Golf Photography

Draupnir

Guys,

Going to be getting into some golf photography in 09 and am looking to add a decent lens to my kit (currently 450d with kit lens + 50mm).

At the minute I am looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/BRAND-NEW-CANON-55-250MM-IS-LENS-IN-SCOTLAND_W0QQitemZ140290477562QQihZ004QQcategoryZ30070QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Budget is not really a huge concern, would like to keep it around 200 to 400 if I can. Would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations.

Cheers.

Borderfox

I would get a longer lens, they can be angry fu***rs when they hear a camera click

Ballyman

If budget isn't really a concern then get yourself a 400mm f/2.8 although it may slide a little outside €400

On a serious note, I would say you need minimum 300mm to be far enough away so you won't distract the golfer. There are plenty of cheap Sigma 70-300mm available on the net for around the €120 mark.

The downside of these lenses though is they are a little slow and if you are taking pics of a golfer during his swing then I would imagine you'd need an f/2.8 lens to get a fast enough shutter to not have motion blur or else a stunningly beautiful bright sunny day and this is Ireland after all!!

Draupnir

Well at 6k the Canon 2.8 400mm is a bit beyond the scope of a hobbyist photographer, particularly one with skills as limited as mine are right now!

I appreciate what you guys are saying about being far enough away and it makes perfect sense, I'll look at longer lenses and would appreciate any advice you guys might have on something more cost effective than the 400 2.8 but slightly faster than the 70-300

Ballyman

For €400 you are not going to get anything faster unfortunately. You could buy the sigma 70-200mm Mk1, currently on sale for around €400 in Jessops and then add a 1.4x extender (about €140) to it and you will then have a 280mm f/4 which would be a much better option than any of the cheapo 70-300 zooms available. You can also crop closer to the action afterwards.

For your budget you'd be better off getting a sigma or tamron as the canon stuff is very expensive. I have the sigma 70-200 and it's an excellent lens. Have a look at the horse racing stuff on the first page of my flickr and you'll see how sharp it is.

Draupnir

Ballyman wrote: »

For €400 you are not going to get anything faster unfortunately. You could buy the sigma 70-200mm Mk1, currently on sale for around €400 in Jessops and then add a 1.4x extender (about €140) to it and you will then have a 280mm f/4 which would be a much better option than any of the cheapo 70-300 zooms available. You can also crop closer to the action afterwards.

For your budget you'd be better off getting a sigma or tamron as the canon stuff is very expensive. I have the sigma 70-200 and it's an excellent lens. Have a look at the horse racing stuff on the first page of my flickr and you'll see how sharp it is.

Is that this lense:

http://www.keaphoto.com/shop.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=297&category_id=22

In a strange coincidence I was looking at that while you posted. I had seen your horse racing stuff before and was impressed by the sharpness.

Ballyman

Thats her alright. Thats the MII version though which is a little dearer than the MKI version for €400 in Jessops. To be honest I don't know what the difference between the two is though. I remember looking it up when I was buying mine and i THINK it was something to do with the AF speed but I'm not sure.

At €400 it's a bargain for Sigmas equivalent of a canon L lens.

kensutz

Borderfox wrote: »

I would get a longer lens, they can be angry fu***rs when they hear a camera click

Anyone remember the incident during the Ryder Cup this year when I think it was Phil Mickelson got the photographer booted out of the venue for distracting him.

OP - I've covered the Irish Open and you will want to be as far away as possible from the golfers. 300-400mm is ideal so you're going to have to stretch your budget.

Draupnir

Great advice guys, cheers. So 300 to 400mm, my budget is going to have to grow considerably! I have a few months before I need to get this lense but I could definitely use some advice on sharpness versus quality versus cost.

Looking at lenses that over 300mm, the cost of anything at 2.8 is miles outside my price range. Am I going to lose a lot of quality if I am shooting at 500mm f6.3? I have no real experience with these kind of zoom lenses.

Ballyman

You're not really losing image quality but speed. If you are photographing something stationery then speed doesn't matter. If the light is very good, bright summers day, then an f5.6 will be perfectly fine. It's when the sky clouds over or at dusk that you will need the f2.8

You could upgrade your camera to a 40D also and this would allow you to use a higher iso so you could use a slower lens! It gets more and more complicated!!

Draupnir

As always, great advice and I feel very informed, I think I will be spending around 700/800 on the lense and will go for a lense with longer focal length, thanks guys.

Borderfox

a 100-400L would suit also

mikeanywhere

Borderfox wrote: »

a 100-400L would suit also

Shove a 1.4 converter on that too and it will do you nicely!!!

bovril

Canon do a 400mm f5.6 and it works out slightly cheaper than the 100-400. It's very fast but will require good light.

mikeanywhere wrote: »

Shove a 1.4 converter on that too and it will do you nicely!!!

Aside: Will AF work though with the combination? I thought only AF would work at f7ish and smaller with the 1D cameras.

mervifwdc

300mm is probably ok, but it depends on what this golf event is. If your shooting for your own club, or company outing, 200mm is probably ok as you'll have a fair amount of leeway. Take the shot at the very end of the swing, when they (hopefully) are looking at where the ball went. No problem with a few clicks at that stage.

also look for shots on the green, from the opposite side of the flag from the golfer. shoot with the ball almost to the hole if the flag is gone. again, probably ok with a 200 for that if they are friendly. Also, 200mm with a full size person shot with a bit of space around them, with a 1.6 crop camera, your a fair bit away.

I'd look hard at a 70-200 2.8 or f4 of whatever make you can afford.

if it's a big league event, then look for a 300. If your just covering the one event, see if you can rent one just for the day.

Merv.

Draupnir

mervifwdc wrote: »

300mm is probably ok, but it depends on what this golf event is. If your shooting for your own club, or company outing, 200mm is probably ok as you'll have a fair amount of leeway. Take the shot at the very end of the swing, when they (hopefully) are looking at where the ball went. No problem with a few clicks at that stage.

also look for shots on the green, from the opposite side of the flag from the golfer. shoot with the ball almost to the hole if the flag is gone. again, probably ok with a 200 for that if they are friendly. Also, 200mm with a full size person shot with a bit of space around them, with a 1.6 crop camera, your a fair bit away.

I'd look hard at a 70-200 2.8 or f4 of whatever make you can afford.

if it's a big league event, then look for a 300. If your just covering the one event, see if you can rent one just for the day.

Merv.

I only just read your reply Merv, having lost track of this thread with Christmas etc. Thanks very much for the excellent advice, it's a big help, still undecided on what exactly to buy but am biding my time for now whilst I get to real grips with my camera.