I have a Benro Travel Angel II in carbon fiber. Light weight, sturdy and tough. It has fallen off of a jeep doing 50 MPH with nothing more than cosmetic damage.

Bill

On a crop sensor the 18-135 is STM is a very versatile lens. Works well for landscapes with it's 28mm equalivant and makes a good portrait lens at longer lengths (out to 202mm equalivant). My copies of that lens were very sharp, fast focusing and accurate.

I like this range so well that I just got one for my Sony A6000 for an all around lens.

Bill

If you are going to run up and down the side lines, you will want the lightest you can get and still be stable. I have a Benro Travel Angel II with a ball head in Carbon Fiber that is rated at about 25#. It is light enough to pack and solid enough to work. It is well made and tough. Mine has been thrown off the top of a jeep and skidded down the highway at 50 MPH with no damage beyond cosmetic.

For sports work however, I found the ProMaster MPV432+ monopod. It has three little feet on it with a ball head like connection at the bottom. My son uses a ProMaster tripod, so if you decided to look at the monopod you could also check out their tripods.

Bill

Don't know if it is appropriate to post this pic here, but it is for photography info so here goes.

Recently got a Sony 18-135 for my A6000 for my birthday. Have only been able to shoot a few with it, but these lead me to believe it is going to be a good lens. Not as great as some maybe, but good enough for an all around travel camera. This combination, while bigger and heavier than the camera with the 16-50, is still light and small enough to have all the time. I am thinking that I will probably never put the 16-50 on again.

These are pretty extreme crops. Even at 135mm they were still pretty small in the original.

Bill

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I feel this is the case with this post. More about venting than seeking advise and information.

Bill

Not preaching anything, just relaying my experience. I really don't care what or where you buy.

CS6 is not going to recognize RAW files with a new model camera. I had the same problem when I first got the 5Dmk4. Even after I got CC it was about a month before Adobe updated the program where I could get RAW. A friend just got a 6D mk II and she cannot use RAW with her CS6. So if you had stuck with Canon and got a new model you would have the same problem. Even now, Windows 10 does not have a CodeC to view RAW 5D mk 4 files with windows 10 viewer. Had to download a separate viewer for RAW.

If you spring for CC the program will be updated on a regular basis and you won't have this problem. Trying different versions of CS6 is not going to help. Your camera is just not there, and I don't think Adobe is going to give you an update unless you go to CC.

Bill

Prices are pretty much set by the manufacturer from an authorized dealer. I just ordered a Sony 18-135 lens from Amazon, which was fulfilled by Adorama. The lens was 498. Two days after the order it was was listed for 598. Seems Sony was running a special rebate on the lens for just one week. Glad I got it when I did.

Bill

My biggest lens is 82mm so I have step rings to cover my smaller lenses. I also have a set of Lee ND filters, but they are bulky and unless I need a graduated filter, I don't use them.

I recently discovered Breakthrough Filters, and they have become my go to filter. Compared to the Lee, they have no color cast, they are well made, and come with a 25 year warranty. My second choice for screw on filters would be B+W. None of these are cheap, but they are good.

Bill

I have no question. Do I need one?? I was just sharing information on a new lens.

Bill

Haven't decided to sell the kit lenses yet. Need to see how the new one works out. If it is as good as I think it is going to be I will likely be selling both.

Bill

Any good low light sports lens is going to big and heavy. One solution is the ProMaster MPV-432+ monopod for about 119.00. It is light enough to run up and down the field with and is very manuverable, but relieves some of the burden of holding the big lens up for an hour or so.

Bill

I just shot a night soccer game under lights and got some acceptable shots without too much motion blur at 1/640 sec. and f2.8 at ISO 8,000. To get an image at 400 mm and f.6.3 you would have to be at an ISO 2 1/3 stops higher than 8,000. You must have a really good low light camera to shoot ISO's that are 2 1/3 stops higher than 8,000. I guess you could always lower your shutter speed 2 1/3 stops which would give you 1/80 sec. That speed would result in unacceptable motion blur. Might work for baseball, but I can't see it giving useful images for soccer where the action is much faster.

Bill

The Tamron 18-400 is f6.3 at 400. This would be totally useless after dark on any field I have ever shot on. Might be okay on a sunny day, but not under lights.

Bill

In my opinion f2.8 is a must if you shoot in low light. For soccer and football I have a Canon 70-200 f2.8 II. It works well as a general rule, but could use some more reach on occasion. I shoot a 5dMk 4 so I am able to crop quite a bit, and the low light capability is very good.

This was f2.8 at 1/640 Sec., ISO 8,000. Even at this speed there is some motion blur in the feet, but any higher speed would have driven the ISO to unacceptable levels.

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