Our first football game was last night, and the new D780 did not disappoint.   My D750 was good for crappy lighting at the high school football games, but the D780 was better.   Better at high ISO, auto white balance, buffer, everything.    Really happy with it.

Now, a bit mixed on the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 lens.    I had more mis focuses with it vs my Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2 lens.    I was using the 9 point continuous focus, back button focus, like I use to with the Tamron.   When I would be zoomed out to 300mm, thinking the 9 point focus on the camera was trying to focus things that I didn't want focused.   Had better luck not zooming in all the way, and simply cropping the pic later.   Kinda defeats the purpose of the 300mm I guess.    lol       Gonna have to mess with this more I guess and see what really works the best for me.    

I knew this would be an issue, and I was right.......the heavy ass lens started to wear me out as the game progressed.   After a while, was really wishing I had brought my Tamron.   Doesn't have the reach, but when your arms get tired, lighter lenses really do make a difference.   Gonna have to bring my monopod next time, too I guess.    

Anyway, for the most part, pretty happy with the combo.    300mm is a good focul length, providing, of course, you can work with the extra weight.

Shot at 300mm, f/2.8  1/1000th, ISO 250    Manual mode, auto ISO.

Great photo, congrats

That's a great pic!

As I mentioned, I think I can get better with the Sigma, the more I work with it, but have another question.......


I also have a 300mm Tokina f/2.8.     It has to be a couple pounds lighter than the Sigma, but, it has no stabilazation built into it.      What minimum shutter speed would I need to shoot high school football with it and not have any image blur?      800?    

It may be a surprise, but there's a "rule" for that.  

The "reciprocal rule" calls for a shutter speed of 1 / [focal length] for sharp results. This would suggest a shutter speed no slower than 1/300 (or ~1/250) though faster than this is likely to provide better results. Auto-ISO is your friend here, too.

Thanks for that info.   I shoot manual mode and auto ISO.    I guess I've been shooting lenses with stabilazation built in for so  long, I almost thought it's impossible to shoot without it.    

Nice shot, OP !