Big Sports Glass: Specs & Cost

I notice the photographers on the sidelines of sporting events with
their two-foot long black and white striped Canon cannons. What
sort of focal length, max aperture, and price tag does this big glass
(lens only) carry.

--
Don

Don McC wrote:
I notice the photographers on the sidelines of sporting events with
their two-foot long black and white striped Canon cannons. What
sort of focal length, max aperture, and price tag does this big glass
(lens only) carry.

Ain't no stripes, unless custom covers. FL up to 1200. Ap to 2.0/2.8 but
not on the very long glass. Prices from ~$900 to way over $10K. IS adds
more; assume they're all "L" glass.
--
John McWilliams

Don McC wrote:
I notice the photographers on the sidelines of sporting events with
their two-foot long black and white striped Canon cannons. What
sort of focal length, max aperture, and price tag does this big glass
(lens only) carry.

f/2.8, stabilized, and more than we can afford over 200mm.

"Don McC" wrote:

I notice the photographers on the sidelines of sporting events with
their two-foot long black and white striped Canon cannons. What
sort of focal length, max aperture, and price tag does this big glass
(lens only) carry.
Don

I shot a Canadian University women's hockey game on Friday night (Nov
16th). The photos are he
http://www.JustPhotos.ca/galleries/s...ckey/MUNwomen/

For the pre-game shots I used a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L on a Canon 1D Mark III
(1.3 crop) but once the game started, I switched to a Canon 300mm f/2.8L
IS. That's a fairly big lens. The on-ice lighting was ISO6400, f/2.8,
1/400 sec. But I shot mostly under-exposed at 1/500 to reduce motion blur.

The 300mm lens cost slightly less than the camera. The camera and lens
combined cost about the same amount as my neighbour paid for his ATV. He
has his toys and I have mine; both for about the same price. Seems fair to
me.

For most field sports (rugby, football, soccer), especially on a full-frame
camera, the 300mm would be a little short. For those sports, a 400mm
f/2.8L IS would be better. That's probaably the lens that you've referred
to in your post. That lens would cost about US$6,500 plus tax.

Don McC wrote:
I notice the photographers on the sidelines of sporting events with
their two-foot long black and white striped Canon cannons.

What sort of focal length, max aperture,
and price tag does this big glass (lens only) carry.

The lenses sport reporters usually use include:
70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM $1,574.00

200mm f/2.8L II USM $ 639.95
300mm f/2.8L IS USM $3,899.00
or 300mm f/4.0L IS USM $1,119.95
400mm f/2.8L IS USM $6,500.00
or 400mm f/4.0 DO IS USM $5,199.95
500mm f/4.0L IS USM $5,500.00
600mm f/4.0L IS USM $7,200.00

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...mm+to+600mm%29

And possibly a 1.4x or 2.0x teleconverter ($279.95). For instance,
instead of carrying a 600/4.0, a photographer could use a 400/2.8 and
a 1.4x, giving a 560/4.0. This is cheaper and lighter.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...at=Brand_Canon

For games, the 200-300mm are probably the most used (to fit several players
in the photo) with the 500-600 needed only for close-ups of players.

In motorsports, many times (F1 circuits, for instance) the photographer
must be very far from the action and so the 500-600 are probably more
used. I just took a look at some photos I took a long time ago and I had
written "The lens used was a 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 sometimes with a noname
2x manual focus teleconverter", meaning that I found the 300mm too short.

OTOH, in rallys, for instance, sometimes it is possible to be quite
close. Some of the best photos I took were with a 28-80 used in
wideangle. Like these two:
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/rally/p97/photos/bc-34.jpg
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/rally/p97/photos/bc-36.jpg
They are from the series at:
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/rally/p97/photos/

All the above is based in full frame cameras (my experience is with film
cameras). With a smaller size sensor the focal lengths needed will be
reduced.

--
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/

..pt is Portugal| `Whom the gods love die young'-Menander (342-292 BC)
Europe | Villeneuve 50-82, Toivonen 56-86, Senna 60-94