guesses)

<br><br>

My Sigma 70-200 optic is only about 60mm. Going with the law that a

larger optic has greater light gathering ability, what is the least

expensive (I'm not made of money) *BIG* lens I can get with at the

least a 100mm and at the most a 400mm telephoto? Id perfer Sigma if

going 3rd party mnfct. (Ive been happy with my Sigma so far, Im just

pushing my equipment past its limitations in hope of satisfactory

results)

<br><br>

I know your gonna bash me for this, but I searched ebay for a fat

lens, or a fast glass, however you want to put it, and found

nothing. Then I tried B&H, there search engine simply SUCKS so you

never find what your after, but you do get 1,500 results of stuff

similar to what you want... Sigh..

<br><br>

Can anyone provide me with a URL/Link to a dealer selling some BIG

lens for the EOS series? Ill do the leg work, but Im just not

finding what I want. I dont mind plunking down $500 for a lens, *IF*

it will do what I need, cause I dont mind SAVING up to get what I

need. (No, Im not made of money, Ill have to save for close to a year

to get a $500 fast glass).

<br><br>

I snapped a picture of this Joe across the field with what appears to

be a lens that Id be interested in. Is there a 'special' name for

this type of tele/zoom lens? What can they be bought? How much do

they run($$)?

<img src="http://danielphotography.us/assorted/fastlens.jpg">

<br><br>

FOCUS PROBLEMS: Well, the Sigma actually seams to focus faster than

my Canon 35-70 EF lens, but when the light gets *low*, the focus gets

*slow*, and its not accurate either. Most of my 1600ISO ~f5.0 and

1/60 were all out of focus just enough to waste the shot. QUESTION:

Does the 10D have a greater improvment in focus speed and accuracy in

low light conditions? (<-Hint, thats a specific question needing a

specific answer, not guesses)

<br><br>

If you can help, please reply! Thanks millions in advance!

Andrew

I had for a short time an Olympus C700UZ which did a bang up job.

ebay for ~ $200 - $250

HTH,

Andrew