Originally posted by Neville I agree with you that the IQ with the 300mm prime will be far superior than the 55-300mm zoom, but my hesitation in using the 300mm prime is that my opportunity for shots will be greatly reduced.
If I am sitting near the side lines I will probably only get shots on the far side of the field, and some about half a field-length away. Unless I position myself some distance from the field, but then I run the risk of obstacles getting in the way. I could also sit in the stands, looking down, but I prefer to get low down shots...
Perhaps I need to run some tests at a practice match beforehand?
I'd recommend going to a practice match or two for any sport - especially when it's new to you.
If no one's expecting you to turn in a certain number of OK shots to them, then take some chances to get a few really good ones. A practice match will be a great opportunity to experiment some.
You might want to go back and review some of Ron Hendrick's field hockey shots as well. I know the DA*300 was one of his key lenses, although he uses other lenses too. Both he and I discovered that the screw-drive *300s you and I have focus faster/better than the DA*300, but he still got many good results from it.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/115-pentax-k-5/115277-k-5-sports-photogra...ml#post2101415
Whatever you do, find some way to get the camera to focus on a specific player within a group, not just the general scene. This is especially important with a longer lens like your FA*300. It will make for more interesting photos. I try to follow the general rule where the athlete is moving
into the frame, with more open space ahead of him than behind. Unless of course I'm trying to show how he's outrun a competitor - then he can be leading the way out of the frame. Maybe you'll discover a good variation on this for field hockey. See if manually selecting one of the corner AF points works for you, and use AF-C. Some people like to hold the rear AF button for AF-C when following a player, not rely on the half-shutter press. Experiment with AF settings and see what works for you. Since I'm big on composition, and I rarely crop (or PP at all) for action or events, I almost never use center point AF. But it might still be the ticket for you, so see what works with your lenses.
I just shoot JPEG in these situations - I've heard many pro sports photographers do the same (although many also probably do more cropping and PP than me on their best photos). Not only does this relieve you of the burden of PP, but you can avoid swapping memory cards at many events. Plus it allows you to shoot whenever you need to with no buffering. When you're done you can simply cull and post. And if uploading is slow, you can shoot just one- or two-star quality JPEGs. I use one-star, and no one ever notices the degradation - not even me, usually! Just don't lower the resolution from 16MP, which
is more noticeable. Let the photo hosting service lower your resolution if need be, but don't do it yourself (unless through PP). However, I think these days people appreciate seeing photos soon after the event, rather than days later seeing how you made them all look 20 or 30% better with PP. It's actually better for both you
and the audience to streamline the process.