Basketball

[jdepould]

Shot my first basketball game with the new 70-200 ... man is it good. Focus is faster and more accurate than the original. It's also easier to use. The zoom ring is placed better, and the calibration is better for sports. The older one had a little bit more throw, which made it more accurate, but also took more rotation to go from 70 to 200, meaning you often ended up with awkward hand placement. Focus ring seems to be placed better.

The game itself was ... interesting. One of the Bonaventure players got ejected for a flagrant foul when he hit Rautins in the groin. That one drew the ire of most everyone in the Dome. As the refs were watching the replay, the crowd chanted "Throw him out, throw him out." First half was pretty bad, really sloppy on both sides, with some mind-numbingly bad calls for good measure.

As a side note, the 24-70 works beautifully for basketball on the crop sensor (as long as you're on the baseline). The only drawback is the shutter speed. I find myself hesitating to push beyond ISO800 any more, mostly because I've gotten so used to the FX files.


D700 + 70-200mm f/2.8 VR2
70mm, 1/1000s, f/2.8 @ ISO2000


D300 + 24-70mm f/2.8
62mm, 1/500s, f/2.8 @ ISO800


D700 + 70-200mm f/2.8 VR2
95mm, 1/1000s, f/2.8 @ ISO2000

[cphoniball]

Nice shots...

I know what you mean about the 24-70 on a crop sensor. You can use really short lenses with basketball, unless you specifically want only tight shots. Even used a 35mm prime for a little bit before... fun stuff.