Zoom for Sports

[OldReigation]

Hi I am looking to buy a new bridge camera (super zoom) as I want to take up sports photography (professional grounds don't allow slr's)

If I were in a professional sports stadium sitting at one end of the ground with the opposite end approximately 150 yards away, would I be able to fill the frame with an individual player with a 600mm lens (panasonic fz200) or should I go for the 1200mm of the sx50, or somewhere inbetween (sx40) fuji hs30 exr?

Any help you could give would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Donald]

The part of this that mystifies me is, "professional grounds don't allow slr's". I don't know where in the world you are, but I've certainly never heard of that one.

Anyway, irrespective of that, I think the best way of checking out what you need to know (assuming you can't get to a retailer and actually try it out yourself) is to search for review p[ages (maybe from manufacturer) that give illustration so the zoom and field of view of different focal lengths; i.e. picture illustrations of what it will look like at 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 200mm 500mm, etc.

And, by the way, you've maybe seen that most of us tend to use our real names on here. It makes communication more friendly and CiC is that sort of site. Did you know you can go to Edit Profile and enter your proper name under 'Real Name'. Then it will appear underneath your Username in all your posts. You can also enter your location so that it does the same, just as in my details alongside this message. Then we all know where everyone is in the world.

[Fstop Manalo]

"Professional grounds dont allow slr's"??? I'm certainly w/ Mr Donald here. I havent heard that phrase before.
What I think you should do for my opinion is to know your sport and think how much zoom do you think you'll need. In my situation, I bought a lens w/ a zoom of up to 200mm because we have a regular sized basketball court and I couldnt reach the picture I needed with my 18 55. So remember, just trust your gut/heart. You'll find your way!

[OldReigation]

Hi Thanks for your reply, it's been very informative. I'll pop over to the Edit Profile section and add my real name and location right now (well, after I've finished typing) With regard to the SLR in pro grounds comment I am a season ticket holder at White Hart Lane (Tottenham Hotspur) and have been to the ground three times now with my SLR and each time I get it out, bang, up comes the steward and says "you're not allowed that type of camera in here, it may infringe player's or club's commercial rights". So I noticed a guy using a bridge camera and he was left well alone. Anyway, thanks for the input, it's been helpful.

[Mike Buckley]

I wonder if it's the camera or the lens that is being prohibited on the grounds. As an example, the following is from the Washington Nationals baseball stadium website, which I regularly attend: "Cameras with a lens longer than eight (8) inches may not be brought inside of Nationals Park, except by credentialed media."

Before going to the expense of buying equipment, you might want to get in writing the details about what is specifically prohibited at your stadium. It might be that the officials at the stadium don't understand the regulations. If your camera system is not in violation of the regulations, perhaps you only need to keep a printed copy with you to show the officials. In the days of using film, I kept a copy of the federal regulations with me to show officials at the U. S. airports that they were bound by regulations to hand inspect my film upon my request rather than put it through the machine.

[oldgreygary]

I think that in England these regulations are goverened by the Football Assocation who look after professional and amateur football. I understand that for Premiership teams such as Spurs (Tottenham) then the basic regulation is only accredited photographers are allowed to take photos. I think it could also possibly tie in with sponsorship deals which might have some copyright issues. i.e. sponsorship names on players shirts. I'm sure I read something somewhere which said that at the grounds discretion that might allow a compact camera. But when the players are warming up or actually playing you can't take any images. I guess as Mike says if you contacted the club and got it from the 'horses mouth' so to speak then that would clarify the situation. There was a similar ruling for the Olympics over here and that was set at a limit on the actual size of camera you could take in.

It also I guess depends at what level of sport photography your are at. I have approached local sports clubs and asked if it was ok to take images. They have been happy to allow me to take photos. If you offer to share any images with them then it is a good way of gaining experience and getting your images seen. Plus, you can get closer to the action.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Shadowman]

Here's an observance from an article I read: at 100 feet you will fill the frame with a 3 foot subject with a 500mm lens.