Why I love the 200 F2.8L

I don't use this lens very much, but when I do, I'm really glad I have it. I also have the 70-200 F2.8L IS II, which is superb, but bigger and heavier than the prime. I bought the prime when I was told at a basketball game that I couldn't use my zoom, because it was too big. It turns out that there's a 6" limit on lenses at Coors Events Center (the on-campus basketball arena at the University of Colorado). The 200 F2.8L is 5 1/2 inches. A friend offered me a ticket to the Wyoming game on Wednesday, because his wife was busy. The seats were about mid-court, and 20 rows up. So, good for watching the game, but not great for photographing it. I used my 7D with the 200 F2.8 (and took a few shots with my new EOS M with 18-55), and had to do a fair bit of cropping. My settings for that arena are 1/1000 at F2.8 at ISO 3200. With the cropping, the noise is fairly visible, but I don't mind it too much (I grew up with Tri-X pushed 2 stops to 1600, which is a lot worse than ISO 3200 on the 7D). Here are three shots for the referees' manual, illustrating fouls:

The Wyoming player (in yellow) might just be really affectionate, but I think a foul was the right call

A knee to the chest is a textbook example of an offensive foul, and surprisingly, it was called correctly

I hope Johnson (#2) was wearing adequate protection. I can't remember whether this was called.

Here are a couple more, including an obligatory cheerleader shot:

CU won in the end, but it was close. The full gallery is at:

http://anorcross.smugmug.com/Sports/CU-vs-Wyoming-11-13-2013/33468963_rHBSJp

liketotallyrandom wrote:

This lens is on my shortlist. I love the compact, fast, rugged, affordable simplicity of primes. I just can't decide whether to get the Mark I or the Mark II.

Do they still make the Mark I? AFAIK, the only difference between the two is in the hood. I think they're optically identical.

Years ago....I went to a Florida Marlins baseball game with my 100-400mm and got in. Took some great pics of the game.

Move forward and Now my 100-400mm is not permitted (too long, must be less than 8 inches extended). So I bought the 200mm 2.8 with 1.4 extender and my baseball pics look great.