HS LAX with 70-200 and 1.4x...

I keep thinking I need more reach, I need more reach but since I have added more kids to the family, reach will have to wait. I've also just about stopped shooting sports other than for my kids teams so its so hard to justify long glass anymore. These are all with the 70-200 MkII and 1.4x tc. Most are decent sized crops. I actually feel like the images hold up fairly well despite the crops so I guess for now, I'll stick with this gear (I do miss my 300 f/2.8 something bad though). Anyhow, here's a few shots from our first game of the season. Bonus was that my daughter found the back of net despite a 7-5 loss to a very good team.

1.

looks good, the teleconverter apparently didn't affect IQ or AF much

watt100 wrote in post #16820744
looks good, the teleconverter apparently didn't affect IQ or AF much

Thanks watt. That's the thing that keeps me from trading the 70-200 for longer glass...it takes the tc so well. I swear its as good with the tc at f4 as either of my old 300's (the f/4 AND the f/2.8)! That's saying something!

WOW! My TC sucks and I don't get close to this nice with my 5D III. WTG!!

Supersteve911 wrote in post #16822882
WOW! My TC sucks and I don't get close to this nice with my 5D III. WTG!!

you are way too kind Steve but thanks!

They look good Scott! You still have it in you!

tmalone893 wrote in post #16824116
They look good Scott! You still have it in you!

Haha Theron! Blind squirrel theory in practice maybe! Hope you've been well!

These are nice. As long as they play in the daylight your 1D3 will work nicely with the TC and a bit of sharpening as you have shown here.

Thanks Dave. You are absolutely right...with the lights up, its a bit of a challenge as you can't crop well but also don't have the light or ISO to make the tc and 1D3 play nice. I actually posted in the lens forum about selling the 70-200 for the Sigma 120-300 (non OS) and pocketing the money. For what I am now shooting, it might be a better call. I haven't taken a real sports assignment in a couple of years and don't plan on it so its just my kids sports.

Fantastic images ! I went to your website and was amazed at some the images you've captured. I loved the B&W images.
We have just started having LAX down here in Savannah,Ga......I love the game ! Native Americans sure knew how to have fun. Can you imagine having the goals miles apart !!!

Great shots. I am shooting my grandson's LAX games with the same equipment 1D MK III, 70-200 MK III, and 1.4 Tele extender. I have been shooting in manual, raw with pretty good luck. It has occurred to me that the pro's probably do not shoot in raw and was wondering what mode you shoot in and whether you shoot raw or jpeg..and what metering mode you are using if you are not shooting in manual? Thanks for your help

DarenM wrote in post #16828775
Great shots. I am shooting my grandson's LAX games with the same equipment 1D MK III, 70-200 MK III, and 1.4 Tele extender. I have been shooting in manual, raw with pretty good luck. It has occurred to me that the pro's probably do not shoot in raw and was wondering what mode you shoot in and whether you shoot raw or jpeg..and what metering mode you are using if you are not shooting in manual? Thanks for your help

Thanks guys. I shoot manual and usually meter ctr wght avg unless I have some funky light going on. I do set up one of my back buttons to AF and the other one I have set to custom Av settings. That way, I can shoot manual as in would but if the players suddenly run into a shaded section of the pitch or a random cloud drops my exposure, I simply switch which button I press without my eye ever leaving the viewfinder. It's honestly a critically important setup for me. I also shoot JPEG. That's an argument that will have both sides making valid points but for me, if I need RAW capabilities to save an image that isn't saveable as a JPEG, then it's not a keeper to start with. Obviously, everyone does things a little different but that is my take on why I a hoot JPEG.

Shot my second game this season today and think I did a little better after a winter of no sports shooting at all which tends to make the first few outings a little sketchy!

Thanks for your thoughts ...think i will try shooting the next game in jpeg.. i have been using my incident meter to set exposure depending on where i am on the field and what direction the light is coming from, then check histogram and then over expose a stop. Of course I am shooting in raw and expect to make final adjustments later.

I dumb it down a lot. I spot meter the turf right in front of me (if a gray card or gray t shirt isn't available which is why I often wear that color to shoot games). Pull my settings for that then set a n emergency Av setting and assign it to the second button on back. That way I am ready for anything. As the game goes on, I do check the histogram if I think lighting has check aged and make changes accordingly, Doing it that makes it much easier to never miss a shot due to exposure issues at least.

They all look great to me. I will have to use my 1.4 more for what I shoot.