> I have the opportunity to buy a 300 F4 MM at a good price. I want to> use this lense for sports photography, in particular surfing, possibly> with a teleconverter if needed. Does anyone have any advice, or> experience of using this lense (or any other manual focus zeiss C/Y)> for sports or any other `fast` photography. Unfortunaltely I will not> have the opportunity to experiment before I make the purchase, and I> do want this lense to be useable for this purpose as I really don`t> want the expense and hassle of changing system.
As a long time surfer and surf photographer myself I can offer you some thoughts on this - firstly , focusing is not easy even if you are quite adept and/or practised in the art of "follow-focusing" . As a consequence , you need all the help you can get , therefore , use the smallest aperture possible to geta decent depth of field which gives you just that little bit of leeway necessary for sharper pics . The faster the lens the better , in my opinion the CZ300 F4 probably wont do it as its not that fast and most times wont be long enough either - which means using 2x or 1.4x converters , which also means losing 1-2 stops at a time when you also want fairly fast shutter speeds too!Using a faster film can also help here of course , but for quality's sake I prefer not go faster than my beloved Provia 400F unless the light's really crap. You dont say where you will be shooting and what sort of terrain to expect , but most times 500-600 is just the starting point . Personally I use a Tamron 300 F2.8 with matched 1.4x and 2x converters for when I need the extra length[they are still available with C/Y adaptall mount , or easy to find secondhand] , and I am very happy with this lens . My last trip to J-Bay I scored some great pics - fortunately the waves there dont break too far out and in the afternoon the lovely light is behind you , so you can get close-ish on the rocks[but watch the tide!]. Beach breaks and some reefs can sometimes be a problem in terms of distance to subject , even with my 600 , but you can usually get fair results even so...... Let me know where you're going to be shooting and if you need any other info..... Steve