I got back into photography in September, 2017, with the purchase of a Pentax K-70, and have been slowly adding lenses to put together a suitable kit. The biggest problem I faced was finding an affordable high-speed telephoto for night sports such as American football and soccer.
The fields that I shoot on aren't too brightly lit, so even though the K-70 gives great image quality at ISO 6400, I still needed a lens with a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8 and a focal length of under 135mm. (My primary sports lens back in the film era was a 135mm, but some test shots last fall with my 135mm f/3.5 showed me that, on an APS-C camera, 135mm is a little too long for me when working on the sidelines.)
Unfortunately, Pentax has nothing suitable. The two Limiteds (70mm f/2.4 & 77mm f/1.8) are just too expensive, as are the older out-of-production fast autofocus lenses (when you can find a used one for sale), and the upcoming D FA* 85mm f/1.4 is at least a year away... and almost certain to be way outside of my price range.
This left the Rokinon (Samyang) 85mm f/1.4: a lens with great image quality, solid construction, automatic aperture (in Pentax K mount), an amazingly low price... and manual focusing.
Many current photographers seem to believe that you can't shoot fast action with a manual focus lens on a digital camera, but I thought that was just nonsense. So I purchased the Rokinon, and tried it out recently at the local college's spring football game.
The lens was everything that I hoped for: it's a beautiful lens with great image quality, and it's as fine a manual-focusing lens as I have ever used. I got a good number of usable shots; granted, I would have gotten more with an autofocus lens... but the challenge of shooting in manual focus, and the sheer joy of using that Rokinon, more than makes up for it. And, as I get more experience in using that lens, my success rate will go up.
My K-70 was standard stock – no special focusing screen – although I did add the Pentax OME53 Eyecup Magnifier, an accessory I would recommend to anyone who doesn't wear glasses (with glasses you probably can't see the entire focusing screen with the OME53).
The technical specs for the two attached photos, shot in the early evening with plenty of light still available, are:
Pentax K-70, Rokinon 85mm f/1.4
ISO 400 | 1/500 sec, f/4
Originally posted by richfam 
Back in the day All sports pictorials was done by Artists renderings (using Charcoal of course) and ready for print within a week of occurring. I remember seeing a Home Run by Babe Ruth only 3 days after he hit it printed in the Local Rag.
I've enclosed an artist rendering of Bush League Dirt Track racing from the 60's. It's so good it looks like a photo taken by a camera probably an Argus 35mm with the famous Argus 135 mm long lens. 
Post #1 by richfam
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