Spring Football with 1DX and 800mm f/5.6

Got a chance to try out an 800mm f/5.6 for our spring game. This lens is mind blowing. Action is a lot harder to follow with it, but if you nail a shot, you are definitely rewarded. The bokeh is amazing. The lens is sharp wide open, and works very well with a x1.4 TC (example is shot #6 of a quarterback). I tried it with a TC on a 7DII as well (~1800mm), but focus speed degraded substantially, plus it was basically impossible to shoot with at field level. I really hope I get another opportunity to use one of these.

1. Hitting the hole

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I imagine an 800 would be a lot of fun to shoot with. I've had pretty good results with a 400 2.8 and a 2x III for a "poor man's" 800mm, but that was on a 5dIII. Couldn't imagine it with a 7d AND with a teleconverter. As you say, game footage is a lot harder to follow, but when you nail a shot... WOW!

Great images.

Go Vols!

Great images Andew!That lens is a beast.

Robert

Great pic, GO VOLS !

Thanks for sharing, this was the first Orange & White game I have missed in 6 years, the wife had me taking photos at a friends wedding reception.

Very cool! Backgrounds are so smooth.

Have to imagine there was probably some serious lens envy going down on the sidelines that day. Lol.

Thanks everyone.

Matt_Ferris wrote in post #17538630
Very cool! Backgrounds are so smooth.

Have to imagine there was probably some serious lens envy going down on the sidelines that day. Lol.

Haha, it drew a little attention. One of my colleagues took a picture of 5 photographers huddled around me in the corner of the endzone when I was testing teleconverters with the 7DII and 1DX.

abruckse wrote in post #17538707
Thanks everyone.

Haha, it drew a little attention. One of my colleagues took a picture of 5 photographers huddled around me in the corner of the endzone when I was testing teleconverters with the 7DII and 1DX.

Can we see? Hehe:p

great pix i just got my 1dx could i ask what case where you shooting in no4 or 2 etc and did you tweak them in any way Cheers

Great shots I am sure in low light it would tough too make quality photos

dessie wrote in post #17544607
great pix i just got my 1dx could i ask what case where you shooting in no4 or 2 etc and did you tweak them in any way Cheers

I'm usually fine with Case 1, though I'll occasionally switch to Case 4 in lower light. Case 1 does the job for me 90% of the time. I switch between single point and 4 point expansion as well.
There's a post on sportshooter of Peter Reed Miller's 1DX settings.. it's a good start.

sstimages wrote in post #17550848
Great shots I am sure in low light it would tough too make quality photos

Thanks, and yeah, even with a 1DX, f/5.6 is going to be very tough in most venues. But this lens serves a specific purpose anyway and isn't meant to be an all-around versatile sports lens.

1dx is sweet

nice....glad to see you have the opportunity!

Nice work

I've just added the 1dxmii and the canon 400 f2.8 to my arsenal ... Can't wait for football season!