So, some guy got PMS because I posted this in the sports forum. On any other board it would be posted there but for whatever reason she was a bit upset... So this is why I am posting this here...
Prior to obtaining the 7D I was using my trusty 20 and 50D.. Settings were simple, focus was simple (not always accurate) and Did about 50/60% keepers... Now that I have obtained the 7D I would like to know if some of you sports guys that may use this vs. the Mark series could help. By this I mean strictly people that can contribute as a 7D owner vs. folks with Mark III bodies that say use this setting etc - which isn't avail. on the 7D I would be out testing it, but there are no football games Flag or otherwise at the local college here in Orlando.
1. Looking for settings you use...
2. Zone AF and Expansion?
3. All 19 points or specific points of interest?
This will be a college bowl game, so trying to get my ducks in a row here..
Thanks for any contributing comments that are on topic!
I did receive one link from a gentleman on there to the sportsshooter site that had some good info from a Diane, but am looking for more info if there is anyone active in football and using this body.
I would use single point with expansion (i think, haven't actually to do football or soccer with the 7D yet and I do have a little fear that since it doesnt use tightly packed expansion points like on a 5 series or a 1 series that they might start to spread sensitivity too far out, but hopefully not)
the 7D outer points might be good enough where you can select whatever main point you wish to fit the sports shooting composition best and not be forced to stick to center point only
i really could not see using all 19 points or even area focus for football myself
with past cameras that worked well until the first extraneous player entered the field of view and then it went all over (as expected)
A lot depends on the lighting, but I would start with saying that for something like football you need to change the default settings for AF tracking. Generally speaking, the single point or spot AF seem to be pretty reliable with the slower setting of III-1. If it is dark, then spot AF can be slow so I'd say single point manual. AF expansion works pretty well, but I did find a couple of times where the lowest expansion point would sometimes cause the camera to front focus, but only rarely. For football, use AI servo in Tv or Manual to ensure your shutter speed is at least 1/500; obviously at night you'll have to crank the ISO. If you are under the lights, make sure you set your custom white balance.
I'd change these cf's:
III-1: medium slow; helps when players move in front of subject or you move off your subject briefly while tracking
III-3: continuous AF track priority; ensures that the expansion point mode works better.
III-6: enable spot AF, AF point expansion, and single point manual selection; zone AF and auto select will bite you more than they will help you
IV-1: set the DOF preview to switch from AI servo to oneshot; good if you want to briefly go from AI servo to oneshot for a quick static subject or focus-recompose. oddly enough, you have to hlod the DOF button down to make it switch af modes (it is not a toggle like I expected it to be)
Thank you gentleman for all of your responses... Have not been on in a couple of days.. And Tim, the last one with the Mark III - doesn't match up 100% with the 7D. This is why I am trying to find 7D specific settings so I can get some assistance adjusting.
timbop wrote:
A lot depends on the lighting, but I would start with saying that for something like football you need to change the default settings for AF tracking. Generally speaking, the single point or spot AF seem to be pretty reliable with the slower setting of III-1. If it is dark, then spot AF can be slow so I'd say single point manual. AF expansion works pretty well, but I did find a couple of times where the lowest expansion point would sometimes cause the camera to front focus, but only rarely. For football, use AI servo in Tv or Manual to ensure your shutter speed is at least 1/500; obviously at night you'll have to crank the ISO. If you are under the lights, make sure you set your custom white balance.
I'd change these cf's:
III-1: medium slow; helps when players move in front of subject or you move off your subject briefly while tracking
III-3: continuous AF track priority; ensures that the expansion point mode works better.
III-6: enable spot AF, AF point expansion, and single point manual selection; zone AF and auto select will bite you more than they will help you
IV-1: set the DOF preview to switch from AI servo to oneshot; good if you want to briefly go from AI servo to oneshot for a quick static subject or focus-recompose. oddly enough, you have to hlod the DOF button down to make it switch af modes (it is not a toggle like I expected it to be) ...Show more →
eyecanshoot wrote:
So, some guy got PMS because I posted this in the sports forum. On any other board it would be posted there but for whatever reason she was a bit upset... So this is why I am posting this here...
Don't take it personal as a very small minority tend to do that sort of thing over there; well at least depending on who you are.
Thats my point, the Mark III settings arent really to the T of the 7D. The Mark III gets a bit more in depth. This is why I said SPECIFICALLY in the original post (Only 7D settings) NO MARK III settings. (shrugs)
bump