Tonight I was shooting my daughter's softball game under the lights, and I had to shoot at ISO3200 with my 70-200 wide open @ f/2.8 to get a 1/400 shutter speed. But 200mm is hardly long enough to cover much other than 1st base and right field. Normally I use the 1.7TC and I can cover the entire field, but f/4.8 was impossible in this light. A 300 f/2.8 would be great (either the Nikon Prime or the Sigma 120-300) but I was hoping to avoid dropping that much cash on one lens. I guess I'll have to make due with cropping.
Back in the day they used manual lenses and a manual Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 can be had for around $1000-1500. Nice fat focus ring and you can pre-mark the ring for various subject distances. For paid gigs naturally this is not going to cut it with Mr. ESPN next to you with a D3 + 300mm f/2.8 VR but could be a lot of fun for a non-paid gig.
I guess if you're going to plop down $1000-1500 you could also get a used Sigma 120-300mm non-DG for around $1500-1700.
Or, it costs about $100 to rent one of those 300mm VR for a day. How many softball games are we talking?
White, Jack wrote:
"Frustration --- I need 300mm f/2.8"
Back in the day they used manual lenses and a manual Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 can be had for around $1000-1500. Nice fat focus ring and you can pre-mark the ring for various subject distances. For paid gigs naturally this is not going to cut it with Mr. ESPN next to you with a D3 + 300mm f/2.8 VR but could be a lot of fun for a non-paid gig.
I guess if you're going to plop down $1000-1500 you could also get a used Sigma 120-300mm non-DG for around $1500-1700.
Or, it costs about $100 to rent one of those 300mm VR for a day. How many softball games are we talking? ...Show more →
The renting idea is a great one, but there are no places within 100 miles that I know of that rent. Otherwise that's exactly what I would do for the few games I shoot under the lights.
I feel the pain, the soccer field where my kid plays has just enough light for the kids to see the ball. And even then there are times I'm not so sure. I've thought about donating a couple hundred grand for more lights, but, well, I don't have a couple hundered grand.
I've not tried this myself, but there are rental services on-line that will mail you a lens for a few days rental. See for example here: http://www.borrowlenses.com/welcome It's a little more expensive than a local rental, but might still be worth checking out. One of the advantages of living in a big city, there are at least 3 places within 5 miles of me that carry that lens for rent.
Neddie Seagoon wrote:
I feel the pain, the soccer field where my kid plays has just enough light for the kids to see the ball. And even then there are times I'm not so sure. I've thought about donating a couple hundred grand for more lights, but, well, I don't have a couple hundered grand.
I've not tried this myself, but there are rental services on-line that will mail you a lens for a few days rental. See for example here: http://www.borrowlenses.com/welcome It's a little more expensive than a local rental, but might still be worth checking out. One of the advantages of living in a big city, there are at least 3 places within 5 miles of me that carry that lens for rent....Show more →
May not be a bad way to go to see if such a purchase is worth it. Thanks for the link.
Yea, I'll work on getting the town to 2X the lights just for me!