Shooting soccer with 7d & 100-300 APO "D"

[emaxxman]

I need some tips with shooting my son's soccer games (he's 6 years old.) I'm

handholding, shooting in fairly good but bright light, ISO 4, f/5.6 to f/8.

 

The images tend to be a little soft. Is it the lens or my technique. The

entire image appears to be a little soft but not the kind of softness you would

expect from camera shake.

 

Should I shoot wide open? I shot at f/8 to try and maximize sharpness. The

shutter speeds I was getting were very close to 1/1000th sec so it should be

fast enough to stop motion.

 

I was thinking the AF speed of the 7d and 100-300 zoom weren't enough to keep

up. Anyone else have good luck with this combo? Any tips?

 

I have a monopod. Would that help given the shutter speeds I was getting?

[ricardovaste]

Well, I haven't used the <i>exact</i> same set up, but I'll try and help anyway...<p>I've used a 75-300 Minolta at a football game, but mounted on the 7 film camera :)<p>First off:<br>1/ Your shutter speed is definately high enough<br>2/ Your aperture selection is fine & won't be the culprit<br>3/ISO is clearly fine as your getting the high shutter speeds that you need<br>4/Hand-holding a relatively light set up and one that is firing at >1/1000th<br>5/ 1/1000th pretty much rules out motion blur<p>So...<br>To <i>me</i> the only obvious thing that can be causing the <i>'soft'</i> problem could be a lack of precise focus.<p>My 7 film could focus okay with the front focus design of the 75-300, in good light.<br>The 7D's focusing isn't as fast or accurate but the 100-300 APO has a faster internal design...<br>... so i cant imagine there being a great difference between your focusing speed&mine.<br>I did have some trouble with accurate focusing on a moving player to an extent. <br>The thing to do is make sure you select the right AF sensor, rather than just relying on the 'wide area' selection, which has to make its mind up on about 9 different sensors.<Br>Alternately, you could just select the central AF sensor, which is the strongest, and then you're using the system to its highest extent.<p>Finally, but just as important, what AF mode did you have it on?<br>If its on 'S' it will simply select the focus point as soon as it finds it and then lock. But after it has lockd your subject, moving quickly, may well have moved out of focus, causing OOF/SOFT image.<br>Furthermore, if its in 'A' mode, it may not track the subject correctly, as the system has to determine for itself if the subject is moving or not.<br>Use 'C' focus mode, which will continuously track the subject, making continuous frames easier, and hopefully making sure that the subject is in focus while its moving :). I believe this mode is meant to calculate the speed of the subject moving and then adjust the focus accordingly for the next frame (in continuous shoot mode), but i could be wrong.<p>Hope that helps a bit maybe.<br>Let us know how you get one :)<br>Rich

[michael_hohner]

The 100-300 APO also has a front focus design, and it's not that fast focusing.

[drjedsmith]

Richard is correct - use the "C" mode on the front focus mode dial. It will track your son if you get him locked on.<BR><BR>

Michael is right in that the 100-300 APO is not that "fast" of a lens...I presume because so many elements are used inside; I used to own the "D" version and sold it because I never ended up using it (no kids in sports yet). :-)<BR><BR>

I have one more suggestion for you, and that is to take it out of the local area focus (you know where you switch from AF point to AF point in the viewfinder) and put it on the wide focus area ie looks like [ ]. This may help stop your hunting problem.<BR>

You could argue that this won't always focus on your son (maybe someone else's) :-) But, at F8, I'm sure you will have plenty of depth of field. It will let the camera's computer pick a point with good contrast for a sharper focus.<BR>

Worth a shot anyway. Your shutter speeds and Aperture are fine. Good luck with the suggestions and let us know what happends!<BR>

Jed

[dave_redmann]

Based on my experience shooting my kids' similar soccer (and baseball) games, I have to agree--the problem is almost certainly focus. (At 1/1000s, you can make out the stiching on a seven-year-old's hit baseball.) If you don't mind having the background relatively in focus, try shooting with aperture priority or manual exposure and f/16; even if your shutter speed drops to 1/250 s, that should suffice. That will decrease the visibility of focus errors.

 

The issue of what focus mode to use is a valid point, and you probably should be in "C" (continuous), but the lens/camera combination is probably not fast-enough focusing to totally solve the problem. There will be times when the action will move faster than the autofocus.

 

Last but not least, I'd find 100-300mm a bit long for kids soccer. Most of the time I find the beercan (70-210mm f/4) a bit too long. I think a 50-150 would be about right.

[ricardovaste]

<i>"Last but not least, I'd find 100-300mm a bit long for kids soccer. Most of the time I find the beercan (70-210mm f/4) a bit too long. I think a 50-150 would be about right."</i><p>Its a shame that sigma are holding out on you for the time being then isn't it! ;) I do agree though, I did find the 75-300 minimum focusing distance a bit limiting at 75 at times. But then, a bit short also at 300 at times ;)<p>Let us know what happens Thang :).

[emaxxman]

Wow..bummer that the lens is not a fast focusing lens.

 

I should've mentioned that I am shooting with the center focus point locked and am in AF-C mode. I'm going to use the monopod this coming weekend and then try the wide focus area mode. I will also try f/16.

 

thanks,

[craig_gillette]

I had that combo and found it rather slow - although fast compared to what I'd had before. I wouldn't go to f/16, probably stick to f/8. You don't want to slow down shutter speeds too much in the quest for greater depth. I don't recall which focus mode I used though. I don't seen any major advantage to the monopod. It's a pretty light lens.

[ricardovaste]

Thang, if you dont get any getter results and this is something you enjoy doing (i would image so, as it is your own son :), maybe consider upgrading your lens? If your 100-300 APO D is in good condition, it could fetch enough to only leave you a tiny bit short of a 80-200 2.8 (or of similar design), from a third party - tamron, sigma, tokina. All will focus much faster I believe - Anyone agree?