In my last two shootings I seem to be having some serious focus issues. I think it started happening when I switched from single point with expansion (I shoot a Canon 7D with either a 24-70 or 70-200 f/2.8) to just single point for my focus mode. I'm not sure why I ever switched, but I'm wondering what most most of you shoot with and if you've ever had similar problems when using single point for sports. Right now I'm shooting basketball and indoor soccer.
Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say. Regardless I'm going to try single point with expansion next time. If that doesn't work, my gear is going to Canon.
Mark, maybe a bit too fast there. Have you taken the time to see where the focal point was actually at when each shot was taken? DPP or Breezebrowser can show you this. If it was on target, did the spot have contrast in it, vs. a solid white or black which notoriously causes AF issues. Expansion can be a solution depending on what is surrounding the center focal point but if it locks on to another player the AF & resulting dof could be shifted to that player pulling the sharpness away from the action you are attempting to capture.
Excellent suggestion. I'll need to look for my DPP disk tonight and see where it was catching focus. Breezebrowser looks interesting as well. I'll report back on my findings.
I too am shooting my sons indoor basketball. I was used to shooting my 40d with 85mm 1.8 at 800-1600 ISO and 1/500 speed. I got crip shoots consistantly but I wanted the added MP and burst speed of the 7D.
With my 7D I am stuggling with very soft IQ at these settings. I review the shots in the LCD and when the red focus square hits dead on the target, the focus can still be off by a foot or two. Even on stationary targets?? I have micro adjusted the 85mm, now I think I will send the camera back to canon for calibration.
I too had the same issues with the 7D, and also with the 70-200 lens. The camera was not tracking, and ended up with soft focus, sent both camera and lens back to canon to have them calibrated together as that combination is the one I use the most. Both required repairs and adjustments plus a new focusing ring on the lens. Problem solved, and now the only OOF shots are on the user end of things.
Hi,
Couple of ideas for you first FWIW...
A. There is a setting on the 7d that for burst determines whether you get focus priority or shutter priority, in your case you want focus priority.
B. I had major issues with my 24-70 and MFA. Essentially, I can not use the same MFA setting from incandescent where it front focuses to fluorescent where it back focuses. Did you find yous mostly back focused?
C. Did you remember to turn off the IS on the 70-200. You then won't fight it, nor worry about waiting for it to settle before you fire the shutter
D were you still able to maintain the 1/500 with your f2.8s?
E. if yor iso >1600, and you are pixel peeping, expect it to look softer from the noise versus a stop+ lower iso of the f1.8.
f. Remember when I. Servo mode, with single point you Ned to maintain the focus point on the subject for all the shots. Otherwise you risk it changing focus on you
I want to thank you all for your responses. It’s one of those things that’s been puzzling me for about a week now and I’m becoming a little obsessed with getting to the bottom of it.
Responses to Guy:
A. I do have AF priority/Tracking priority set
B. I do feel like most images were back focused. I worked with MFA last night a bit but wasn’t coming up adjustments that seemed to correlate with what I was shooting in the gym
C. My 70-200 doesn’t have IS
D. I was able to maintain 1/500 in the vast majority of my shots
E. Not sure I’m following
F. I did pull my pictures into Canon DPP as Matt suggested and did find that there were times where my single point was half on the player and half on something distant and in that situation preferred to focus on the object further away. I plan to use single point with expansion this week to see if there is an improvement.
Another thing I’m adjusting to is the bokeh is much different with the shorter focal lengths. I’ve learned that it’s not nearly as apparent and that when shooting near 24 at something 10-15 feet away the scoreboard at the other end of the gym is still quite legible. This is something I’ll need to get used to and composition will become a bit more important.
I’ll follow up with my results from this coming weekend. Thanks again.
thanks for the great topic and answers guys i was having similar issues and this helped me out alot. I am fairly new to sports shooting, if i shoot mainly sports I do not need to buy a lens with Is correct?
How does IS make your focus speed worse? I find I can keep my focus point on target much better with IS on. Everyone uses their tools differently but I find IS helps, haven't felt like I've ever been "fighting" it.
Everything I've read says to have it off. Since you should be shooting at near or above 1/500, it's not helping. It's main purpose is to combat camera movement/vibration. When I've had it on, I notice it takes longer to get the initial focus, then it's okay (but not actually helping). My two cents, maybe others can comment. Most sports shooters don't use IS.
I've had issues with my 300 f4L IS where I don't get the frame rate I'm expecting with the IS turned on, and I don't get quite the same number of keepers. I hear what you're saying about the benefits of stabilizing the viewfinder but I leave the IS off most of the time for sports.
What are most of you using for number of focus points? Do you use anything different between sports? I'm thinking more points may be of benefit for basketball based on my last outing, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.
My 70 - 200 Siggy on my Pentax K-5 had issues like this but it ended up totally being my fault. Center point focus or metering. I guess I was mixing them up.
I put a steel tape rule on the floor, just a carpenter style and out towards 10' i put lego characters each side of the tape every inch. Then started taking pictures of the little peeps. Focus was just about spot on so i knew it was me.
Solaris, the key is to experiment a lot and find what works for you. Try all the modes you have. I shoot with a 7d and am constantly changing focus mode and which points I'm using. I'll use spot focusing if I put on my 135 f/2 or have still subjects and really want to nail the eyes. Single point with expansion is useful but you still have to keep that point pretty steady. I use zone focus a lot but works better if you drop your aperture down to f/4 or so for a wider depth of field. The points I pick depends on the action I anticipate capturing and varies with the sport. I also make use of the 7Ds ability to set different focus modes/points in landscape and portrait. But that's just what I've found to work for me. Some people like center point all the time. I'm no expert and I'm still learning myself. Just keep practicing!
invision wrote:
How does IS make your focus speed worse? I find I can keep my focus point on target much better with IS on. Everyone uses their tools differently but I find IS helps, haven't felt like I've ever been "fighting" it.
IS isn't for sports or speed, it's for slow or shake. The IS takes longer to adjust before the camera shoots, so it slows down the focus speed. I don't know about burst rate, because I always shoot with IS off now. If you want I can find a photo taken before I turned the IS off, where I caught a frame right as the IS was adjusting, dark day in the rain, and it's a double exposure of sorts.
I'm sure different people have different opinions of what works best and especially what personally works best. I still shoot spot meter, center point focusing. But even more often I shoot manual exposure and center point focusing.
Interesting thread, I don't have a 7D but there's one on the wish list. Every digital camera I've owned seems to shoot better and better the longer I own it. Is there something about electronics getting better with age? Or maybe it's learning how it works and adapting.
So I'm still working on focus issues and I think I'm getting a little closer. Since my last post I listened to (and read) a great article by Martin Bailey on Microfocus adjustment with FoCal.
After listening and went ahead and bought the product (about $40 US if you follow the link from Martin's blog) After getting it setup I ran through some tests. The main reason I like the product is that it's fully automated which made it much quicker for me to test MFA settings at different focal lengths.
After completing the tests, here's what I came up with for MFA settings
24mm = +7
50mm = +13
70mm = +13
Obviously I'd prefer MFA settings were the same at all focal lengths, but I've heard this isn't uncommon with zooms. My plan is to set MFA at +11 and give it a try again for basketball this weekend. I'll also be trying a few different focus modes to see if any of them work better than the other.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback. I'll report back (hopefully) with some good news.
If you want I can find a photo taken before I turned the IS off, where I caught a frame right as the IS was adjusting, dark day in the rain, and it's a double exposure of sorts.