I'm so miserable

Yep, that's how I feel after taking my Canon 60D to the nearest hockey rink near my home.

After trying 4 lenses none of em could do a good job at having a good exposure.

Got a 28-105mm, a 50mm, a 28-200mm and my Tokina wideangle 11-16.

The best I could get from the 10th row, was 1/30....iso 6400 even at f2.8

So now I know I need a monster lens, gee, that means big buck...but I will rent one before doing any moves...

Is there a major difference over the Canon 100-400 4,5 vs 100-400 2,8
And how about Sigma lens? Any good for sharp pics???

Canon doesn't make a 100-400 2.8 that I've ever seen & you won't get good shots with a 100-400 at 400mm @ f5.6 in a hockey rink, especially shooting from the stands. Sigma 120-300 is a good lens but it's huge & you probably won't be allowed to bring it in the door as a spectator unless it's a very unusual arena.

sega62 wrote in post #13270398
The best I could get from the 10th row, was 1/30....iso 6400 even at f2.8

Were the lights on?

If you can only get 1/30 at f/2.8 and ISO 6400, that rink must be lit like a dungeon. A monster lens isn't going to do you any good - it'll just get you highly blurred shots that are zoomed in much closer. Canon makes a 200mm f/2, but it costs over $5,500 and is only one stop faster than what you're currently shooting - so instead of 1/30, you'd be able to shoot at 1/60 - still nowhere near fast enough to stop action in a hockey game.

Some examples would sure help; those setting sound like you were shooting in a cave, though.

What mode were you shooting in, etc?

Sounds like OP forgot a setting thus underexposing his shots.....

did you check to make sure everything was zeroed?

Sounds silly but it happens every day to someone.

http://i146.photobucke​t.com/albums/r253/sega​62/018.jpg

Was it because you were focusing in live view...............?

wfarrell4 wrote in post #13270872
Was it because you were focusing in live view...............?

I think I used manual and the viewfinder!!!!
But I see that I was f22 on most of em!
I'll post some more bad pics!!!

I wish I could find a way to read exif data on my iPad... Are these really 1/30, f/2.8, iso6400?

sega62 wrote in post #13270882
I think I used manual and the viewfinder!!!!
But I see that I was f22 on most of em!
I'll post some more bad pics!!!

Not sure if serious.

And you think??

These three images are taken between ISO 2000-3200, and at f20-f22! No wonder you have no light.

Try it again, open those lenses up all the way, that'll get you a few stops of light, bring your ISO up to 6400, and use whatever that all gives you to bump your shutter speed up.

Dave