Tennis - Rafa

[Jet16]

Rafa Nadal on the stadium court at the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne last month.

This was my first attempt at shooting tennis. While I was fortunate to have seats close to the action, I was still about 40-yards away. I was using a handheld 75-300mm film lens, which if I understand correctly, is a slightly longer lens when converted to digital. What lens would you recommend for a similar situation? What could I have done to improve the quality? (Faster shutter speed? etc.) Thoughts on composition? Your input would be greatly appreciated. I attend this event every year and would like to be able to capture some great moments. Thanks!

Camera: Cannon T1i
Exposure: 1/1000
Aperature: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 400
Focal Length: 300mm

[wamplers]

You might crop a little closer, but looks like you did a good job. Biggest improvement would be if you could be at court level so you wouldn't be shooting down at him, but I understand that isn't possible in this situation.

[AshNZ]

Good shot! I hope he makes a good comeback in the French Open.

I agree that you might crop a little close and get rid of the microphone on the left of the picture. That's a little distracting. Still, a great shot.

[Jet16]

Thanks Wamplers and AshNZ. Any thoughts about a better (faster?) lens for an amateur to use?

[AshNZ]

Originally Posted by Jet16

Thanks Wamplers and AshNZ. Any thoughts about a better (faster?) lens for an amateur to use?

Hi Jet16, I'm a amateur myself so I will leave it to others to advice you on a faster lens. In this picture you got the shutter speed pretty quick so I don't think a quicker shutter would have made much difference.

[wamplers]

Originally Posted by Jet16

Any thoughts about a better (faster?) lens for an amateur to use?

I use a 70-200 f/2.8L for most of my sports, but you'd miss the 300 length. You could add a 1.4x to the 70-200 to get back to 280, but then you'd be f/4 which is only 1 stop improvement.

Another option, if you like the range, is a 300 f/4 and you could add a 1.4x to get 420 f/5.6 when needed, or perhaps a Sigma 100-300 f/2.8 if you don't mind Sigma lenses. Lots of options, just depends on budget.

Personally, I would like the 300 f/2.8L, but it's a bit pricey.

[Jet16]

Thanks again AshNZ and Wamplers. You're probably right about the 70-200 --- I'd miss the extra length. I'm not familiar with the Signma 100-300. I'll look into it. Thanks!

[wamplers]

Correction: The Sigma is a 120 - 300 f/2.8. The Sigma 100-300 is an f/4 lens. Sorry about that.

[Rooby1]

Jett, I thought this shot was amazing - much much better than a lot of the ones I took of him at the Open. I'm a little jealous!

Great colors. I'm wondering
- what time of day it was,
- how close were you (did you say you were courtside?), and
- whether you used a little tripod (that security didn't see? Or didn't take away? lol)

that you were able to get that sharp at f/5.6 ...?