At the driving range

JohnnyNapalm

Testing out a rented 70-200 f/2.8...I think I'm in love.

KellyC

Nice lens, I bought myself one this spring, and like it a lot too. It is really great for outdoor sports. I am going to give it a try tonight on some high school volleyball... I currently only have a D90, but hope to save up for a D700 someday.

johng

And a nice image too!

Qarik

heh..a "slice" of focus.

btw canon or nikon?

JohnnyNapalm

Qarik wrote:

heh..a "slice" of focus.

btw canon or nikon?

Canon 5D! Thanks for the replies.

Erbeman

Yup, it's by far my favorite lens. I absolutely love the versatility of it especially having a D300 which is a crop sensor camera and a D700 which is a full frame. If I need distance I can throw my 1.7 tc on it and use the D300 and it's freakin great. I can also use it close up on my D700. It's so nice to have the quality of the lens along with being able to zoom in and out and not have to used a fixed distance like the other great sports lenses. That being said, I did talk my wife into agreeing that I need a 300 F/2.8 before next football season starts! Woo Hoo!!

johng

JohnnyNapalm wrote:

Canon 5D! Thanks for the replies.

I will say this. A 70-200 2.8 on a full frame is a fantastic lens. But I'll ask - did you post on the sports page just because this particular shot is sports-related or are you intending to get the lens to shoot sports?

The reason I say that is that you're going to find 200mm way too short for many sports. Way too short for full field baseball/soccer/football on a full frame. Too short for tournament golf.

For indoor sports, realize you'll have to shoot at ISO 3200-6400 if you're not using flash and shooting HS level or below. Are you comfortable with that ISO performance from your 5d?

So, while it's very sharp, and it's often a staple in sports shooter bags I will also say it's often a 2nd lens for close action when longer primes are too tight. So, if you are buying the lens for sports shooting there may be better fits depending on what you shoot. Shoot full field soccer in good light? You may find you get more keepers using a 100-400L or a Bigma or Sigma 100-300 f4. Especially on a full size sensor camera.

But for other work it's an exceptional lens. But sports work, using an original 5d you may find the f2.8 not enough for indoor work and you may find 200mm not nearly long enough for outdoor work. Hope that makes sense.

JohnnyNapalm

johng wrote:

I will say this. A 70-200 2.8 on a full frame is a fantastic lens. But I'll ask - did you post on the sports page just because this particular shot is sports-related or are you intending to get the lens to shoot sports?

The reason I say that is that you're going to find 200mm way too short for many sports. Way too short for full field baseball/soccer/football on a full frame. Too short for tournament golf.

For indoor sports, realize you'll have to shoot at ISO 3200-6400 if you're not using flash and shooting HS level or below. Are you comfortable with that ISO performance from your 5d?

So, while it's very sharp, and it's often a staple in sports shooter bags I will also say it's often a 2nd lens for close action when longer primes are too tight. So, if you are buying the lens for sports shooting there may be better fits depending on what you shoot. Shoot full field soccer in good light? You may find you get more keepers using a 100-400L or a Bigma or Sigma 100-300 f4. Especially on a full size sensor camera.

But for other work it's an exceptional lens. But sports work, using an original 5d you may find the f2.8 not enough for indoor work and you may find 200mm not nearly long enough for outdoor work. Hope that makes sense.

All of that makes total sense. This particular shot is in here because it's golf-related. I'm a portrait/small event shooter where 75mm is on the long end, so this was just a rental for a different kind of event for me. I wasn't responsible for getting pictures of the golfers on the course, so 200mm was more than acceptable for my uses here.

I would love to get my hands on a 400mm lens. I can't even begin to imagine how fun it must be.