Canon 85mm f/1.8 USM for sports?

[Maritimer1]

IMG 5667 auto exposure in ACR, maybe a slight curve adjustment. Sharpened, cropped and a tweak of levels in PS2.

EF 50mm f1.8

Just found the photo instructions so will give this a go. This is a shot taken with the 50f1.8in an indoor with natural light only (no flash and no overhead lights on.) I was lucky to be standing near an open door for additional light. This one has been tweaked a bit in ACR and PS2. The original is in my album. Seeing what type of pics I am going for, do you think the 85 would be worth the upgrade? (You can see I am desparately trying to keep lens costs low for now

Thanks for looking!

Myra

[Amberglass]

Amberglass, I thought about the 75-300 mm IS lens. I have the non IS version that came with my camera. It’s OK outside in some situations. I put it on a tripod and tried a few horse/rider shots on the weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking when the horses were jumping and left my 50f1.8 on. I have some samples using the 50f1.8 on my profile page titled Second Try. Not sure how to post them here as thumbnails.

I’ve been to the site you linked. They are excellent. There are also some podcasts that are available that are very good.

Thanks!
Myra

Myra, it does takes a lot of practice in this field. The image you just posted is what would be considered to be "environmental". For leaping it's preferred that you "fill the frame" as much as possible and not placing the horse/rider dead center. The zoom I recommended is an improvement over the original and meant for the outdoors, not indoors. You can find second non IS versions of the 70-200 2.8L (www.keh.com) which is much cheaper (much lighter), and use a monopod (the original IS) or brace yourself against something to steady.

I've been asked to shoot a couple of equestrian exhibitions this year, and will post the images for you if you like. Shooting with an entry level camera for equestrian is possible; additional recommendations would be using faster memory cards (Sandisk Extreme IV), pre-focusing and exposure lock, and again monopod.

[Maritimer1]

Thanks, Amberglass. Yes, I'd love to see your exhibition photos.

Personally, I like jumping (whether it be stadium or cross country) shots to be almost in the center of the frame. (The shot above was for pure practice. I was trying to see what I could wring out of the camera to freeze the action and still be able to see a horse and rider ) Christina Handley, whose work I love, centers most of her jumping shots. I like the idea of leaving some room in the frame for movement with most shots; just not horses that are being ridden unless, or course, the horse is approaching a jump, doing a line or there is something interesting and important to the shot just ahead.

[Radu Dinu Cordeanu]

IMG 5667 auto exposure in ACR, maybe a slight curve adjustment. Sharpened, cropped and a tweak of levels in PS2.

EF 50mm f1.8

Just found the photo instructions so will give this a go. This is a shot taken with the 50f1.8in an indoor with natural light only (no flash and no overhead lights on.) I was lucky to be standing near an open door for additional light. This one has been tweaked a bit in ACR and PS2. The original is in my album. Seeing what type of pics I am going for, do you think the 85 would be worth the upgrade? (You can see I am desparately trying to keep lens costs low for now

Thanks for looking!

Myra

Hi,
The horse and its effort to do what the rider says is the subject of such kind of shot.So to better the rounded areas was the goal.You may easily see that in the second shot the horse very jumps!
The lens will come after You will understand what you like.
Thank You for understanding the underground of such processing
Radu Dinu

[arith]

Looks alright to me Outstanding was the verdict.

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/16...review?start=2

This is a very good review site. You can tell things like Tamron beating the pants off Canon in the standard zoom range for a cropped camera which is useful if you don't like to give away loads of money.

[Maritimer1]

Radu Dinu, I very much like how you've blurred the background to give the idea of speed. That particular horse will jump just about anything. The jumps in the photos were a little low for his taste! His owner is getting him in shape for the upcoming Eventing season. I am fortunate that our local riders do not mind me pointing a camera in their direction for practice Your advice is good.

Steve, I read through the whole review. Thank you for finding it! Nice to see some example photos that are taken with a camera similar to mine. The only drawback I could see was the purple fringing. It's hard not to take photos that do not have areas of high contrast, isn't it? That's an issue with the nifty fifty, too, except I tend to get more of a red fringe.

Saving money. Sigh. Since I have another hobby (the horse/riding), and a family, I try not to spend too much more on my pursuits. There is golf for the husband, hopefully college for the daughter next year and the son...? One of the first forum topic threads I read here was about marriage and wives. I thought the posts were hilarious!

Myra

[arith]

That's my pleasure. I don't know a lens that doesn't have some CA and mine are much worse. The 28mm prime f2.8 is extremely odd since CA is lower on a wide aperture and to make matters worse sharper on a wide aperture in the centre but much worse on the edges.

I tried it out at f4 and f8 on an extreme contrast scene and found it is indeed true there is less CA at the wider aperture but I'm not sure sharpness suffers significantly at the edges or it is easily noticeable. cheers

[wilgk]

Hi Myra
I have the 85mm 1.8 as a way of getting into the world of 'faster' lenses without the huge cost.
Whilst I dream of the 70-200 2.8, the 85mm 1.8 has been great in low light Basketball stadiums and concert venues where you don't want flash. The restriction comes where the players get together after the game for a group shot - or at the school concert, when it's not individual performers, it's a group & you don't have the focal length variability to get them all.
I don't know if I was 1 of the original posters re marriage, but my advice...balance is the key - as long as I agree he needs a special sail, or weed fin (like what is that?) for his windsurfing....I can keep saving up for different lenses, or alternately try out a sample through lens hire which is another way to go ;-)
I'm sure you will get some great helpful advice here from the senior experienced people- I already have & just enjoy looking at their work.
But from me here at the lower end of the learning curve here is 450D & 85mm 1.8 e.g