Which lens for kids soccer?

[Paul Howell]

Canon did make a adaptor for the FD L lens, the after market adaptors use a glass balance and as I understand it are not very good. I think a M42 to EOS would be better choice, but of course stopped down metering and no AF. Again OP does not want to use Zooms, but if he wants to shoot manual focus, then maybe a T90 or T70, with FD 200 4.5, 135 3.5 and 50mm primes would work. When I was a working PJ on occasion I was given a sports assigment, I shot with mf Nikon lens on F, F2, and F3s, just take practice.

 

[ac12]

Sorry, but as I mentioned before, I'm simply not interested in zooms. ALL I wanted to know was what focal length was most suitable for use on a soccer field. Any and all posts telling me to get a zoom have been ignored. I dont know how much more clear I can be on this.

The problem is the answer is 'it depends.' As I mentioned I shot with everything between 105 and 300. What I could shoot and the results depended on where the action was vs. where I was. As a high school yearbook photog, I got to get right on the sidelines, something that you may or may not be able to do.
- With a 105, you are not going to get cross field action, or it will require significant enlarging of a small portion of the negative.
- With a 300, you are not going to get close in action.
- Anything longer than a 300 is tough to handhold. You are likely going to need to shoot from a tripod.

So...if you are on the sidelines, a compromise would be a 135. Remember, I said "compromise." It is going to be too short for the cross field action and too long for the close in action.
If you are in the bleachers, a 200 or 300, depending on how far away from the sidelines the bleacher is.