DSLRUsers.com

all advice welcome. this is my first baseball keeper (rest are really bad!!)

I havent cropped or made any adjustments as not worth it at this early stage.

I realise background fence needs to go (ie change location but sun was a problem)

Details & my thinking in brackets on how to improve using my 70 - 300 ED.



bright & sunny - ISO 200 (OK?)

AP f7.1 (trying to eliminate background)

1/500 (needs to be around 1/800+)

300mm (what is the 'ideal' FL for this lens when shooting sports?

AF-C and spot metering

monopod (start with tripod?)

Its a long journey for me obviously but thanks for any feedback.

cheers

R2

Rookie2

one of the main problems you may have (not talking lens) is that AF-C just dumps the images to the card and is quite often not focussing before sending to the card.

In the viewfinder you may think that you have focus however that's not happened.

When you checked your shots that you threw away were a great majority out of focus?

On the weekend I had a similar problem with my 70-200VR at Seaworld photographing the Dolphins using AF-C mode. A great majority of the shots were unuseable or just plain crap.

I thought that AF-C would adjust for the focus of the fast moving objects but I didn't find that was the case for me.

exactly the same - I am struggling to get any really sharp photos so far.

I know its possible as have seen many others posted - just a matter of knowing what the optimum settings are for consistent sharp shots.

each lens has its peculariaties but as a starter it gets frustrating - I used to get lots more consistency 20 years ago with a ricoh kr 10 and tamron 80 - 210!!

thanks

R2

Hi Rookie2,

rookie2 wrote:Details & my thinking in brackets on how to improve using my 70 - 300 ED.

bright & sunny - ISO 200 (OK?)

300mm (what is the 'ideal' FL for this lens when shooting sports?

I have that lens, at 300mm is starting to get soft, try to stay at around 200mm, unless you have to. Get as close to the action as you can.

Certainly bright and sunny should be good with ISO 200, but if you want faster shutter speeds, ISO 400 will still be fine.

See these pics from Redline:
http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=14255

You may be able to get some tips from there.

Cheers,

André

R2

I'd just work with AF-S, try a little tripod photography with plenty of light and stationary objects and see that way if you have a lens problem.

I don't believe that you have and it's just a matter of trial and error to get the settings that best suit you.

There are members on here more technically oeientated than I who I'm sure will give you their optimum settings. I tend to be a bit of a twiddler where settings are concerned.

thanks Andre and TonyH

will have another crack this w/e - 200 mm, closer, AF-S, tripod, ISO 400.

one of my problems tonyH is I twiddle too much as well - probably need to take bigger sets of photos at same setting before changing rather than just a couple before experimenting with a new lot of settings.

from what I've read its good to just stick to AP and get used to that rather than flicking between SP, M or P.

thanks

R2

I think one thing that may help is pre-focussing with AF-S when you can. In other words (I sound like President Bush!!) focus on the player by half pressing the shutter release a good couple of secs before the ball is pitched then fire away when the action is at it's peak. I do this a lot with wildlife, just sit there pre-focused, waiting for the hippo to open it's mouth or the lion to bight your nose and when it does *SNAP* you were ready!

Also, when using AF-C you need to be very aware of the placement of your focussing point. For most accurate results with fast moving objects i usually have the D70 set to the centre point and I make sure that point stays on the object i want in focus. That 70-300mm isn't the quickest at focussing so if you slip off the subject for a moment it's going to try and focus on the background (especially with a crazy fence like this one!!) and will take a long time to come back when you try and reposition to the correct spot.

Hope this helps..

Liam =]

R2, Dont underestanate this lens, ok it is slow but i have used this lens for chasing motor bikes and had some good results. Getting to know it and your camera's limits is the key factor here.
AF-C is the way to go as you need to keep it focussing on the subject, remembering it is all too easy to slack that finger off the shutter button too easy so that it is not focussing, i too have had this problem and all to quick to push all the way without give the lens time to focus.

In lower light you can use a higer iso, but in your case you should be trying to use the highest shutter as possible when shooting baseball.
You could use more like over 1/500 sec to 1/1000 sec as you need to freeze the action really anything over 500 will freeze most of it but i would try for higher as then you can pace your shots, adjust EV so check hitogram.
Here is some i took last weekend, i am using a faster lens the Sigma 70-200 F2.8.
http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=14536
There is more at my site, play with settings and i dont use a tripod as all my shots are hand held, it is all trial and error, if not try P mode on the D70 as Onyx has said and i have tried this it is very good setting and if the light drops up your ISO to get a faster shutter.
Cheers
John
BBJ

thanks for the tips john and liam - I'll have a go and hope to post more on the w/e for your constructive feedback.
cheers
R2

hi rookie2,
i was using an 80-200 for the behind shots and a 300 + tc for all the others.

1/500 is a good speed to start at you'll notice it probaby not fast enough to freeze the players movement.

i usually shoot from either 1st or from 3rd base either directly above in stand or ground level, shots from above gets rid of most bg quite well.
i usually switch from either side depending if i wanted front light or back light(mostly afternoon games)

at low light increasing iso is a choice you could also try to shoot batters right after they have hit the ball and theres usually a quick pause.
you also got pitchers to shoot, sometimes the 1st and 3rd base coach gets in your way.

its also a good idea to learn to shoot with both eyes open so your other eye can spot of any action such as base stealing or timing pitches.

appreciate it redline - weather permitting I get another go tomorrow night.

this shooting with right eye open is new to me - I have never been told about holding a camera correctly or using both eyes - I always went to the technical side of things without covering the basics so am gradually unlearning a lot of bad habits.

I can only blink my R eye so have always used only my left for focussing -going to be interesting shooting 'eyes wide open'

great to have your words of advice to take with me tomorrow.


liked your shots especially from behind batter btw what 300 lens is it - a zoom or prime?

thanx
R2

R2, like Thai shoot with both eyes, 1 eye in the veiw finder and left eye on the action, i found that as soon as the pitcher throws the ball is when you need to start taking your shot, even if you use AF-C you can take a few shots in continues mode and then you might have more of a chance to capture the ball coming in . We dont have any stands here so all pics taken from the ground level.
Cheers

rookie2 wrote:btw what 300 lens is it - a zoom or prime?

IIRC he has the AI-S Nikkor 300 mm f/2.8.

actually i was using a f2.8 300 af-i simliar to John lenses.

with baseball now i learnt to shoot with either the left or right eye thru the view finder and keep the other eye open for action. you'll find the motor drive for a d70 very slow for multi shots so you have to practice timing your shots for peak action.