I finally found an opportunity to put my 300/2.8L USM (non-is) through its paces today at a local high school soccer tournament.
I only stayed for a game and a half. My impressions of my copy are that it focuses well, but it may be slightly soft wide open...BUT, it sharpens up very well in post... I actually used pshizzy's actions for resizing and sharpening
This was only my second soccer game EVER to shoot. It seems that something like a 400 and 70-200 would be a better combo for soccer, but all I have is this 300.
How'd I do for my second time? There wasn't a whole lot of action...one game was 0-1. I also just felt always out of place with a 300...either too close or too far away. The lighting was also really harsh...one game started at 10AM, and the other at noon.
The last two are different plays... #11 being a one handed NBA style grab
Jeff,
At first glance I thought you were digging up an old post from last fall. L O L So glad you are at least able to shoot something other than indoor sports this time of the year, you lucky dog!
It's a nice enough set and my favs are 5 & 9. It's funny you mention your 300 being slightly soft wide open. I noticed this with my 400 this baseball season and started shooting it at f/4 during sunny day games and I'll be darned if the keeper rate didn't jump through the roof with tack sharp images far exceeding what I was accustomed to getting shooting wide open on sunny days. However, during games under Friday night lights, the 2.8 produced sharp results. I no longer ask myself why, I just accept it and shoot. If you don't have one already, get a newer version teleconverter and slap it on your 300 for when you are shooting soccer and baseball and I think you will be greatly pleased at the results.
In TX, HS soccer starts in January. The highs have been in the 60s and 70s this whole month. We've only had one week where the highs were in the low 40s, and that was in December. Its usually warm here in TX, but its never been this lacking in cold.
I don't know why I didn't mess around with settings more...I pretty much stuck to f/2.8 and 3.2. I would have loved to bump it to f/4 and compared it to what my $old 300/4L produced...doh!
It was extremely bright and harsh lighting...I was getting some CA around the whites, but not as much as I expected
Jeff, I hear you in regards to keep the Aperture at 2.8. That is what I have been doing with my 70-200. I want that blurred background on all my shots. I too suffer from more soft shots than sharp. Sunday i am going to play around with bumping the setting up. I like your shots. Only thing I would suggest, stand with the Sun to your back. This will eliminate the shadow on the players faces. Like on the first few shots on here
One thing to note the softness you may be seeing could be from shooting backlit subjects. This can cause some focus inconsistencies along with lower contrast. Nice captures by the way.
Jeff,
despite your worries, that is a very nice set.
i agree w/ Bruce, may be a backlit thing. i have shot
soccer only a couple of times and was able to position
myself so the images were not backlit, so grain of
salt here.
for some images of a real pro at soccer, look up Russ Isabellas'
soccer images.
Hopefully, he will be awake from shooting Utah gymnastics at zero
dark thirty and see your post.
thanks for sharing and post more if you have'em
B
Some of these shots have pretty harsh shadows on the players faces. Try moving to where the sun is on your back and then just wait for the action to come to you.
