A great night of capturing the frantic energy of a Major League Soccer match! Sporting KC have had a challenging season thus far. However, they showcased their true potential shutting out Union Omaha in a masterful 6-0 Open Cup Quarterfinal match.

Once again, utilizing Fujifilm cameras allowed me to find my way into some really unique opportunities to tell the story of the game. The X100V paired with the WCL puts my right in the middle of the action without disrupting what’s happening.

A fun, new initiative is to capture as much of the games as possible with my trusty GFX 50R + Minolta 85mm f1.7. Manual focussing a soccer match is no joke, but once you kick on focus peaking it’s a snap. I love the aesthetic of the old lenses and the film-like rendering of the 50R’s medium format sensor. Some day I would love to try the native GF 250mm f/4 R LM OIS WR to give the GFX more reach.

For distance, I regularly equip the X-T4 with the XF 50-140mm F2.8 R LM OIS WR + XF 2X TC WR Teleconverter to maximize the reach vs. weight ratio. At some point I’d love to see the difference using the XF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR or the upcoming XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR. I would love to get my hands on either of these. Can you believe you can put the teleconverter on the 150-600?!? Wow!

Pairing all three of these cameras together and I’m still carrying a fraction of the weight carried by most of the photographers at MLS matches. Not to forget all of the conversations I have with staff and personnel that stop me and say, “Hey…cool camera!” That’s pretty much a win/win for me!

Sporting Kansas City // Fujifilm // June 22, 2022

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