Soccer Photogs - I need your help...

SportsNut

Hey everyone.

I've been really frustrated with a problem and I was hoping someone would have some ideas.

I shoot Canon 7D and 40D with 300 f/2.8L and 70-200 f/2.8L, and I've had a ton of problems with focusing. I shoot almost exclusively soccer and I have a lot (meaning more than half) of movement towards me slightly out of focus. Many are too bad to try to sell (I like 'em sharp). Examining the pictures, the grass right behind these players is sharp, but the player isn't...I'm thinking it's missing by a foot or so. Lateral movement and movement away doesn't seem to be a problem, only towards me.

I know I can do the microadjustment, but I get very sharp pictures without movement. If I adjust on the camera, I suspect that'll screw up my static shooting?

I had a bigger event this weekend and I lost a lot of otherwise well positioned and well time photos. Makes me :splat.

One game this weekend, I had some many bad ones that I felt like I should re-shoot for my client. As I did it, my 10-year-old boy scored his first header EVER in the first game I missed in his life. I was NOT happy.

Anywho, I generally shoot near wide open, 2.8-3.5 at ISO 200-400 and get high shutter speeds. I shoot servo and I've had the same problem with center point and area. Mostly evaluative.

Is there something I'm missing? It seems to me like there's movement (player) between focus and shutter that's doing this (not in timing, but this is my theory), but the equipment is all top shape and working well otherwise. Seems very responsive and normal. Is there something on my 300mm that I'm missing? This happens with IS on or off.

Any ideas or advice? I need to get this solved.

Oh, and conditions were pretty overcast most of the weekend, sometimes fairly dark. When the sun peaked through, I got better results (it seems).

I appreciate your time and suggestions. Thanks!

zack75144

not a soccer photog, but I have virtually the same setup as you.

I shoot baseball mostly,
I use AL Servo with a single focus point (positioned to hit face or upper torso). I find that my 7D is unforgiving if I am unable to keep that point on my subject.

( i guess here is where I get bashed for using a single point)

but I tried the zone focus and also Af point with assist points when I got the 7D and didn't like the results so I switched back to single point like I used on my 40D.
I don't have nearly the OOF ratio that you are experiencing, but I've certainly felt the frustration of deleting a well timed and captured action shot, because the focus switched to something adjacent to the subject.

I'll be monitoring this thread in the hopes of an explanation from one of the house pros.

IdahoMotomom

Are you shooting fully manual or AV? I'm not familiar with your body (rookie, I know). I picked up a gently used 1D Mark IIN for MX and Soccer and the focus is smokin fast, could that be the cause? When I shoot 2.8, depending on how close the player is, I often get soft images other than a small area of extreme crispness, so I shoot at 4.0 which significantly increased my sharpness and keeper rate and still gives me nice bokeh. I wish I could help more! Good luck!

Found this forum post with a quick google search but sounds similar to what you are experiencing: http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=521022

ckaspar

Not a pro but I would suggest using AI Servo. I shoot mostly R/C Car Racing and those little buggers are fast. I also shoot mostly indoors and I use my 50mm 1.8 wide open which leaves very little room for error. I can tell right away when I am when I have my focus set to One Shot. I lose the sharp focus to just behind the cars. Moving to AI allows the camera to follow the single point of focus and keep that part sharp.

SportsNut

IdahoMotomom wrote: »

Are you shooting fully manual or AV? I'm not familiar with your body (rookie, I know). I picked up a gently used 1D Mark IIN for MX and Soccer and the focus is smokin fast, could that be the cause? When I shoot 2.8, depending on how close the player is, I often get soft images other than a small area of extreme crispness, so I shoot at 4.0 which significantly increased my sharpness and keeper rate and still gives me nice bokeh. I wish I could help more! Good luck!

Found this forum post with a quick google search but sounds similar to what you are experiencing: http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=521022

I shoot AV almost exclusively. Maybe that would help me...to close up to 4.0.

As far as the speed, it seems lightning fast.

A buddy of mine thought I should back off the microadjustment just a notch or two so that static images would still be sharp but give me a little little lead forward on moving players. I'm going to get my son out there this week to subject for me and I'm going to do some testing. I think I can get it straightened out...hopefully!

Thanks for the link, but I don't see much in there that matches my issue (fully, anyway). As far as the 7D, I find it an amazing piece of gear. I absolutely love the FPS speed...I don't know if I always get 8, but it's absolutely significantly faster than my 40D.

SportsNut

ckaspar wrote: »

Not a pro but I would suggest using AI Servo. I shoot mostly R/C Car Racing and those little buggers are fast. I also shoot mostly indoors and I use my 50mm 1.8 wide open which leaves very little room for error. I can tell right away when I am when I have my focus set to One Shot. I lose the sharp focus to just behind the cars. Moving to AI allows the camera to follow the single point of focus and keep that part sharp.

Yeah, I'm normally using AI Servo. Without it, it'd be nearly impossible, I'd think.

Like I wrote earlier, I think I'll just tinker with the microadjustment and see if that can fix my problem.

I can imagine R/C focusing could be real hard....never tried anything like that.

SportsNut

I had my son and his buddy (another soccer player) run around the backyard this evening while I played with the microadjustment on the 7Ds. I can happily report that it fixed the problem. I backed off -6 on the 300mm and -3 on the 70-200mm and it is PERFECT now. I get very sharp images in motion and static. I am SOOOOOOO happy this worked. I'm back in business!!!

My problem was that I went from the 40D to the 7D and suddenly started getting more OOF images. I kept thinking it was my technique or lens...this big fat dummy never even thought it was the new body...ugh.

All is well that ends well!

rpcrowe

Isn't that the purpose?
Although this series of YouTube video tutorials has to do with U.S. football, the information provided is equally as valid for soccer.

Look at all Scott's videos, not just the one I am linking to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMgZ13X_pr4