First high school football game with X-T2

[burgsports]

I'm not sure if anyone is shooting high school (American) football with their Fuji cameras, but I have been for a few years. I shot my first game Friday evening with my new X-T2 and boost grip. Even though it was my first attempt with the camera, I had way more keepers than I ever had with my X-T1.

 

I was using Zone AF (3x3) centered. I was very pleased with the very short shutter blackout, as this was my major issue with the X-T1. Being able to quickly jerk my camera around to a player and have the focus lock on was awesome as well.

 

Here are a few samples of tracking a running player: https://burgsports.smugmug.com/Sports/Football/High-School-Photos/2016/Wheelersburg-vs-Portsmouth/i-pHhTc4M/A

 

Now, if Fuji could just give us a 200 or 300mm 2.8

[GilBarib]

Hi !

 

I gave a look at your Smugmug galleries, lots of nice pics and good action shots in there.

 

What type of light was the field lit with? I gave a look at some of the exif data, not that much with values like 1/1000 and 2.8 @ 3200.

The XF1.4TC work well to get you to 196mm with the XF50-140, at the cost of 1 stop of aperture, but in lower light like you had there it's not always the best solution.

 

Now with the X-T2 Fuji has a very efficient body for sports and action, but li it's in need of good fast tele lens !!

So I'm really with you on the 200 or 300mm. f/2.8.... or even f/2.0 as far as the 200 is concern, that would be a nice solution with the two TCs, 280mm f/2.8 with the 1.4x and 400 f/4 with the 2x.

 

Keep up the good work !!

 

Gilles

Edited September 13, 2016 by GilBarib

[burgsports]

Thanks Gilles...

 

The home field lighting for the team I cover is pretty horrific. I'm doing well to get 1/500 @ 2.8 using ISO 6400. Shooting at that SS produces a lot of funky white balance issues, but I deal with them in post as best I can.

 

I was actually looking at the 1.4x converter today, but my gear budget is pretty much drained after buying the X-T2 and grip

I don't have many games left to shoot before it's dark by start time, and I need all the light gathering ability my camera can muster.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

(The X-T1 was used for all photos except the gallery that I linked.)

[binklewis]

Great shots!  Man I'm sooooooooo tempted to finally ditch my canon 7D mkII and 70-200 to pay for an x-T2.  I just acquired a 50-140 and am LOVING it !! I'm actually doing a sports blog (mostly because I couldn't find any other blogs showing people showing high school sports with fuji) with my adventures / misadventures over at http://fujisports.wordpress.com.   I've only shot a few games (in TX, all at night - so jealous of all those day games you get to shoot!), and it's definitely been an adventure, but I'm very happy with the ability to shoot raw+jpg, and then turn around and quickly deliver the jpegs to the fans :-)

 

I'm so pumped -up early because I'm heading to the auto races today - going to put that 50-140 and TC 1.4x thru it's paces!

 

Thanks,

 

 Bob

[bmwzimmer]

Bob, if you are shooting low light sports, I'm not sure how happy you might be switching from a 7Dii to an xt2. If you had any other camera besides the 7d2/d500, id say go for it but those two were designed for this environment

[jeffself]

Have you shot any night games with the X-T2? I've shot one game this fall using an E-M1 with a 40-150mm f/2.8. Shot the game in driving rain. It was fun for a half, then I was just too soaked. I'm interested in the X-T2, the A6500, the new E-M1 II and the D500.

 

I'm renting the D500 in a couple of weeks along with the Nikon 300mm f/4 FE lens to shoot a high school game and a college game. I understand the X-T2 has even better autofocusing and tracking than the D500. Although I haven't heard how the X-T2 handles indoor sports or night sports. Also how's the EVF blackout? I heard the refresh rate of the EVF is cut in half when bumping up the fps.

[burgsports]

A few things...

 

Another photographer that shoots the same teams as me uses a 7D MII. It is evident to me comparing my photos to hers, that my images are more vibrant and sharper. Luckily it didn't rain at all this football season, so I didn't have to get it wet.

 

I do very little cropping to my images, since parents usually crop their own images when ordering. I want to give them as much file as possible.  I came from Canon, and feel the X-T2 is superior to the MII in every aspect except lens selection. My 1D's autofocus acquisition was faster, but I can tell no difference in tracking. I do miss my 300mm 2.8 and 70-200 for that extra little bit or reach over the Fuji.

 

Once Daylight Savings Time kicked in, it was dark by kickoff for the last 4-6 games. The entire gallery is here: https://burgsports.smugmug.com/Sports/Football/High-School-Photos/2016

 

Like I said, I don't crop images, so some of them look far away ... and they were  

 

The EVF blackout was a big issue for me with the X-T1. I don't even notice it with the 2.