what would you do?

[gartismo]

Hi everyone!

I will be the photograph of the football team I was coaching few years ago. I feel like I need a longer focal lens to do a good work and I was hopping that you could help me find out what would be the best fit for me.

First or all you need to know that it's my first contract and not very lucrative. That being said, i'm quite on a budget to do so.

I actually own a nikon D800 with thoses lens :
- nikon 50mm 1.8D
- nikkor micro 40mm
-Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 macro
- Nikon 70-300mm VR

Most of the time i'm using the 50mm and the 70-300mm. You need to know that i'm a french canadian so the price i will give you will without a doubt vary with you. I saw a Sigma APO 150-500 F5-6.3 DG OS HSM for 600$ so i was thinking to sell my 70-300 and my micro 40mm to have almost enough to afford the sigma. What do you think? is it a good idea or there is other lens better for the price?

Any other advices are welcome. thanks you in advance!!

 

[jeffW]

If you can sell the 70-300 then yes the 150-500 could be a very good find. Make sure it hasn't been abused or a scam. For soccer/football the extra reach is very helpful.
Remind yourself how much all this equipment costs when you charge for the next contract.

 

[Nwcid]

You say you "feel" like you need longer lens, but do you actually need one? Where will you be shooting from? How much access to the field and players do you have? What shots are they expecting and how many?

You say you use the 50mm and 70-300mm most of the time now. Is that in general or shooting football? If in general, I think giving up the 70-300mm might not be a good choice.

 

[Fujidave]

You say you "feel" like you need longer lens, but do you actually need one? Where will you be shooting from? How much access to the field and players do you have? What shots are they expecting and how many?

You say you use the 50mm and 70-300mm most of the time now. Is that in general or shooting football? If in general, I think giving up the 70-300mm might not be a good choice.

I do agree with this above, it might be an idea to actually keep the 70-300 as if you did get a 150-500 you might wish it was better keeping and using the 70-300. What I mean by it is, you can crop using the 70-300 but you can`t uncrop the bigger lens.

 

[weepete]

Not planning on any low light shooting?

 

[ac12]

If you are on the field, next to the sidelines, IMHO, the 150-500 is tooo long. It would work on the bleachers, but not the sidelines, at least for me. On the field, the short end of 150 will limit the closer shots. Also it is a big heavy lens, and you will need to shoot it on a monopod, or your arms will be SORE. For football, soccer, and lacrosse, where I shoot on the sidelines, I prefer to shoot handheld without a monopod, to be mobile and have be able to swing the lens.

IMHO, your 70-300 is just fine for shooting on the sidelines. It is close to the 80-200 which was the standard football lens in the past. And it gives you a bit more reach than the 80-200.

If you have a 2nd body, put the 28-75 on it for shooting the team and coaches, and for the close plays.

My normal daytime football lens on my DX D7200 is the 18-140. And I use the full range of the lens from wide to tele. The long end (210mm FX equiv) is a bit short for cross-field shots, where a 300 FX equiv would be better. The ability to track and shoot the players without switching to another body when they get close was/is valuable. In the past I would just give up when the player came too close for the 80-200.

However, as @weepete asked, do you have any night games?
Cuz that is where things get tough.
My normal daytime football lens is the 18-140. But at f/5.6 on the long end, it is SLOW and difficult to use for night games, where I have to crank up the ISO to 12800 to use that lens.
Night games call for the fastest lens that you can get, in order to keep the ISO down at a reasonable level.
So the 70-200 f/2.8 for night games.

Gud Luk

 

[tirediron]

if you're shooting from the sidelines with a D800, 300mm is more than long enough.

 

[ac12]

quote
I feel like I need a longer focal lens to do a good work
end quote

Sorry, but this is not a way to make an important decision.
You need to KNOW if you need a longer lens or not, and what you give up for that longer lens.
Because you are considering selling the 70-300 to fund the 150-500, you will LOOSE the focal length between 70-150. Is that range important or not?

I suggest you get out on the practice field with the 70-300, and shoot an entire game or two, to get a good feel of what that lens will and will not do.
Then after the game look through your images.

• Is 300mm long enough? Do you REALLY NEED more reach?
• Then look at what you shot in that 70-150mm range. What you would miss without that range?
• Can you do a tighter shot, or would you just have to give up those shots when they come close?
  
• Are you willing to give up coverage on the wide end from 70mm to 150mm to get the extra reach from 300mm to 500mm?

• If your style is to shoot TIGHT, maybe you want a longer lens, to shoot and crop tight in the camera.
  
• But my experience is that it is harder to track the moving player when I am zoomed in tight on him. I need room around the player so that I can maintain situational awareness.

• Remember, you can always crop IN to an image to get a tighter image, but you cannot crop OUT from an image to get more coverage that isn't there to get.

Then make up your mind.

Note, when viewing the field from above, there are 2 sets of line markers; one offset on each side of the field. This is where the teams line up on. There is a difference when they line up on the close markers to you or the far markers. You have to shoot with the team on both sets of markers. When they are on the close markers, the action can get quite close to you.

Gud Luk