Spring College Soccer

Yesterday I was in Oneonta, New York shooting a Spring match between NCAA Division 1 schools Hartwick College and Niagara University. These Spring get togethers are basically scrimmages but there are legitimate referees, etc. This match even saw a couple of cards handed out.

Since I'm loaning out my EOS 7D I was using my 5D Mark III and, without the crop factor of the 7D, I used a 2X Extender with my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I used this setup for a daytime match last year but I wasn't really satisfied with the image quality this time. In addition to the focusing being slower with the extender, even in focus shots displayed more softness than I like. But unless your looking at full sized images at 100% you probably wouldn't notice.

Here are some examples:

400mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec., ISO 800

400mm, f/5.6, 1/1500 sec., ISO 800

380mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec., ISO 800

260mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec., ISO 800

400mm, f/5.6, 1/3000 sec., ISO 800

Odds and Ends

Not much happening but I figured I needed to get March going on here. I've been playing with a Canon Powershot G1X as a back up camera and very small carry around option. It has a pretty big sensor, bigger then 4/3 and smaller than APS-C, with a 1.85X crop factor (compared to 2X for 4/3 and 1.6 for APS-C). The lens is the equivalent of 28-112mm but a relatively slow f/2.8-5.8,

The typical Powershot interface is not my favorite but I do like the image quality. Here is a shot of a Sycamore tree I made to test out the lens followed by a 100% crop of a portion of the image.

50mm eq., f/6.3, 1/500 sec., ISO 200

This next shot was made this past Wednesday when we broke a temperature record by 13 degrees with a high temperature of 81 degrees. This is a small patch of blue eyed grass which I will keep photographing as it progresses to blossoms.

EOS 5D Mark III, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro, f/8, 1/128 sec., ISO 800

   

These last two were made this morning on a walk up along the old Champlain Canal North of Waterford, New York. Both also with the 5D Mark III and 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. 

Frosty Lamb's Ear, f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 800

Emerging Skunk Cabbage, f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO 800