Photography has been an interest of mine for the last 20 years ever since I purchased my first 35mm Nikon film SLR camera and lens set (N70).
I used that camera exclusively until it was stolen in 1998. After that I began my move into the world of digital photos with the purchase of a Kodak DC260 (1.6MP).
That was a long time ago and since then both the camera’s capabilities and my skills have come a long way. I would say my first serious start in digital cameras and shooting hockey came with the first “affordable” Canon DSLR, the EOS 300D 6.3MP camera in 2003.
I used the 10D for about two seasons of hockey and with the introduction of the 20D in early 2005 I decided to upgrade. The 20D served me well through many seasons thereafter. Around November ’08 I started to have intermittent shutter failures and new it was about that time to move to another camera body. I had about 60k clicks at that point and technology had improved such that it made sense to upgrade.
Right about this time there were two new bodies out or pending, the 50D and the new 5DMKII. After much debate and testing, in December I decided on the new 5DmkII. For many it’s a fairly controversial choice for sports shooting, but for me it’s working out very well. In some later posts, I’ll get into how the 5DmkII is doing for hockey.
In my next post, I’ll talk in more detail about my current hockey shooting setup including my selection of lenses, how I utilize the 5DMkII, and my most common shooting setup.
Note: the header photo was one of my first hockey shots. Not very impressive that’s for sure!
