Need help on indoor sports photos

petermaz

Second or third time out with my eos xt. Trying to capture good shots of indoor volleyball. Never realized how fast this game is, until trying to shoot it. Limited budget, so I am trying to make due with fast glass and available light. All I have is the canon 50mm f1.8 lens, so I try to get as close as possible and then crop for a tight shot.

My problem is that I can't find a good focus. I can get properly exposed shots at iso 800, 1/320th and f1.8 which freeze the action, but the focus is so shallow that the main subject is rarely sharp. I have tried shots with each of the three autofocus modes but can't seem to get the results I'm looking for, a lot of shots have a sharp foreground or background.

Am I trying to do the impossible with a cheap lens? I don't have much faith in the AI autofocus at this point, is there a way to lock the autofocus so that it only uses the center point?

petermaz

here is an example:
see how the player in red to the left is in much sharper focus than #6 in white on the other side of the net?

http://petermaz.smugmug.com/photos/36810554-M.jpg

Steve Cavigliano

Peter,

I don't know if you can select center point AF only with the XT If you can, it may help. I always use a single focus point for sports (center point). Also, for AI Servo to "lock on" you need to be following the subject with the release half pressed for a second or so.

Your dilemma is common. Get close with a wide open aperture and the DOF gets mighty thin. Move back and the DOF is better but the players are smaller. My only suggestion would be to try shooting along the net. IOW, shoot down the net so that both players are about the same distance from the lensface. Good for spikes and/or block shots. Or, you could bump the ISO to 1600 and try F2.8 or so. Still pretty wide open, but a little more DOF than F1.8. Since the shot you posted looks pretty bright, you may even be able to use narrower apertures (like F4 @ ISO1600). Especially if you shoot in RAW.

At 12 feet and using F1.8 your DOF is about 20 inches :uhoh At F2.8 it's 36 inches. This is one of the big issues you will face shooting sports. Please check out this site for more info and to pre-plan your DOF for your next shoot. IOW, find a distance to subject and apertue combinations that will yield a nice 3-4 foot of DOF.

Hope this helps some

As mentioned, I have the same issue. This pic, shot at F2.0, shows the shooter in focus, the defender less so and the foreground and background oof

Steve

Shay Stephens

Experience is more important than equipment
You just need to develop your skills in focusing. Pre-focusing and waiting for the action to hit that spot may help, but just in general, shooting thousands of photos and getting used to how it all works is the key.

Even with fast L glass, you are going to have to work on focus all the time. I have the 50mm f/1.8 and some L glass too. In general, I prefer the focus performance of the L glass, but the techniques needed to get the kind of focus I want is the same for both types of lens.

petermaz

Thanks, the info on the DOV is great, I can see now that the diff between 1.8 and 2.8 will help. And the tip about manually focusing on a spot and waiting for the action to get there may just work. I'm leary of going to 1600 iso though, and will try shooting at f2.8 in raw format and compensate for any underexposure in digital photo pro.

I appreciate the expertise.

Steve Cavigliano

petermaz wrote:

Thanks, the info on the DOV is great, I can see now that the diff between 1.8 and 2.8 will help. And the tip about manually focusing on a spot and waiting for the action to get there may just work. I'm leary of going to 1600 iso though, and will try shooting at f2.8 in raw format and compensate for any underexposure in digital photo pro.

I appreciate the expertise.

You're welcome Pete and don't be afraid of ISO1600. FWIW, the shot above was taken @ ISO1600. Converted from RAW with minor NR and no other noise reduction used. They print out real nice up to 11x14

Also, I forgot to welcome you to Dgrin

Steve