Purchase dilemma

Bill Carr

Bill Carr

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3
Edit My Images
No
Hi everyone,

I shoot predominantly football on a Canon 7d with a 70-200 is 2.8 both during the week and weekends.

I have a bit of money saved up and my dilemma is -

Do I upgrade to a 7d mark ii or do i spend that money on getting another cheaper body and a 24-70 2.8 lens?

I'm leaning towards spreading the money out and covering multiple options with two lesser quality bodies and another lens but would love to know what you all think.

Thanks,

Bill
 
•
I recognize that when it comes to canon, I'm totally ignorant! Nevertheless, the
same principle applies here:
Always invest in good lenses since they will last you much longer than bodies.
Upgrade a body only when it slows down your progression or limits your work.
 
Do you ever find yourself wanting a wider angle? Do you ever find your 7D lacking for anything?

I've never really used my 24-70 for field sports, apart from when the teams first come out onto the pitch, 70mm is more often then not enough for me, although I do use it mostly on a FF camera.

The 7DII is an awesome camera, but if you're getting on fine with yours and don't feel like it's holding you back I wouldn't bother upgrading just yet.

I'm leaning towards the camera plus 24-70 option, but really it depends on where you feel you're being limited, if at all.
 
Prcatically every footy photographer out there uses the 70-200 plus long lens (300/400mm) combo. Some (me included) willalso have a third body to hand with something like a 24-70 on it in case a goal celebration happens right on top of them. In practice, though, the 24-70 gets little usage (to the extent that not a single frame might be shot in the course of a game). Short zooms like a 24-70 are invariably nice lenses and have lots of uses but I don't think you get any real benefit out of it for shooting footy action.

The 7D2 is a great camera and really comes into its own with a long lens on it - I've been using one with my 300mm lens week in week out since they were launched last year. That said, the 7D is still a good camera and if you still like what it does then you can get a second 7D body really cheaply at the moment. Hell, I can even sell you one!

If you want to go down the two body route then spend what you can on decent glass, as Kodiak advises. If you spend wisely the cost of ownership will be very low over the years. Spend money on a new body only when you really have to as they have much more finite lives than lenses.
 
I recently (last few minth) got a 24-70 and its one of the best things I have bought in a long time.. take it with me everywhere... the only place I dont use it is a football match unless doing pre match stuff but never action.. Used it at basketball at the weekend and use it for boxing and other sports though..
 
My post will probably confuse you but here it goes anyway:

I have the 7d mark 2 absolutely love it. It's my second body to my 5d3 which I find too slow for sports (frames per second wise ) waiting for the 1dx mark 2 to come out so I can buy the 1dx (price drop) lol. I also have the 24-70 in my bag I mostly shoot football at the moment and I haven't used it yet this season. It is an amazing lens though. Maybe you could use it as part a remote camera setup but I wouldnt risk my 24-70mm being knocked out by a football hitting the net. That's just me. (Not very confident with remote cameras yet to be fair)

I mainly use the 24-70 as my holiday lens
 
Thanks everyone. Some really great advice!

Sideshow - do you think that the advanced autofocus and iso is worth the extra investment? big difference in your evening match shots?

Thanks Kipax. I was thinking of using the 24-70 to begin shooting other sports so it's great to hear you like it. That really makes me sway towards purchasing the lens over upgrading my camera body. Would you say multiple average set ups is better than one really high quality set up? I guess it is personal preference but it would good to know what you think.

Cheers Leila. how are you finding your 7d mark 2 at the night games?
 
I'm not sure that that there is a huge improvement in the higher ISO, less than a stop probably. I do like the autofocus on the 7D2 and much prefer it to the original 7D.
Much depends on how much cash you've got spare - the 7D2 is a better camera but that doesn't make the 7D a bad one overnight. I'll send you a 7D2 image or two if you like and you can see if you like them.
 
I never had the 7d mark 1 so I don't know in terms of comparison...but I wouldn't boost the ISO anyway past 10k, I find it is way too noisy for my taste. " Usually" the bigger the team the league is in the better the lights are in their stadiums. So I went a non-league football match and the lights were non-existent (well not literally but it was very good) however I was at premier league game the other day and I push the ISO to 3200 (1/1000 f2.8) and the images were clean and good enough. I have the 5d mark 3 which I wouldn't use past ISO 12800 as my personal rule of thumb pics too grainy above that for my taste
 
Thanks guys. Again some really help information.

I've been thinking about shooting some boxing, which like mid week football I know I'd need a body with decent iso. But obviously that means i'd need a 24-70 lens. I guess if you haven't got all the money in the world there has to be compromises. From hearing everyone's advice I think if I was purely focused on football then I would definitely go for the mk2.

Yeah Sideshow would be great to see your images and see how the two compare.
 
Bill Carr said:
I've been thinking about shooting some boxing,
Click to expand...


I used to use a 35mm f2 lens for all my boxing and it was great.. didnt think i would ever use anything else.. got the 24-70 for other reasons.. tried it at boxing and its so good that the 35mm f2 collects dust now.... but its such a sharp lens and not worth a lot i keep it just in case :)
 
If you primarily shoot football I would go for the 7DII. I understand that it is far better at higher ISO's than the 7D.

Or you could get a 1D4 for the extra weather sealing. I have been told that the 7DII and 1D4 are similar at higher ISOs.

The 5D3 isn't necessarily too slow for sports - I use one with a longer lens. Yes you do lose some frames per second compared to a 7DII and a 1D4, but with the longer lens I am hoping that if I miss the actual goal, that the players will turn my way to celebrate if I am sitting in front of their fans. In your case as you only have the one lens I would go for the 1D4 due to the pro build.
 
KIPAX said:
I used to use a 35mm f2 lens for all my boxing and it was great.. didnt think i would ever use anything else.. got the 24-70 for other reasons.. tried it at boxing and its so good that the 35mm f2 collects dust now.... but its such a sharp lens and not worth a lot i keep it just in case :)
Click to expand...

Was it the MK2 version Tony ?
 
I have a 24-70 f/2.8 and only use it for football for stuff like presentations and team shots. Lovely lens. I have a 7D and a 1Dmk4. If I had cash to spend, I think it would not upgrade a camera body until I could afford something substantially better. Glass would be a priority for me, but it depends on whether you would get the use from it.
 
I would still go for the 1D4 and just sit behind the goal line or somewhere on the side within the goal box width. 1D4 far superior to the 7D.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top