70-200 2.8 IS: Paintball

[xluben]

First time at paintball with the new lens. Lighting was just as bad as always,
but the 70-200's lightning quick focus was great. Unfortunately even at
ISO1600 I was getting some motion blur when properly exposing.

In case anyone missed it, here's some basketball pictures I took with this lens
(posted in the DSLR owners thread):

NCAA had free open practice today at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis. I
headed down there for an hour or so to try out my new lens. First time
shooting with the 70-200 2.8 IS and also my first time shooting sports on
manual mode the entire time.

Coming from a 55-250 IS, I was very impressed with how quickly and
accurately this lens focused. The fast and constant max aperture was great
to have and made manual mode possible. Pictures came out looking very good
and required little processing. My main issue was keeping the (center only)
AF point on moving players. Got a few shots that focused on the seats
behind the player.

Unfortunately I was just sitting in the stands (front row), so I got quite a few
heads (coaches, players, media) in the corners of my shots. I also noticed
that of the 9 media-pass-holding photographers I saw, 6 of them shot Canon,
and ALL of them shooting Canon had the same lens as me

Settings for all photos:
ISO Setting: ISO1600
Shutter Speed: 1/800 sec
Aperture Setting: F/2.8
Focus Range: 2.5m-00
Auto Focus: On (Center Point)
Image Stabilizer: OFF

Gallery here:

http://benjohnson.smugmug.com/gallery/7664849_RACpd

*Disclaimer: Not a basketball fan. I couldn't name a single college basketball
player! Just went there because I thought it would be a good opportunity for
practicing indoor sports photography!

This was actually 3 balls, not a PS trick. None of them went in ^

Comments and criticism welcome and appreciated!

Quick on of the doggie in the backyard

I can't wait to do some outdoor sports with this thing! If only the weather
here in MN would warm up a bit.

 

[dynasty]

wow 1600ISO and you still got enough light. nice pictures though. the basketball pictures are sharp! IS lense is a good investment.

edit_oh! it's an L lense. no wonder. bahaha

 

[xluben]

wow 1600ISO and you still got enough light. nice pictures though. the basketball pictures are sharp! IS lense is a good investment.

edit_oh! it's an L lense. no wonder. bahaha

Here's some of the pro's at the NCAA practice:

All shooting with the same lens as me

 

[dynasty]

wow. with IS off, your pictures is still sharp. nice dude. which mode settings did you use? i usually work with Manual but once in awhile i play with aperture settings.

 

[Raymond]

Very nice, one of the three lenses I'll be buying next. Great shots!

 

[98ExAccordwv]

Nice shots man.

 

[finch13]

I can't wait to do some outdoor sports with this thing! If only the weather here in MN would warm up a bit.

Great shots man! It looks like we have to wait until the middle of April to get any kind of warmth.

 

[dynasty]

Great shots man! It looks like we have to wait until the middle of April to get any kind of warmth.

it's like.. winter again for me in Oklahoma. gay Oklahoma weather.

 

[xluben]

wow. with IS off, your pictures is still sharp. nice dude. which mode settings did you use? i usually work with Manual but once in awhile i play with aperture settings.

Settings for the basketball pictures are listed in the post:

Manual Mode:
ISO Setting: ISO1600
Shutter Speed: 1/800 sec
Aperture Setting: F/2.8
Focus Range: 2.5m-00
Auto Focus: On (Center Point)
Image Stabilizer: OFF

The paintball ones were a mix of Manual and Aperture Priority. ISO1600, f/2.8, Auto Focus On (Center Point), IS Mode 2, shutter speeds approx 1/100.

Very nice, one of the three lenses I'll be buying next. Great shots!

Thanks, it's a great lens!

Nice shots man.

Thanks

Great shots man! It looks like we have to wait until the middle of April to get any kind of warmth.

it's like.. winter again for me in Oklahoma. gay Oklahoma weather.

MN got a dusting of snow yesterday

I might be able to do some outdoor paintball this weekend, and I'll be in FL shooting paintball middle of April!

 

[Nismode]

Now I'm REALLY jealous of that lens. I need to get my camera fixed

If not, I'll just save up for the new T1i. Movie mode, and 15MP

...an XSi body jacked with a sensor matching the 50Ds 15.1 megapixels, 1080p HD video recording, and a $900 price tag. Yeah, it's gonna be a hit. Other notable specs include a 3.0-inch Live View screen, a Digic IV processor, ISO 12.8k sensitivity...