Shooting through Chainlink fences???

[Derrel]

Just press the front of the 70-200 right against the chain link and shoot. I've done that, and it works pretty well. I'd prefer to shoot from the home or visiting team's dugouts, or the 3rd base area. Depends on the fencing and the type of bleachers/seating at each field.

 

[gsgary]

I shoot stuff at my daughters softball games and I use my 70-200 2.8 and shoot from the dugout so as to not deal with the fence, I dont get why you wanna shoot from behind the batter unless u are shooting all the field players from the backstop. Can i see these money shots you speak of?

Yeah I got the 70-200 2.8L also, but how can you not shoot a pitcher looking at her right down the line? I am not saying my shots are phenomenal by any means, but the parents love this angle of their daughter pitching and I can't begin to get this shot from the dugout although I do shoot from there a lot as well with my canon 70-200mm and sigma 120-400mm. If the parents like the backstop shots I am gonna keep giving it to them this year...

If you haven't shot this angle for the pitcher you might consider it. You can get a lot of good shots right down the light over the batters shoulder, just saying...

Those shots would not sell at the events i shoot they are too soft, i would be shooting this with a 300mmF2.8L and a 70-200F2.8L, the 70-300 is not good enough or fast enough

 

[gsgary]

hmmm never done that before. Dont really like the one with the bat in the way but the second ones interesting. In some of my stuff I like to shoot the batters but show some motion. You might wanna try that with the pitcher also. ill post if I can find em

Yeah, the 1st one is part of a sequence I usually shoot bursts of 5 at a time and batter was in the way, but I like the pitchers expression in that one. Motion? you mean like blurred? Can't wait to get out there and do some shooting with the new heat 5D! just wish I could keep the sweet spot behind the backstop and I don't want cheap glass either... seems like all good glass come with huge front filter sizes...

Use your 1D the 5D is not good for shooting this sort of sport

 

[gsgary]

Yeah your gonna have trouble doing 5 shot burst with a 5D mark 2 seeing as how it does a meer 3.9 FPS, if you wanna do fast sequence shots your best bet would be a 1d mark 4 or a 7D and to leave that mark 2 in the studio brotha

OK sista, sorry I meant almost 4 frames per second bursts (it's a new camera to me) I will buy a 7D just for the field I am sure I can't do any damage with my slow 5D... LOL

I thought you had a 1DMK2, thats what it said on your equipment list

 

[Tulsa]

Why is the catcher pitching??

 

[gsgary]

Whats with the mask, too much safety in American sports

 

[AliasPros]

Tulsa and GsGary, yes the mask is so she don't ruin her mug if a batter hit's a line drive to her face, they are kids... I will tell them to remove the masks for pictures next time! LOL So no help with my situation huh? No one???

By the way below is a youth softball catchers mask, a little more narley! LOL

 

[NWK04]

Why is the catcher pitching??

 

[Tulsa]

Tulsa and GsGary, yes the mask is so she don't ruin her mug if a batter hit's a line drive to her face, they are kids... I will tell them to remove the masks for pictures next time! LOL So no help with my situation huh? No one???

Wimps these days I tell ya, would have never seen that when I was a kid, and that was only 20 years ago!

I would suggest just standing somewhere else, or just get a cheap lens in the 50mm range, not much else you can do.

 

[gsgary]

Tulsa and GsGary, yes the mask is so she don't ruin her mug if a batter hit's a line drive to her face, they are kids... I will tell them to remove the masks for pictures next time! LOL So no help with my situation huh? No one???

By the way below is a youth softball catchers mask, a little more narley! LOL

Yes use your 1Dmk2 and get a better lens

 

[Stosh]

So no help with my situation huh? No one???

Help with what? A smaller lens? Did you read my reply? You can have a smaller lens by stopping down a larger lens. It's the exact same thing optically speaking.

 

[AliasPros]

There is a slight misunderstanding going on here regarding your request for a small front filter lens. The front filter is a good indication of the size of the beam of light coming in to your lens at maximum aperture. If you want a smaller aperture, stop your lens down. To determine the correct f-ratio that will give a 58mm size "hole", take your focal length divided by f-ratio and that's the true aperture. For instance 200mm/2.8=71mm aperture. 200mm/3.5=57mm. There's no reason to buy another lens unless your real reason is for a lighter lens.

Also, I assuming you know that to shoot between the chain link fence you need to be right at the fence - like touching it. You can't be back away from it. Also, you have to center the lens "between" the links. You'll see the links in the outside of the view finder, but when the picture is taken, the lens will be stopped down and they will be gone.

Yes, gotcha, this is my last resort. If you read my first post I used to just rest the lens in the chain link and click away, this way I will have to work a little harder to stay in the right position but I will try it out next practice, thanks for the info! :thumbup:

 

[AliasPros]

"Yes use your 1Dmk2 and get a better lens"

Yes I do have a 1Dmk2, and better lens what do you mean? I have the 70-200mm 2.8L and and 135mm F2.0L and hmmm many more... I was just looking to shoot a decent 58mm front filter through the chain-link but I guess we got away from that question a while ago, LOL I think I will try Stosh's Idea... I guess no one has the 70-300mm IS USM to vouch for its performance.

 

[Derrel]

So no help with my situation huh? No one???

Help with what? A smaller lens? Did you read my reply? You can have a smaller lens by stopping down a larger lens. It's the exact same thing optically speaking.

The old rules actually work. Whenever one needs to shoot through bars, dirty windows, chain link, or any type of obstruction the WIDER the lens's aperture, the better. The longer the focal length, the better. The closer the lens is to the obstructing cage,wire,or glass, the more out of focus the chain link or other foreground obstruction will be rendered.

If you merely place the front of the lens right on the chain link fencing, at 135mm to 300mm at the widest aperture your lens has, there will be almost no chain link visible. The last softball/baseball game I went to, I had my 5D and 24-105 f/4 L with me,and that was easily able to shoot through the chain link for a couple of snaps of my friend's son. What you will get sometimes is a bit of odd distortion at the edges of the frame, where the chain link wire is obstructing the light, but if the lens is close to the wire, most of the light will pas around the wire,and form an image on the film.

Here are a couple examples, the first at 105mm and f/5 shooting throughnbthe chain lnk down at 3rd base, the second as her son ducks down to avoid being smashed in the head by a high pitch.

_MG_0718_Justin_eMail.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
_MG_0736_Justin_eMail.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com

and here's a softball shot from five years ago, done at 160mm at f/4 with the Nikon 70-200 jammed right into the chain link fence

 

[gsgary]

"Yes use your 1Dmk2 and get a better lens"

Yes I do have a 1Dmk2, and better lens what do you mean? I have the 70-200mm 2.8L and and 135mm F2.0L and hmmm many more... I was just looking to shoot a decent 58mm front filter through the chain-link but I guess we got away from that question a while ago, LOL I think I will try Stosh's Idea... I guess no one has the 70-300mm IS USM to vouch for its performance.

Forget your 5D use your 1D with the 70-200F2.8L use a wide aperture and you won't see the fence
This was shot through a fence, can you see it, looks like you have lots to learn:lmao: