b asketball Shots - Still Having Focus Issues

MDalby

Guys, I am learning lots but I am still having issues with the focusing. Changes that I made this week include the following:

• I went manual rather than aperature priority
• I tried to shoot a lot tighter shots.
• I tried to get the exposure better. I don't have lighting yet so I had to change from my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8D VR Lens to my Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF D.
• I changed my position. I sat on the baseline behind the basket. I like the views better but I had a hard time getting faces in the photos. I also had a hard time with arms getting in front ofhte faces in my shots.

I have run Noise Ninja but I haven't done any USM so you can see the focus issues. I have included my camera settings. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong?

Thank you for the help guys!

#1



#2




#3



#4 - I am pretty happy with the focus on this one. If I could have just got more face in the photo...



#5



Camera Settings



I did have camera sharpening set at 2 and active D-Lighting.

zack75144

You are using a 21 AF points, and your camera is sometimes focusing on things other than your subject, like in shots 2 and 3. Plus at f/1.4 there is so little DOF if you focus on the chest, the face my end up soft. IMO you should stopped down to f/2 and use the center AF point only (if your camera has assist AF points, use them as well). By using the 21 point method you leave the camera to decide what is your subject, where as with the center AF it will focus on what you are pointing it at. HTH's

BWB

It's a combination of the D300 AF capability and the AF speed of the lens you're using more than your technique, IMHO. As was mentioned, you also have a rather shallow DOF at the close "tight" distances which you want to shoot. It would actually be easier to get tight shots from farther away using a longer lens (i.e. 70-200/f2.8 AF-S or the 180/f2.8).

I used to shoot Nikon and on the N90 and F5 bodies, the 80-200/f2.8 (slow screw-drive AF zoom) gave me many sharp keepers using the 200mm end. On the D300, you'd be able to back up farther (1.5x crop factor) and that would reduce the stress on the AF system tracking the moving subject. On the D300, use the center point AF and, if you cannot swing the bigger lenses, practice your tracking technique and shoot lots of frames. As a sports shooter myself, I get plenty of OOF images in basketball so I shoot a whole game to ensure I get a variety of in-focus and well-composed images.

Good luck, and keep a steady hand with that AF point on the noses of your subject!

MDalby

Thanks guys for the input. I am trying so many different approaches to see what works for me. This is hte first game that I have tried my 50mm 1.4 lens. I kinda liked it until I saw the results. I liked sitting under the hoop. I won't be abel to sit under the hoop with my 70-200mm f/2.8D VR lens. I just didn't see the exposure that I wanted with the 70-200mm f/2.8D VR lens. I need to get better lighting. That is next on my wish list.

bikingbets

Don't give up on the 50mm 1.4! It's becoming a favorite of mine for indoor basketball. I agree with the other posts...try center-weighted and you may find an improvement.

If you haven't seen it yet, I've posted a couple from Monday night under "HS Boys' Basketball." Although it's with a Canon 40D, I used the 50mm at f/2.5, 1/500, ISO 1000, and used a little bit of noise reduction. Not a whole lot needed with such a wide aperture.

Keep shooting!
Betsy

MDalby

bikingbets wrote:

Don't give up on the 50mm 1.4! It's becoming a favorite of mine for indoor basketball. I agree with the other posts...try center-weighted and you may find an improvement.

I am sorry that I am such a rookie but you guys are using terms that I don't fully understand. Maybe it is the Canon vs. Nikon talking but I think it is a lack of intelligence on my part.

Please help me understand what center AF point or center-weighted means?

Thanks,

MD

zack75144

MD, I was refering to auto focus points. My 40D has 9 and you can select to use all 9 at once(which I do not recommend for sports) or any of the 9 singularly. I use the one smack in the center of the view finder.
Betsy may be refering to the center-weighted metering method which is one of 4 metering methods that Canon SLR's employ.