NY Girls Volleyball Semi-Final - MarkIII + 200 f/1.8

Good match last night between that this team won. They made it to States last year, and have beat the team they face in the Sectional finals twice this year already.

All of these were taken with a Canon 1D Mark III and 200mm f/1.8 in one of the darkest gyms that I've had the pleasure to shoot in. This is some the hardest stuff I ever do... shooting through the net, handheld, low light, and high action. These are ISO2000-ISO3200, f/2, and 1/400s. They were all about 1/2-2/3 stop under and corrected in levels. WB set with Expodisc.

These are great Mike! I don't own an 200 1.8 but, how is the weight with that lens on that body? Just curious as I'm considering the next gen f/2. Thanks.

Great shots in some difficult conditions from what you say, well done.

I love the 200 f/1.8... and would consider the new one. It is all what you are used to I guess. I see people using a monopod with a 75-300 consumer lens... and a LOT of people use a monopod with the 70-200 f/2.8. The 200 is a lot heavier then that, but its is pretty well balanced with a 1 series body. For gym sports, I usually use the 200 on one body and an 85 or 135 on a another body. In this thread, I just posted from the 200 though. If I am shooting softball outdoors with the 200, then I do use a monopod, and I have used one for basketball with it... but just as often I hand hold it. For volleyball you pretty much have to handhold it because of the random movement of the action.... at least I do. So I like it a lot... my favorite lens in fact... but its not the easiest setup to use in this environment. It takes a lot of patience, but it also gets shots that you can't get without it.

Mike, I have a question for you.

When you shoot the hitters and the blocking walls at the net do you try and prefocus on them while they are on the ground before jumping up so the focus isn't thrown off?

I shot a match for the first time last week and Im going to be using this exact setup you shot with next friday and hopefully Saturday.

Got some decent keepers but When shooting through the net the focus can be thrown off by the netting actually against the background.

Ross

Its really tough. I use the back focus button and I do prefocus on them while they are on the ground. You have to play it by ear on whether they've moved enough to refocus. And then you have to wait for them to get up over the net... or focus on them through the net and hope you get lucky. At f/2, the depth of field is very thin.

For some reason I was expecting a bit more...of what I'm not sure. Maybe when I saw "Canon 1D Mark III and 200mm f/1.8" I thought,"oooh, there is gonna be some nice pics..."
Not bad...I just wanted something more...
HP

HighPixel wrote in post #4246475
For some reason I was expecting a bit more...of what I'm not sure. Maybe when I saw "Canon 1D Mark III and 200mm f/1.8" I thought,"oooh, there is gonna be some nice pics..."
Not bad...I just wanted something more...
HP

Buzz Killer

HighPixel wrote in post #4246475
....I just wanted something more...
HP

Don't we all... but if you're shooting in a poorly lit gym... Convergent squeezed everything out of the equipment one could to get some pretty nice shots.

HighPixel wrote in post #4246475
For some reason I was expecting a bit more...of what I'm not sure. Maybe when I saw "Canon 1D Mark III and 200mm f/1.8" I thought,"oooh, there is gonna be some nice pics..."
Not bad...I just wanted something more...
HP

I guess you've never shot volleyball before. Those are quite awesome shots. The timing is spectacular and they're sharp and relatively clean. You can't get much better than that.

I love shooting at the net.... it's where the game is won and lost. Unfortunately the gyms have been being converted over for basketball and the media tables are in the way now. I digress though... these are nice shots. I am actually not disappointed in the performance of either the camera or lens, but surprised how the white balance has a pronounced warm bias to it. Were you using one of the warming expodisk or did it just turn out that way because of the cycling lights? Either way, shots still look great.

I hadn't shot in this gym before, so I wasn't really happy with the white balance either. Usually if I set it with the Expodisc, its good to go. It was a very new gym, and I was a little surprised with how dark it was. Hey, they aren't perfect, but its tough to shoot through the net. The shots with the 135 are obviously better in some regards because the players are not obstructed and its an easier setup to navigate. I just really like the net shots like this, so I usually take a game to shoot this way.