Football Lens

inyourface

inyourface

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Hi all

My lad plays football for an under 9 team, the organisers have asked if i would be prepared to do the photography for the club.
Ive told them im a novice and they are fine with it, they just want a few shots every now and then to update the website with, but i wondered what would be a half decent lens to use?

i dont want to spend silly money on it as its only volunteering but if possible i would like 2 options
1 in the £250 - £350 range
and another around £500-£600

cheers all
 
oh yes sorry

i will be using it on a d5200, but in the near future will be getting a d600
 
Look at getting a 70-200 lens.. would be the right one for under 9s pitch ... oh and a stool :)
 
Personally, I would have thought that a Sigma 120-300 of some sort (os or non-os or Sport) would be ideal for all circumstances.

Good subject isolation, fast focussing and great in low light.

Just my £0.02.
 
gary43 said:
Personally, I would have thought that a Sigma 120-300 of some sort (os or non-os or Sport) would be ideal for all circumstances.

Good subject isolation, fast focussing and great in low light.

Just my £0.02.
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good lens but surely not in his price range ?
 
Not sure, I cannot look in the classifieds right now :banghead:

Seriously, if you roll-up the cash for the two lenses (up to £950) I would have thought that a 120-300f2.8 os should be within budget ? The older non-os definitely is.
 
I do a lot of lower league footy and use a Canon L 70-200 f2.8 non OS Mk 1 which I find ideal. I think for lower league or junior league where you can get quit close to the pitch a 120-300 would be too much.
You would be struggling to frame much action in the area from the 18 yd line with this. Something like a 2nd hand 70-200 f2,8 Sigma lens might fit the bill money wise. This is just my opinion and other may differ.
 
gary, im not looking to get a lens in each price range.
i was lookng at a lens in either price range, i have £300 now but unsure wether to save for a better lens upto £600
 
thanks for the replies

i was looking at a 70-200, but also saw the nikon 70-300 and wasnt sure if this would be any good.

will take a look at your suggestions
 
I am a big fan of the Nikon 70-300 but think that f5.6 at the long end is just too slow for dimly-lit matches.

Personally, given your comments above I would go with Kipax's suggestion and look at the latest incarnation of the Sigma 70-200f2.8 on the used market. Nice sharp lens with constant f2.8 and not too heavy.
 
inyourface said:
thanks for the replies

i was looking at a 70-200, but also saw the nikon 70-300 and wasnt sure if this would be any good.

will take a look at your suggestions
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You can pick up a used Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 for under £500 if you don't get the latest OS version. I think I paid about £400 for my Macro II version about three years ago.

The F2.8 part is the reason why you really want that lens rather than the 70-300mm. At the long end the 70-300mm is F5.6 wheras the Sigma is still F2.8. This means a lot more light getting in - it's effectively the difference between a max shutter speed of 1/250 on the 70-300mm and 1/1000 on the 70-200mm. AKA the difference between an action shot being blurred and unusable to being usable. (Shutter speeds may vary, I don't shoot football)
 
I used 70-300 for a similar age group so I recommend that. Light is usually good for the games so the f5.6 wasn't a problem. Stool option is good but so is plastic bag. The point being made is photograph from a low point.
 
Another vote for the Nikon 70-300. I do U7 through to U16 and, although it has its limitations, it does the biz at a very acceptable price. And bear in mind that it's got an equivalent reach of 450 on a D5200. Have a very swifty skim through the slideshow linked to below. It was for our local U7-U12 league presentation night. There are a number of mistakes - I've had no IT training, ever, and it's done on a voluntary basis - but it illustrates the 70-300 which was used for almost every shot apart from the team photos and the referee line ups in the Cup Finals section.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAV0xcGtvvo


I really must reiterate the above advice about shooting from a low viewpoint. So often I see pics of kids' footy taken by adults who are standing and it diminishes the importance of the players because it is looking down on them. Get a low angle and it really boosts them up; makes them look so much more dynamic. Having said that, the odd one or two taken from above can be very effective.
And based on the reaction my own ageing legs have to spending an entire match in a crouched position, I reckon Kipax's advice about getting a stool is by far the best suggestion thus far on this thread!!!
 
robp said:
Another vote for the Nikon 70-300. I do U7 through to U16 and, although it has its limitations, it does the biz at a very acceptable price. And bear in mind that it's got an equivalent reach of 450 on a D5200. Have a very swifty skim through the slideshow linked to below. It was for our local U7-U12 league presentation night. There are a number of mistakes - I've had no IT training, ever, and it's done on a voluntary basis - but it illustrates the 70-300 which was used for almost every shot apart from the team photos and the referee line ups in the Cup Finals section.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAV0xcGtvvo


I really must reiterate the above advice about shooting from a low viewpoint. So often I see pics of kids' footy taken by adults who are standing and it diminishes the importance of the players because it is looking down on them. Get a low angle and it really boosts them up; makes them look so much more dynamic. Having said that, the odd one or two taken from above can be very effective.
And based on the reaction my own ageing legs have to spending an entire match in a crouched position, I reckon Kipax's advice about getting a stool is by far the best suggestion thus far on this thread!!!
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great shots mate
i would be very happy with shots like that
 
A 70-200 will be fine for U9 pitches and gives you the advantage of the wider aperture which can not only allow for a faster shutter speed but will also allow for better separation of players from the background, which will generally be busy with gesticulating manages and even more dramatically gesticulating parents!

Low light can be a problem in autumn/winter for the 70-300. I usually overcome this with a deliberate underexposure and rescue in pp. Not such good quality obviously but I'm absolutely certain that your lad's club will be wholly grateful for whatever you can give them.
 
robp said:
A 70-200 will be fine for U9 pitches and gives you the advantage of the wider aperture which can not only allow for a faster shutter speed but will also allow for better separation of players from the background, which will generally be busy with gesticulating manages and even more dramatically gesticulating parents!

Low light can be a problem in autumn/winter for the 70-300. I usually overcome this with a deliberate underexposure and rescue in pp. Not such good quality obviously but I'm absolutely certain that your lad's club will be wholly grateful for whatever you can give them.
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Oh they will be grateful with any pics, its a volunteer run league and they rely on parents doing what they can.

do you know if the lens i linked is reasonably good, or should i be looking at a model above?
 
I should add that my wife has booked me a few days over the year photographing birds on them experience days, so i would be using it for that also

mat
 
inyourface said:
Oh they will be grateful with any pics, its a volunteer run league and they rely on parents doing what they can.

do you know if the lens i linked is reasonably good, or should i be looking at a model above?
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Same with our league: We're all volunteers from assistant managers right up to the league management committee. I'm part of said committee and so all my snaps are provided free of charge on a voluntary basis as part of the overall experience we aim to provide for players, club officials and supporters.
Having said that, I get paid every week during the season by the local newspaper to provide photos, not only from our league but from the other junior leagues in our city. All shot on the 70-300.

Sorry, I have no experience of this lens, so cannot advise. Also, I think you'll need something rather longer for bird photography but I'll leave that to bird photographers to advise you on.
 
KIPAX said:
Look at getting a 70-200 lens.. would be the right one for under 9s pitch ... oh and a stool :)
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been shooting my lads footy for 2 years now, why didn't i think of that!!(a stool)
My bl**dy back's been killing me!!!!:D:D
btw i use either a 70-200 f2.8 with my 1DIV 1.3crop and a 400 f5.6 on a 5D3 FF and these combo's are fine for me, although I don't know if U9's pitches are smaller than U14's!:thinking:
 
Carlo said:
been shooting my lads footy for 2 years now, why didn't i think of that!!(a stool)
My bl**dy back's been killing me!!!!:D:D
btw i use either a 70-200 f2.8 with my 1DIV 1.3crop and a 400 f5.6 on a 5D3 FF and these combo's are fine for me, although I don't know if U9's pitches are smaller than U14's!:thinking:
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im not sure on size of pitches tbh. im probably gonna order a 70-200 tomoz.

cant wait to start shooting it, oh and i have my little stool already that i used to watch him play :-)
 
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Carlo said:
been shooting my lads footy for 2 years now, why didn't i think of that!!(a stool)
My bl**dy back's been killing me!!!!:D:D
btw i use either a 70-200 f2.8 with my 1DIV 1.3crop and a 400 f5.6 on a 5D3 FF and these combo's are fine for me, although I don't know if U9's pitches are smaller than U14's!:thinking:
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It gets me in the front of my thighs. They tighten up and remain so for about three days lol.
Assuming FA rules are followed and that we are talking full sided games, u14 is 11v11 on full size pitches and u9 is 7v7 on very much smaller pitches.
 
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