Gorgeous day to be out yesterday.
Obligatory pitcher shots:
1.
2.
Now for some action:
3. Rounding First
4. snagging the grounder:
5. Out at 2nd
6. After the dive:
7.
Questions:
1. Were #s 3, 4, 5, and 6 shot landscape?
2. Is it possible to get such great sharpness with your lens wide open?
Keep up the fantastic work!
Betsy
Answers:
1) - No they were shot portrait and cropped to landscape
2) - depends on the lens. These were shot wide open with sigma 120-300 2.8. Most pro grade optics will look sharp wide open - most consumer grade need to be stopped down.
Answers:
1) - No they were shot portrait and cropped to landscape
2) - depends on the lens. These were shot wide open with sigma 120-300 2.8. Most pro grade optics will look sharp wide open - most consumer grade need to be stopped down.
Thanks all for the positive feedback.
Thanks, John. I'll see what happens with the 70-200mm 2.8 wide open for soccer. I've been having some trouble getting the entire subject in focus with the 85mm for basketball.
That shortstop sure is giving it up for her team! She even has a skinned knee!
Betsy
Canon 40D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 50mm f/1.4 USM, 85mm f/1.8 USM, 24-105mm f/4L IS, EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM , 580EX ll
Thanks, John. I'll see what happens with the 70-200mm 2.8 wide open for soccer. I've been having some trouble getting the entire subject in focus with the 85mm for basketball.
Betsy
I think there are two important points I'd like to make:
70-200 2.8 for soccer. The biggest problem you'll have with sharpess is a desire to shoot farther than you should. My experience is after 25 yards your keeper rate goes down hill in a hurry with 200mm (the focus system on my mkIII seems to extend that a bit further than on my 20d) but that should be your guide. On a xxD camera a good rule of thumb is - your subject should fill at least 2/3 of the portrait oriented frame. That isn't a lot of area for soccer. So, resulting softness is likely going to be mainly caused by you shooting action too far away for the lens to capture well.
As for basketball - I think you're confusing sharpness with depth-of-field (DOF). The 85mm 1.8 can be a very sharp lens - but if you're shooting within IT's limits (about 20 feet) then dof is only inches. So yes you'll have a lot of shots where the whole player is not in focus. And of course with such shallow dof, there's little margin for focus error - either on the part of the camera or on the photographer's part. And, again, there was my point about shooting within 20 feet or so. Don't expect to shoot from the baseline to half-court and get a lot of sharp results.
I think there are two important points I'd like to make:
70-200 2.8 for soccer. The biggest problem you'll have with sharpess is a desire to shoot farther than you should. My experience is after 25 yards your keeper rate goes down hill in a hurry with 200mm (the focus system on my mkIII seems to extend that a bit further than on my 20d) but that should be your guide. On a xxD camera a good rule of thumb is - your subject should fill at least 2/3 of the portrait oriented frame. That isn't a lot of area for soccer. So, resulting softness is likely going to be mainly caused by you shooting action too far away for the lens to capture well.
As for basketball - I think you're confusing sharpness with depth-of-field (DOF). The 85mm 1.8 can be a very sharp lens - but if you're shooting within IT's limits (about 20 feet) then dof is only inches. So yes you'll have a lot of shots where the whole player is not in focus. And of course with such shallow dof, there's little margin for focus error - either on the part of the camera or on the photographer's part. And, again, there was my point about shooting within 20 feet or so. Don't expect to shoot from the baseline to half-court and get a lot of sharp results.
Thanks for straightening me out on my vocabulary terms. You're right, it's DOF I'm thinking about.
This image was pretty close with the 85mm...
If I had focused on the face it would've been much better.
Thanks again for the help.
Betsy
Canon 40D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 50mm f/1.4 USM, 85mm f/1.8 USM, 24-105mm f/4L IS, EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM , 580EX ll
Thanks Karen. I didn't have the mkIII till summer last year. The focus accuracy upgrade AND the micro-adjust have really benefitted me. My 120-300 was front focusing - not bad enough to ruin my shots so it was under my radar. But with a tweak it really helped out. That micro-adjust is a god-send for those who use third party lenses.
Thanks Karen. I didn't have the mkIII till summer last year. The focus accuracy upgrade AND the micro-adjust have really benefitted me. My 120-300 was front focusing - not bad enough to ruin my shots so it was under my radar. But with a tweak it really helped out. That micro-adjust is a god-send for those who use third party lenses.
Oh now you are just trying to get me with camera envy.
Althought I think I am going to buy a 300 f/2.8 before the end of the summer before I upgrade my 40D, its either one or the other and I really need the longer glass (that I can use indoors).
You even caught the dust flying in crisp focus!
And I have to agree with Donek about that pitcher, quite intimidating if you ask me.
Goodness, I remember the first time I went to bat for the softball (fastball) and that girl reminds me too much of the pitcher.
The pitcher at our game hit me right in the inside of my right thigh (talk about ouch!) and the next morning I woke up to see a ugly buise where she had hit me.
" I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once "
Comments
www.seanmartinphoto.com
__________________________________________________
it's not the size of the lens that matters... It's how you focus it.
aaaaa.... who am I kidding!
whoever dies with the biggest coolest piece of glass, wins!
Great shots.
Glass: Sigma 70-200 f2.8 | Sigma 20 f1.8 | Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM
Beautiful captures!
Questions:
1. Were #s 3, 4, 5, and 6 shot landscape?
2. Is it possible to get such great sharpness with your lens wide open?
Keep up the fantastic work!
Betsy
Answers:
1) - No they were shot portrait and cropped to landscape
2) - depends on the lens. These were shot wide open with sigma 120-300 2.8. Most pro grade optics will look sharp wide open - most consumer grade need to be stopped down.
Thanks all for the positive feedback.
Thanks, John. I'll see what happens with the 70-200mm 2.8 wide open for soccer. I've been having some trouble getting the entire subject in focus with the 85mm for basketball.
That shortstop sure is giving it up for her team! She even has a skinned knee!
Betsy
I think there are two important points I'd like to make:
70-200 2.8 for soccer. The biggest problem you'll have with sharpess is a desire to shoot farther than you should. My experience is after 25 yards your keeper rate goes down hill in a hurry with 200mm (the focus system on my mkIII seems to extend that a bit further than on my 20d) but that should be your guide. On a xxD camera a good rule of thumb is - your subject should fill at least 2/3 of the portrait oriented frame. That isn't a lot of area for soccer. So, resulting softness is likely going to be mainly caused by you shooting action too far away for the lens to capture well.
As for basketball - I think you're confusing sharpness with depth-of-field (DOF). The 85mm 1.8 can be a very sharp lens - but if you're shooting within IT's limits (about 20 feet) then dof is only inches. So yes you'll have a lot of shots where the whole player is not in focus. And of course with such shallow dof, there's little margin for focus error - either on the part of the camera or on the photographer's part. And, again, there was my point about shooting within 20 feet or so. Don't expect to shoot from the baseline to half-court and get a lot of sharp results.
Thanks for straightening me out on my vocabulary terms. You're right, it's DOF I'm thinking about.
This image was pretty close with the 85mm...
If I had focused on the face it would've been much better.
Thanks again for the help.
Betsy
My Photo Blog -->http://dthorpphoto.blogspot.com/
Of all the sports that I miss shooting its softball. And you have some fantastic captures here!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE shots 1 and 5.
And you know what a meanie I can be on photos too :-P
Oh now you are just trying to get me with camera envy.
Althought I think I am going to buy a 300 f/2.8 before the end of the summer before I upgrade my 40D, its either one or the other and I really need the longer glass (that I can use indoors).
You even caught the dust flying in crisp focus!
And I have to agree with Donek about that pitcher, quite intimidating if you ask me.
Goodness, I remember the first time I went to bat for the softball (fastball) and that girl reminds me too much of the pitcher.
The pitcher at our game hit me right in the inside of my right thigh (talk about ouch!) and the next morning I woke up to see a ugly buise where she had hit me.