The Jupiter 21A 200/4 at the rugby under lights

[mo]

Hi All
I decided to leave my usual rugby lens at home (The Tamron 103A) and try out the Jupiter.I wanted to try it because it is a very sharp lens and curiosity of how it would handle used in this situation.

I was not overly happy with the results, I seemed to have back focused so many times.I found Focusing this lens was extremely hard both physically (turning the focus ring) and with my eye.I had the green focus dot appear so I thought all was well,it was only when I got home that I saw I was actually focusing on the seats not the players...

As this was my first time using this lens for night rugby, I will put it down as user error and the focusing will be something I will be aware of for next time.

These images below are some of the better ones. As you can see I was checking out the Gear being used on the sideline...Canons and Nikons.The game was between the Brumbies V The Bulls in pink (A South African team)

#1 Comparing lenses

#2 "Dude".... mine is bigger than yours.

#3

#4 The Secret Weapon!...one of the junior players selected to run on with the big boys...I wish I had nailed the focus on this one.

#5 Hmmm the right angle?

#6

#7 Penalty!

#8 Half time sack race...2nd from the left won...Easter Eggs!

#9 Shorts grabbing...these guys receive the ball from the kick off so stand like this in case the ball comes their way.The player holding the shorts assists the guy in front to leap and grab the ball.

#10 Jumper grabbing!

[sai]

юпитер-21а is a very tough one for manual focusing, due to its focal length and the long case (200*1.5=350) and heavy weight. it takes usually 1-2 months to get used to shooting with it and getting good results. my suggestion, an unasked one, is to set exposure to 1/400 _minimum_. i can shoot with 350mm lens at 1/50 from hands, but still i suggest using 1/400 minimum with it.

[Riku]

[rbelyell]

dont feel bad mo. these big lenses are just very hard to manually focus freehand, plus the incredibly shallow DOF leaves no margin for error. my personal conclusions in this regard are:
i dont shoot over 135mm in low light or 'action' situations. pair one up with a nice m4/3 (2x)cam and you have a 270/2.8!
i prefer AF lenses for extreme telephoto.
i try to find the smallest lightest 200 and use it only in very good light so i can stop down and maximize DOF.
tony

[sai]

[mo]

Thanks to all for their suggestions,
I would love a 4/3 camera but it's not in my budget.. I will try the 400 iso next time.As I said I usually use the Tamron 103A 80-210 for my rugby shots.I have also tried the Soligor 135 but found I wanted that extra reach.

I won't give up using the Jupiter and will try again, as the season has just started and I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities.

[eeyore_nl]

I use such long MF lenses for slow moving subjects only, because of the incredibly narrow DoF.