Canon 40d best setting for outdoors sports

<p>What would be some recommendations for settings. I'll be using a Canon 40d, Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD lens, and shooting outdoor sports in daylight on a monopod if necessary or possible.<br>

Thanks Mike</p>

<p>Actually, if you are new to the camera, and you are thinking about the automatic modes, look up what the little sports icon does in your manual. I think the choice sets AI-servo, and does some automatic tracking actions with the focus points.</p>

<p>There's something to be said for "<strong>P</strong> " if you are not acquainted with the fine points of the camera, but want to exercise a little more manual control, such as the ability to dial up or down the shutter/aperture combination.</p>

<p>You may want to choose <strong>Servo</strong> on the shutter settings (meaning quick multiple shots when you hold down the shutter button).</p>

<p>To stop motion, if desired, you need to have the shutter speed set high, so may want to use the <strong>Tv</strong> (shutter-preferred) setting. You may need to pump up the ISOs to make it work when the lens is down to the f/6.3 end of the scale at maximum focal length.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you want blurred motion for "action" or panning shots, or shallow depth of field (as much as you can get anyhow) you may want to choose the aperture and let the camera set the shutter on <strong>Av</strong> .</p>

<p>I use AV, partial metering, centre point AF and either single shot or AI servo depending on what I'm shooting. I seldom need anything else.</p>

I use a manual exposure, (I guess from experience and chimp it before the event starts), a custom WB, and AI-servo on the center point only.

 

When using a variable aperture zoom, make sure with a manual exposure you use an aperture setting your lens can attain at all focal lengths, otherwise zooming in will lead to underexposure. (Though with that Tamron, you'll lose autofocus at the long end anyway, so you might as well try to stay away from it, and crop instead)

<p>I shoot sports, also have a 40D, and completely agree with Peter; I also switch to Tv mode if I'd rather the shutter be static -- say 1/500th and ISO 400. Shoot Raw and no need to worry about WB.</p>

<p>However, your catch-all, hyperzoom Tamron lens might be slightly suspect -- both in focusing speed and accuracy. That's not a sports setup.</p>