Fuzzy Football Photos

[jim_rusher]

I am shooting youth football (daytime) with a Canon Rebel with a Canon US 100-

300 zoom f4.5/5.6 with the ISO set at 1600. I find that more than half my

shots are either soft or out of focus either in the Sports mode or Aperature

Priority at f5.6, even with a shutter speed of 2000-4000. Shots are

especially poor in the multishot mode. Lighting is generally good. I think I

may need a faster lens, and I have also heard the Digic I chip is slower - any

suggestions?

[znabal]

With shutter speeds like those, it is most likely your focus that is off, not subject movement or camera shake. What focus mode are you using? jeffl.

[jim_rusher]

Thanks for your reply - I am using mostly AI servo.

[michael_huizenga]

I shoot youth soccer games every now and then. My equipment tends to be a Nikon D50 and a 70-300 4-5.6 zoom, ISO 200 or 400, using the center focusing point. I seldom have a problem with unwanted blurr, so I agree that you may be having a focusing problem. I'm also not sure how good your shots would look at ISO 1600 either as I'm not familiar with Canons.

[doug_axford1]

You should be able to stop most action at 1/1000 or even less. I'm normally shooting at 1/500 max. because you want a touch of blur on finger tips & feet to capture the feeling of action. Get your ISO down and your aperature up. The rebel is not the best for focusing and that lens is not Canon's best, that's your problem. You've got to pre-anticipate the shot. Jeff is right, your focus is off, but make these corrections and you'll have a higher % of keepers.

 

Doug

[mark u]

I'm sure you are aware that Sports mode limits the ISO to a maximum of 400, so that will in turn limit the shutter speed you are getting when using it. Personally, I don't understand why Canon impose the limitation - however, it means you really have to set the camera up in either Av or M mode with AI Servo Focus and continuous shooting yourself so you can set the ISO needed to get the shutter speed required to freeze action. However, you can't set AI Servo mode on the orginal Canon Digital Rebel or nearly every film Rebel in any other way than using Sports mode (although you can on the Rebel XT, XTi DSLRs and T2 film camera).

 

Here is some reading for you on what the AI Servo focus system actually does, and how to get the best out of it:

 

http://photonotes.org/other/ai-servo.html

 

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/EOS_Digital.pdf

 

(see the pages on AF) Your camera doesn't have all the bells and whistles, so ignore references to functions that you don't have.

 

If your camera can't be set to AI Servo focus in Av/M mode then you may do better to use a narrower aperture and drop your shutter speed to 1/750th to 1/1000th. That will give you a greater depth of field which will help disguise focus errors without risking too much in the way of camera shake or subject motion blur. Alternatively, if light allows 400 ISO or less at a reasonable shutter speed, use Sports mode - but be sure to follow the tips on pre-focussing and focus point selection and the use of burst shooting given in the links above.

 

So far as your lens is concerned, it has a reputation for very rapid focus, so my first suspicion relates to your focussing technique. However, even if you perfect your technique you won't get every shot sharp. In lower light a faster lens would definitely help, as in general would a camera with a higher grade AF system. But I'd try improving your technique before deciding to splash out on new kit.

[John Crowe]

As others have mentioned get the camera off auto. Make sure the aperture is set at f5.6 and that you are getting 1/1000 of a second. If it's mid-day sun that's about ISO 100, if it's cloudy maybe ISO 400, if it's near sunset ISO 800 to 1600.

 

 

I don't use autofocus, so can't help you there.

[dangoldman]

you defnetly dont need iso 1600 during the day! I shoot a lot a of night games (with flash) on my 350D. I usually only get about 1/200 to 1/350 at the most. I usually get acceptable results from that. You should always be on servo. There is no point to having the computer decide if the subject is moving in AI. I would lock the aperture to 5.6 and go from there, unless the light meter is being tricked by something, in which case i just shoot manual (take a few exposures, check the histogram, and dont touch it till the light changed drastically). I also recommend a better lens first, not camera. Im pretty sure the rebel and rebel xt have the same auto focus system.

[jim_rusher]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions - sounds like opening up the aperture and decreasing the ISO should help - I am also going to rent a Canon 75-200 f2.8 with IS to see if that helps.

[fullmetalphotograper]

Unfortunatly, I would say your lens is the issue. It is a slow lens. Not in terms of AF but f/

stop. If I remember correctly you AF sensor minimal is f/5.6 to focus. So you are pushing its

limit. You will be better off not zooming past the 200mm If you want effective AF. You may

have to manual focus to get better images. This one of the reasons pros shoot fast glass. A

300mm f/2.8 will focus faster and more easier because it allows more light to AF sensor.

John Crowes ISO suggestion is on the money so you may want to try it. Good luck<div></div>

[carl_auer2]

Jim, which Rebel. ISO Performance of the original Rebel from 800-1600 is not that great. Second, in Sports Mode on the original rebel, you are locked in at ISO 400, and in Aperture Priority mode your focus is stuck at One Shot. The Xt and XTi fixed the focus mode issue and have much better high ISO performance than the original rebel. The lens may be your issue, but I do not think it is the only issue. Are you having issues with anything else you are shooting, sports or non sports? With the original rebel, in Av mode, when you lock focus on your subject, and they move, it will not refocus like AI Servo in sports mode does. So, you may be locking onto the subject just fine, then they are moving out of your focus plane before you hit the shutter.

 

As for the lens, you can look for a used Sigma 70-200 2.8 for better performance. It will focus quicker, but like I said, I think there may be more going on here than just a lens issue....

 

Oh, and Digic is quick as long as you are using good cards. SanDisk Ultra II's clear out the camera buffer pretty quick. The Digic processor is taking the photos out of your buffer, processing them, then writing them to the card. The faster the card, the quicker the buffer will clear (to a point).

[nldimaging]

I'm not sure if D/Rebels have a sharpness adjuster, but mine's cranked right up for football and mine are pretty sharp. Here's one at iso 200, 1/500, f-5.6 Pentax K10D, Sigma 50-500mm ( which is a heavy,slow TANK of a lens, Thank god for monopods ). 1600 is way too high for daytime shots.

[nldimaging]

Here's another one . .

[darrendrevik]

I also would look at how you have your autofocus set. If you set your focus points to all and let the camera try and interpret where to focus, often it will select a large (or colorful) item in the background rather than the action.

 

Set your autofocus selection point just to the center dot, er square. Then make sure you keep the ballcarrier in the center of your viewfinder.