Focus on the Boston Marathon... Help!

net1994

I will be shooting the Boston Marathon on Monday. (It will be chilly and cloudy with chance of rain. FUN!! ) I would like to get a few tips on what stinting to use, specifically focusing. I have a D300 and 70-200 VR lens. A day ago I tried some folks playing basketball and about half the pictures were a bit out of focus. I used these settings:
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On D300:
AF-S
21 Point focus
Dynamic Focus
Release+Focus
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VR on lens set to ‘Normal.’
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On Marathon day I will be right on the side of the road with runners going from left to right across the frame. So I guess this is panning, technically? At first there will be a few single runners, but 90% of the time it will be a mass of people. Can you recommend what focus settings to use (or any other setting as well)? What about using spot focus at the beginning of the race when I'm locked onto one runner, and well I dunno...just a thought?

Mike J

net1994 wrote:

I will be shooting the Boston Marathon on Monday. (It will be chilly and cloudy with chance of rain. FUN!! ) I would like to get a few tips on what stinting to use, specifically focusing. I have a D300 and 70-200 VR lens. A day ago I tried some folks playing basketball and about half the pictures were a bit out of focus. I used these settings:
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On D300:
AF-S
21 Point focus
Dynamic Focus
Release+Focus
<o:p></o:p>
VR on lens set to ‘Normal.’
<o:p></o:p>
On Marathon day I will be right on the side of the road with runners going from left to right across the frame. So I guess this is panning, technically? At first there will be a few single runners, but 90% of the time it will be a mass of people. Can you recommend what focus settings to use (or any other setting as well)? What about using spot focus at the beginning of the race when I'm locked onto one runner, and well I dunno...just a thought?

For sports, I have been told (and having been using for softball with pretty good results) the following focus settings on my D300:
AF-C with focus priority (#A1 set to focus)
Dynamic Focus
I keep #A3 set to either 9 or 21 points.
You also might want to play with #A5. I know have this set to AF-ON only which means that the camera will only focus when the AF-ON button is pressed and NOT when the shutter is pressed half-way.

Configured this way, you can press the AF-ON button and lock focus on the one runner. If you keep the AF-ON button pressed and follow the runner, focus will remain on the runner.

I tend to shoot in Aperature Priority mode keeping to f/2.8 or f/4. This allows the shutter speed to be fast enough to stop the action and not get any blurring. You can use boost ISO if you need to keep the shutter speed high enough. Normally on VR lenses I turn it off because the shutter speeds I use for sports tend to be high enough that camera shake is not a problem. I have heard that having VR on can slow down the auto-focus system.

Not sure what you mean by panning. Panning is usually a technique to blur the background (implied motion) and keep your subject in focus. This thread has some good examples: http://digitalgrin.com/showthread.php?t=121661&highlight=panning+technique

net1994

Originally I planned on going to heartbreak hill in Newton. Right after the crest to catch runners sort of breaking down, so to speak. Bad for them, but great pictures for me. Its also a brisk walk from that spot on down towards Boston College. They have the frat houses on Comm Ave. Last year tons of BC kids were out there cheering runners on. Great shots with them giving runners high fives as they barrel along.

Well now I'm going to try and have my cake and eat it too. After I go my shots in Newton I will take the green line downtown and get some shots around the finish line. Medical areas, runners coming in etc.

Anyone know how easy/hard it is to get close to the finish line? Can I take a close up photo of runners coming across the finish line? Or is it all blocked off?

Thanks