Madchester? I’m f@*!in’ livid!
As many of you know, I LOVE football. Everything about it excites me, be it adding new parts to your kit, learning new grooves or finally nailing a fill you’ve been working on for a while… Erm.. Hang on. That’s drumming. Oh, FOOTBALL. That’s the one I don’t like at all.
Pushing this from my mind, I had the pleasure of heading up to Sam Platt’s bar in Manchester to cover football fans as they watched a live broadcast of the Champion’s League final between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome.
When you’re shooting this kind of thing, you have to constantly read the crowd’s “vibe” and react accordingly to how the game is going. When the local team is winning, then you can happily shoot away as the fans celebrate but if it turns, suddenly covert photography is the name of the game. With Manchester 1-0 down by the half-time and goal #2 coming soon into the second half, the mood soon became more delicate as a few guys started to become slightly more “camera-shy” with stern words said to any photographer heading their way.
With the match over and Manchester United finishing in silver position, it was back to the hotel before heading to Manchester airport to catch the team as they returned home. It’s not often that I get to say this but I have to shout praises for the media team at terminal 2. Not only did they send out a mail with a plan of the arrival area and how it was expected to happen, upon arrival they would do anything they could to make everyone happy. A really great team to work with.
Talking of great things to work with, the same cannot be said for my Nikon 70-200 f2.8G lens. I’ve heard a reasonable number of people moaning about it with some going as far as selling the new one and searching shops to buy one of the previous models but I’d always been happy enough. Admittedly, the focus is a little slow on the uptake when comparing it to the 400mm f2.8 but once it’s locked on, it’s always done me proud. Today was all different as the lens searched and failed to lock on constantly as the team walked towards me in arrivals. Editing the shots afterwards, I had to delete at least half the shots from the card as they were so far out of focus. Very poor indeed. I’m certainly open to the suggestion that I may be missing some settings that can be tweaked to improve performance but on yesterday’s performance, I’m beginning to side with the grumblers. If anyone does have any hints, please do get in touch!
I have never had a problem with the 70-200… gigs, bike races, whatever – fast moving, low light, it’s all good. And mine is a second hand lens that’s had seven bells knocked out of it, and has never been serviced.
You got a bad sample?
Ah, you say it’s second hand. The lens I’m talking about is the 70-200 f2.8 G VR lens. I’ve heard that previous models were fine but the latest version has “issues”. Which are you using?
yo boss,
my heart sunk on your behalf when sandro told me of your impending doom laden assignment.. ‘treats!’ i thought.. he’s going to be so happy ’bout this one.
but as always your professional excellence shines over and above, and you get it done. good pics too.
i was wondering and speculating to a collegue, did you have this place ‘Sam Platt’s bar’ as a recommended safe zone?
or did you just put in the calls and leg work yourlself? or maybe it wasnt a safe-ish place at all…
god i hate football.
as for a setting for you nikon d3..i heartley recommend, throwing it away and coming back to the fold..you’ll always be welcome..cough cough
Hey,
Mine’s an AF-S VR-Nikkor 70-200 F/2.8 G… Is yours the VRII version? I’d assume it will be the newer model if you only got your Nikon kit fairly recently, mine is a good three years old now.
Still, you managed with crap pocket wizards in Fort William, so just treat it like a little challenge again! Heh heh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-N8uKzC03E&feature=channel_page
JP: Yeah, it’s the mk2 (to rhyme with poo..) It’s been behaving itself a little better today but I should hope so in perfect sunshine. Grrr..
Prawnstar: Treats indeed, Mr Curry. Only the best for me! As for the venue, it’s right on the doorstep of Old Trafford so is the “official” fan pub. It seems to be the regular place to shoot fans watching foreign games as Carl did it there before. As for the D3 suggestion, I’ve already dropped one and then they’ve gone and fixed it!
PS Thanks for the COMPLETELY unrelated link. I’ll let you off, purely for the inclusion of the line; “Me and the pygmy pony, over by the dental floss bush..” Marvellous!
Having cursed the lens like that, today’s it’s retina-slicingly sharp. It just seems to struggle in lower light conditions. Hmmm..
Do not incur the wrath of the nikon gods, my liege!
I know of guys who’d rather have the old versions of the 70-200 than the newer ones. What do I know: I’m still stuck with a sigma!
A related comment to the unrelated link – watched it and loved it! You should have shoved it in my face more! ;o)
Yay! A Zappa convert! I’ll sort you some out!