Longer, or faster lens?

wakarimasen

wakarimasen

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A question for the rugby/ football shooters....

Would you prefer to pair a DSLR with a longer zoom lens, to get closer to the action; or one that is 'shorter' - but has a larger aperture - for shooting rugby and football games? I have a Canon 1D Mark III and use a 100-400 F4.5-5.6L lens, which is - I think most would agree - most appropriate for shooting wildlife than fast moving sports. Would it be better to use a 70-200 F2.8 IS II - even with a 1.4X extender (which I have) - and crop afterwards?

I am thinking principally of focus accuracy which, with my current combination, struggles sometimes.

I think this may be due to the 1D having a central 'cross type' focus point for F2.8 lenses, but only 'horizontal' focus points for F5.6 lenses. My own ability is another natural limitation, of course!

Alternative approaches could be to switch to a 7D mark II, a 1D Mark IV, the newer 100-400L lens or even - deep breath - move to a Nikon D3....

All thoughts appreciated.
 
You want to shoot an event that is happening far from your standing position and the
action is fast, very fast at times.

To do things right, if the premise is true, you will need fast and long lenses if you
want to shoot at any time in any light conditions.

As a long time hard Nikon shooter, well you know…
 
Personally I would go with the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II on the 1D III and use that as it allows far more light even with the TC on for the winter games, then in the future get another 1D/7D with a 300mm f/2.8 or something similar.

P.S I use to have a D3 before I switched to Canon, was a cracking camera.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
You want to shoot an event that is happening far from your standing position and the
action is fast, very fast at times.

To do things right, if the premise is true, you will need fast and long lenses if you
want to shoot at any time in any light conditions.

As a long time hard Nikon shooter, well you know…
Click to expand...

What do you use?

Joeturner11 said:
Personally I would go with the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II on the 1D III and use that as it allows far more light even with the TC on for the winter games, then in the future get another 1D/7D with a 300mm f/2.8 or something similar.

P.S I use to have a D3 before I switched to Canon, was a cracking camera.
Click to expand...

Interesting: what made you switch to Canon from a D3? I imagined it's a goldilocks camera: just right!
 
Last edited:
Well, at least no-one suggested a change to Nikon..... :eek:
 
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