Budget crisis...

[MikeisEdge]

Thanks man! I have a lot to consider. Good to know what my options are.

 

[dakkon76]

Action sports were routinely photographed before the invention of auto focus.

And missile trajectories used to be worked out on slide rules. Now they're more accurate. This is an argument you can make about pretty much anything the human race has ever done, but I wonder if even you can go toe-to-toe with a good auto focus for the length of a football or hockey game. And if you can, do you choose to?

 

[subscuck]

Action sports were routinely photographed before the invention of auto focus.

And missile trajectories used to be worked out on slide rules. Now they're more accurate. This is an argument you can make about pretty much anything the human race has ever done, but I wonder if even you can go toe-to-toe with a good auto focus for the length of a football or hockey game. And if you can, do you choose to?

Not to put words into Keith's mouth, but I believe the point he was trying to make is technology doesn't make you a better photographer, skills and fundamental knowledge do.

 

[gsgary]

Action sports were routinely photographed before the invention of auto focus.

And missile trajectories used to be worked out on slide rules. Now they're more accurate. This is an argument you can make about pretty much anything the human race has ever done, but I wonder if even you can go toe-to-toe with a good auto focus for the length of a football or hockey game. And if you can, do you choose to?

What about all the deaths from friendly fire in the Gulf war and Afganistan

 

[shootermcgavin]

Why would you want to shoot sports with a prime lens? Unless you consider chess a sport I wouldn't go with a prime, unless you want to be the one doing all the running around for the shot.

 

[KmH]

Right on brother! :thumbup:

 

[sierramister]

Why would you want to shoot sports with a prime lens? Unless you consider chess a sport I wouldn't go with a prime, unless you want to be the one doing all the running around for the shot.

Why do pro photographers ONLY HAVE 300 and 400mm primes at sporting events (although they have a 70-200 on a second body or in the bag)? And you have to run around after every play anyways.

 

[MikeisEdge]

I think the point of this thread has been lost throughout the discussion

I don't have enough to purchase a $1000 2.8 zoom lens. I'm currently shooting nighttime sports and wanted to know if there were any affordable zoom lenses from (3rd parties too) that would help me.

The idea of using a prime lens was only introduced because I only shoot between 70-90mm at the games so I was asking if getting the 50 or 85 1.8 would be a good idea... plus they are within my price range.

 

[Robin Usagani]

getting a fast prime is NEVER a bad idea IMO. If your money is tight, you may also want to consider a macro lens. You can have fun with bugs also!

 

[Netskimmer]

I think the point of this thread has been lost throughout the discussion

I don't have enough to purchase a $1000 2.8 zoom lens. I'm currently shooting nighttime sports and wanted to know if there were any affordable zoom lenses from (3rd parties too) that would help me.

The idea of using a prime lens was only introduced because I only shoot between 70-90mm at the games so I was asking if getting the 50 or 85 1.8 would be a good idea... plus they are within my price range.

Can you move freely when taking pictures if you need to get closer or farther away? You could try setting your 55-200 to 50mm and/or 85mm and leaving it there for the duration of a game to see how difficult it would be. Typically primes are faster, cheaper, lighter, and sharper than their zoom counterparts, you just have to be able to move around a bit more to use them.

 

[MikeisEdge]

Can you move freely when taking pictures if you need to get closer or farther away? You could try setting your 55-200 to 50mm and/or 85mm and leaving it there for the duration of a game to see how difficult it would be. Typically primes are faster, cheaper, lighter, and sharper than their zoom counterparts, you just have to be able to move around a bit more to use them.

Exactly, I did this last night... So I'm leaning more towards just getting this lens so I can shoot late-night without having my ISO up so high. (Just until I can afford a proper zoom lens)... And then use the 85 prime for other purposes once I purchase a zoom lens.

 

[Overread19]

*Moving to equipment subsection*

 

[Deo]

well, for the last 6 month i use a 50mm lens for about 90% of my photos and 50% of those photos are photos of soccer, basketball, volleyball, rugby and running events.nikon's 50mm will set you back around $150(f/1.8).

maybe shooting in a fix focal lens will be very frustrating in the first time because you need to walk forward or backward while shooting but i find it interesting because it will give you a creativity to position yourself in order to get the best result.

 

[ulrichsd]

I would look into a Nikon 80-200 2.8 one touch (aka push/pull zoom) lens.

Hmm, what exactly is a push/pull lens? I have yet to hear about these. Obviously there must be a major "downside" to using the 80-200 2.8 if it costs <$500 compared to the rest which range >$1,000.

I have the push pull 80-200 AF-D, I just got so I haven't tested it out on sports yet, but I do plan on shooting some ice hockey this coming weekend. The biggest downside is slightly slower autofocus than an AF-S lens (and doesn't autofocus on the lower end Nikon's that don't have internal motor). I think it will be good enough for getting some good shots, knowing that it might miss focus for a few. Also, it doesn't have a tripod collar if you plan on using a monopod. Not a big deal to me since I'd plan on hand-holding and shooting over 1/250s shutter speed.

I got mine off ebay for $500 with case. Good luck

 

[gsgary]

Why would you want to shoot sports with a prime lens? Unless you consider chess a sport I wouldn't go with a prime, unless you want to be the one doing all the running around for the shot.

Bull**** prime are great for shooting sports, 300mmF2.8L is perfect