Lenses and Cameras ...

GIMME GIMME GIMME !!!!!

... the be-all and end-all of DSLR snapping ... and some of the (better/required) buggers cost as much (if not more) as the bloomin' camera body. I started - naturally - with second hand stuff allied with cheap lenses ... but then after a while you realise that the 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens is totally useless for night games/day games during the winter period.

Maybe the phrase "totally useless" is a bit over the top - you make do with what you've got and push it to the absolute extreme at times (I look at some of the early stuff I think "hmm" - 1/160th at F5.6 on an EOS 20D at ISO 3200 - some of them were actually passable - albeit with some "serious post processing" !!!).

But then the drug kicks in ... you realise that you need a better lens for the night games - so I went for a second hand Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 (Ebay - £330) - and then you realise that for some stuff ... it's too big (especially for penalty shoot-outs/behind the net etc etc) ... so next stop a Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 (brand new - another £300+) ... meanwhile you're looking for landscape/non-football type lenses - grabbed a Canon 50mm f1.8 cheap off Ebay plus a Canon 28-105 ... very cheap and cheerful.

The EOS 20D was a wonderful starter - but a little short of pixels - so back to Ebay to pick up a second-hand EOS 50D - and it's always nice to have a back-up camera so the 20D was sold, the 50D became the back-up to the first brand new body I've bought ... an EOS 7D.

And don't forget - at non-league level - some of the floodlights will push even an f2.8 lens ... so (just in case !) why not a Canon prime 85mm f1.8 ??  Duly purchased !!!

But still the drug kicks in ... the Sigma 70-200 is good (still got it now) ... but a little slow in focusing - so you go the whole hog and get the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 (nearly a grand - the Image Stabilisation model was twice as much !!) - and then you look at your walking options ... the 28-105 is a good 'un - but not quite long enough - so a cheap 70-300 was purchased --- but then you end up thinking "Carry two lenses while walking ??" - why not a super-zoom ?? So I did (an 18-200 Tamron - but this WAS paid for by my postie Christmas tips).

I've since spent time at PA (Photographers' Anonymous) ... so far it's working ...