Upgrade from a 30D to 40D for Sports?
I'm sorry if this has been discussed to death. I looked around and found some general info, but I wanted to ask for my specific situation.
As stated, I've got a 30D. I shoot primarily offroad motorcycle events. Bikes are moving slow to fast and most times, lots of clutter in the background. My workhorse lenses are a EFS 17-55mm 2.8 IS and a 70-200mm IS 2.8 L. I'm generally shooting at 2.8 to 4.0.
I like my 30D, but I seem to get a fairly large percentage of OOF's. Not horribly blown shots, but plenty of slighty soft focus stuff. I shoot AI Servo and single shot mode. I rarely use rapid fire.
Is a 40D going to give me a significant increase of keepers? This is the only reason for me to consider an upgrade. I know I should be looking at the 1D MkIII, but I just don't want to drop 4K on a body.
As stated, I've got a 30D. I shoot primarily offroad motorcycle events. Bikes are moving slow to fast and most times, lots of clutter in the background. My workhorse lenses are a EFS 17-55mm 2.8 IS and a 70-200mm IS 2.8 L. I'm generally shooting at 2.8 to 4.0.
I like my 30D, but I seem to get a fairly large percentage of OOF's. Not horribly blown shots, but plenty of slighty soft focus stuff. I shoot AI Servo and single shot mode. I rarely use rapid fire.
Is a 40D going to give me a significant increase of keepers? This is the only reason for me to consider an upgrade. I know I should be looking at the 1D MkIII, but I just don't want to drop 4K on a body.
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http://www.behance.net/brosepix
Yes.
Glass: Sigma 70-200 f2.8 | Sigma 20 f1.8 | Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM
Thanks!
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
Well I can't do more than relate my experience as I went from an XTi to a 40D, for the same reason you mention - OOF. I shoot high school football and marching band (with a few other sports thrown in) and I'd say I more than doubled my keeper rate with the 40D. The focus speed of the 40D is considerably quicker than the XTi and allows me to move my focus point from one part of the field to another very rapidly.
The higher burst rate was also another big selling point for me, particularly for sports.
From my experience if you want to raise your 'keeper count' then the the 40D will do it for you.
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Use single point focus, AI Servo with an accurate starting point and shoot in bursts. Do these things and the 40D should reward you with a high hit ratio. Also keep stroking the AF near anticipated action so that the focus doesn't travel far to achieve focus lock.
The 40D is not quite 1D MKII/MKIIN speed, but it's awfully nice.
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Accuracy is probably what I'm missing vs focus speed, but I'm not sure.
I've tried both single point and all nine sensors. I still get mixed results. Sometimes I feel single point works better and other times no. I also do try and prefocus at the anticipated spot.
I don't like using the burst mode, because I usually have a long string of riders coming by and I'm taking a shot every couple of seconds anyway. And there is just something old school about me, that says I can time the photo anyway vs just throwing out a bunch of frames.
Just as a test, try shooting in short bursts in AI Servo mode. See if the second and third exposure in the series improves your success rate.
AI Servo is a "predictive" method of autofocus and sometimes subsequent frames "get it right" versus the first frame.
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I can try that. So should I be shooting in one shot mode, even though I'm shooting a target moving towards me?
I guess I'm getting off topic now, but another thing I've noticed, is I get a greater success rate if I depress the shutter in one full motion. If I track the subject with the shutter half depressed and then take the shot, I get a greater percentage of OOF's, which according to what I can decipher is the opposite of what should happen. Again many times the subjects are coming directly at me, or in a quarterly motion.
Thanks again
The problem with one-shot mode is that it takes a single sampling of the autofocus. The camera:
Activates AF when the shutter is half deperessed.
Samples the AF "at that moment" and sets lens focus.
Sets exposure.
Sends the aperture information to the lens.
The lens stops down at about the same time the shutter opens.
If the subject is closing on your location at a fast rate of speed, and that rate increases as the subject distance decreases, then the subject will have moved from the time the camera sampled for focus until the shutter actuates. That time delay is part of "shutter lag" and with moving subjects can make a difference. The focus error may be visible if the error is sufficient and beyond the DOF at that moment.
AI Servo uses a predictive software and processing engine to try to adjust the focus to where the subject should be after accounting for multiple variables, part of which is the measured speed of the object relative to the camera, forward or away, and the shutter lag. The focus is adjusted according to the resulting calculations to try to match the position of the subject at the time of the exposure.
Since the actual subject distance, lens focal length, lens focus speed and closing rate can all affect the accuracy and results, it should be noted that results will vary by lens as well as by subject, not to mention the individual camera used and its implementation of the AI Servo system.
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Last year I shot over 80k sport pics between (2) 30D bodies.
Personally, my OOF rate is extremely low with the 30D. Out of an average 300~400 shots at an event/game, I average about 2 shots that are OOF that I can legitimately say are the camera/lens fault. If I get all full of myself & don't take any blame for any of the other errors, I'll verify who was at fault by pulling the pics up in Canon's EX Browser software that came with the camera.
You can look at your pics with the active focus point(s) displayed on the picture. This shows you where the focus point "really" was when the shutter was released. If it was on your subject and you still have an OOF pic, then blame the camera/lens. If it was NOT on your subject, well...
I'm also under the assumption here that you've taken correct shutter speed into account to keep ANY motion blur at bay.
My experience with this series body tells me that you have other issues at play that a 40D will not/can not correct.
I'm not saying this to sway you away from the 40D, for it's a really good body. I don't think a 40D's going to be a silver bullet for you.
Check out your focus point
Hope that helps...
ziggy, great info!
I suffer the same issue as 2whlrcr shooting dirtbike off-road racing.
I need to try the technique you've suggested.
To make sure I fully understand, when in AI Servo w/burst and single-point focus, should I press and hold the shutter release?
I thought AI Servo worked by holding the shutter release 1/2 way and following the subject? Maybe this is where I've been going wrong in trying to use AI Servo as I haven't had better results than using AI Focus and fully pressing the shutter release.
Also, 2whlrcr as an FYI, have you shot other action sports? I find dirtbikes are the hardest to shoot... in shooting other action sports (rugby, etc.) I have not had the issues of oof. I am hoping applying ziggy's suggestions helps as I feel your pain of having oof shots.
To reiterate, I don't use burst mode, only single shot. Yes, the AI Servo is supposed to focus and follow the subject with the shutter half depressed. I found that I got more OOF's by keeping the shutter half depressed and tracking the subject and taking the shot vs. just pushing the button all the way, when I take the shoot. Just the opposite results of what I expected, but that's how it works for me. I have the most missed shots when the subject is coming directly towards me.
I reviewed my last event photos again and I really didn't have that many OOF's and those could have been from my center focus not being on the subject. My start photos were bad and I've decided to use all nine focus points the next time I do start shots to cover a wider focus range.
I have only shot equestrian sports other than bikes and hillclimbers. The horses aren't moving as fast, so I don't have as many failed shots.
I honestly don't completely understand how AI Servo is supposed to work. (Yes, I've read up on it.
What seemed to give me the best results for the Canon 1D MKII for American Football was to:
Anticipate where I thought the action was going to be and then half-depress (tap) the shutter to acquire focus at that point.
Watch for the action I thought would occur and then as I saw it occur, tap the shutter button again and again until I saw what I wanted and then mash down of the shutter for a short, or long, burst, whatever it took to complete the action.
The AI Servo would either:
Latch immediately and give good focus on the first frame or ...
Latch on the second and/or third frame as the AI Servo hit and tracked focus.
Often, all frames would be close to prime focus and look fine at small sizes but close scrutiny would tell the tale. Many of these were night games as well, so f2.8 to try to get an acceptable shutter speed at ISO 1600 and 3200 (sometimes).
If a player cut back and changed direction I would start the process over again (but very quickly).
I believe I also had the AI Servo sensitivity turned down one mark. Otherwise, the camera might pick up another player too easily as they crossed the FOV. I suspect that this is the default /neutral setting for the 1D MKIIN.
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