D300 + 70-200VR + Boston Marathon = ??

net1994

I've had my D300 for about a month now and will be attending the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Would like to get an idea on the best settings to use. Primarily which AF option would work the best and what VR setting to use. I do a lot of head on shots and a few panning shots left to right. I'll try and keep F8 apature the whole time. As for AF, I can't decide which is better 9 or 21 point Dynamic AF? What about 51 point #d tracking? What mode should I have VR on, on the lens?

I have never tried sports photography so this should be good. Any other suggestions?

ziggy53

Practice with automobiles, runners and bicyclists. Run the camera through its paces and find out what works.

Supposedly the D300 gets overwhelmed with too many focus points so I suggest 9 focus points and 1 focus point in AF (S) mode and 9 or 21 points in AF (C) mode.

That camera has very good high-ISO so use it if you must especially if the day is heavily overcast. Experiment with both faster shutter speeds and slow shutter pans.

If you see anyone "breaking away" you might use larger apertures to better isolate the subject.

Crowd shots can be fun, but sparingly done.

Which lens will you be using?

ziggy53

ziggy53 wrote:

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Which lens will you be using?

Doh, I just looked at the title.

VR should be handy in this circumstance. VR "Normal" for panning. VR "Active" for head on and motion stopping.

net1994

ziggy53 wrote:

Doh, I just looked at the title.

VR should be handy in this circumstance. VR "Normal" for panning. VR "Active" for head on and motion stopping.

I'll have the 70-200 VR lens. Pretty sweet.

When you suggest to use larger apertures would f5 and below qualify? I'd love to get some great bokeh with a runner isolated in the picture.

ziggy53

net1994 wrote:

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When you suggest to use larger apertures would f5 and below qualify? I'd love to get some great bokeh with a runner isolated in the picture.

It depends on the distance between you and the subject and the subject and the background. Again, I encourage you to experiment with other subjects you might find around your town.

SavedByZero

ziggy53 wrote:

Supposedly the D300 gets overwhelmed with too many focus points so I suggest 9 focus points and 1 focus point in AF (S) mode and 9 or 21 points in AF (C) mode.

Plus trying to shoot into a crowd of runners is going to yeild as many points of focus as runners in your viewfinder plus you have to watch for runners crossing into your field of view that aren't what your trying to focus on. The smaller of AF fields if not center spot would be my choice, especially near the start of the race.

I've seen the start of the Boston Marathon before and it's like a 15-20min wave of heads bobbing up and down. Good luck.

Joves

Since you will be shooting handheld VR is Full on. Im not sure how well 3d will work in a crowd even when only using 9 points. I pretty much have my D300 in continuos focus because I shoot wild life so, it is the same for sports.