Advice required (mainly around football)

antc

antc

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Anthony
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Hi All,

I am looking for some advice regarding football photography and motorsports (i shoot other sports but mainly those two)

I shot my first football match at the end of last season and got a couple of shots I was happy with which can be seen here -

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These were both shot on my 40d and 70-200 2.8 IS

I do have a longer lens but its a 100-400L so not the fastest lens.

Now I did notice that this lens was coming up short on the focal length side of things. I was sat between the corner flag and 18 yard box and was struggling to get shots approaching the half way line (for example goal kicks and players jumping up for headers)

Now my local league starts again this Saturday and I am looking to cover as many football games to get practice and start putting together a portfolio. Now two local teams play games under floodlights so I am wondering if i will benefit from haveing a longer equally fast lens to my 70-200, something like a 300 2.8. I have been admiring shots I have seen taken with the sigma 300 and am very impressed, also I guess when the light is good I could add a 1.4x convertor to it for a 420mm f4 which will give me even more range but at a faster aperture to my 100-400.

Ideally I think the best lens for my needs would be a 400 2.8is but these cost a fortune as does the canon 300 2.8is hence me looking at the sigma.

Sorry this has turned into a long post, I have been mulling this over for ages and its sending me loopy so thought it best to ask in here where there are loads of well qualified people to help me out.

Thanks

Anthony
 
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im sure plenty of people are going to muck in and make sugestions
but i would go for a second hand 300 f2.8 ( even the non IS) if you can afford one.rather than the sigma.
if you want more action, i suggest sitting on the side of the pitch, not behind the goal.
maybe half way between the goal and half way line.
 
Yes, this has been covered a number of times. A second hand canon 300 2.8 will be excellent but either way you are looking at a significant investment. Look at Aperture in London for 2nd hand long Canon lenses.
 
thanks for the comments so far chaps! Hadnt considered a second hand non IS canon 300 2.8.

I am going to look into this as well. I guess the manufacturers own 300 2.8 is perhaps always going to be better than a third party?

Is the 300 2.8 (any version) the recomended lens for football? Its the one I seem to read about the most.
 
A 300 2.8 is probably the minimum requirement for serious football. The "standard" kit is two 1D/D3 bodies carrying a 70-200 (or a medium prime like a fast 135) and a 400 2.8. This gets a lot of coverage up & down the pitch from near goalmouth action to a longish shot of the far goal, and nice close-ups in the half nearest to you.

You can get away with a 300 quite well - I did for rugby and football for a couple of years, but whilst there are benefits in terms of lightness and getting good framing in the near third of the pitch, the 400 does things better and produces nicer images with more background blur, and the extra reach at 2.8 is very useful for all sorts of things. Plus you can stick a 1.4 extender on to get a handy 560mm f/4.

Easiest/most economical approach would be to get a 300 and use a 1.4 extender when there's enough light. Worked very well for me.

edit: you could push it a bit and get a 300 f/4 - much cheaper and as long as you're not under floodlights you'll do pretty well. Small and light too.

edit edit: Dont be afraid to crop in closer with your shots. Get right in there with the action. Get facial expressions especially if you can, nice and close in, with the ball obviously. Wait for the moment of contact/tackle/etc and fire off a series of frames, then choose the best.
 
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Tobers, some more great advice so thanks for that. I am looking into the 1d body situation with either a 1dmk2n or a 1dmk3 and my second body will be my current 40d. I have my 70-200 2.8 IS so thats covered so just decisions to make currently about this fast lens. Some of my shooting will be under floodlights as two of the grounds I will be shooting at have them and they do play night matches.

Whats the story with regard to 2nd hand 300 2.8 non IS and 400 2.8 non IS. There dont seem to be too many around and what about (if the worst happens) getting them fixed? Would they be too old to have fixed or for there to be spares?

Apologies for so many questions but its going to be a big investment as you all know so want to get it right.

Also to confirm you guys are saying to rule out the sigma 300 2.8 as its not a patch on the canon? I keep reading for example on Fred Miranda that the sigmas are 90% of the quality and less than 50% of the price in some cases of the canons?
 
Question - Have found a used 400 2.8 L version 2 for £2900. Would people say this is a good shout? Again concerned perhaps if anything was to go wrong with it if it could be fixed as I believe they are not supported by canon any longer.
 
its around the right price if in good condition cosmetic wise...its a given that lens is good condition or no point :)

canon wont support this lens... other companies might
 
KIPAX said:
its around the right price if in good condition cosmetic wise...its a given that lens is good condition or no point :)

canon wont support this lens... other companies might
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Thanks Kipax, it states on the advert paintwork scruffy optics fine so I guess from what you are saying its a no go then.

I shall keep looking....................:)
 
antc said:
Thanks Kipax, it states on the advert paintwork scruffy optics fine so I guess from what you are saying its a no go then.
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I didnt say a no go i said its about right and without seeing the lens. condition, age , usage i can only guess.. dont be put off by a blind guess:)
 
antc said:
Thanks Kipax, it states on the advert paintwork scruffy optics fine so I guess from what you are saying its a no go then.

I shall keep looking....................:)
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I also wouldn't be too worried about scruffy paintwork anyway. The older 400L is built from old warships...it's bomb-proof.

Lots of Pro's still use them and they're good lenses.

However, £2900 is in my opinion, a little high. Take perhaps £150 off and you'd be looking more reasonable.
 
I just bought a used 400 2.8 for £2600. I negotiated £150 off the original price to get to that. It's in pretty good nick, especially after I gave it a bit of TLC where the hood was cracked. £2900 definitely a bit on the high side.

Jacobs in London had one in at £2500 a couple of weeks back. Scabby thing it was with a number of dings and scrapes, but optically pretty good apparently. Keep an eye on Aperture who have a pretty good turnover of stock and you get a 6-month guarantee.
 
You can buy canon L Glass paint off ebay. make it look like new:)
 
KIPAX said:
I didnt say a no go i said its about right and without seeing the lens. condition, age , usage i can only guess.. dont be put off by a blind guess:)
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jamesb84 said:
I also wouldn't be too worried about scruffy paintwork anyway. The older 400L is built from old warships...it's bomb-proof.

Lots of Pro's still use them and they're good lenses.

However, £2900 is in my opinion, a little high. Take perhaps £150 off and you'd be looking more reasonable.
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Sorry chaps think i missed the point there my fault. Sounds like a tough lump. Basically the shop is hundreds of miles away from me and have said if I buy it then i have 10 days to check it out and make sure I am happy with it and if I am not then i can send it back and just have to foot the bill for postage. I would really like to see it and perhaps attach it to my camera for test..............mmmm.......................
 
antc said:
Question - Have found a used 400 2.8 L version 2 for £2900. Would people say this is a good shout? Again concerned perhaps if anything was to go wrong with it if it could be fixed as I believe they are not supported by canon any longer.
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If its the same one I've seen then cosmetically it is worse than mine which I sold on here for £2k recently.
 
hjwatso1 said:
I would have to say the one Graham sold on here recently which may have a little cosmetic damage is a beauty!
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And I'm still struggling to find a 300f2.8 to replace. You'd think with all the trade in thats been going on there would be a few knocking around (although quite a lot looked liked they'd been knocked about!).
 
mines still sat here graham.. but looking around at what everyone else is getting I will be selling mine for 2.8k .. its all packed away to send to canon for the once over and for some screws that went missing off the hood.. just fell out ... I have a girls youth tournament next wed.. gonna use it at that then send away

i have one other interested but he doesnt have the dosh at moment.
 
Is that a 400 KIPAX?

I'm in the market for one in good nick. Why are you selling it? You can PM me your contact details if you wish.
 
If you notice the flow of the thread..I was responding to snapzz who is looking for a 300 :)
 
Just heard from someone whos selling one on behalf of a fiends wife who sadley just lost her husband. I'll keep yours in mind but TBH maybe a bit more than I really want to pay.
 
Hows this for price:

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM £3,299.95. Free del or collect from London office. Also offering vat receipt and 5yr warranty!
 
Presume brand new... 5 yr warranty would be worth summat.. but 500 quid or more than you where gonna pay?
 
I think for anyone who is prepard to pay £2800 for a S/H lens then you would have to concider the advantages of "going the extra £500" in this instance especially if for business use.

BTW does anyone know if you can still claim 100% back in current financal year? My accountant is on holiday so cant ask him right now.
 
snapzz said:
I think for anyone who is prepard to pay £2800 for a S/H lens then you would have to concider the advantages of "going the extra £500" in this instance especially if for business use.
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Hence why i went new with the 400 :)
 
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