Autofocus Setting for Baseball/Softball?

ccimages

I've just started - this school year - shooting sports at the high school where I live. I've already shot a full season of football and home games for basketball. I've been shooting baseball/softball this spring and I think I'm getting the hang of what setting to use, but wanted to check with some others out there. Currently I am using either my Canon 30D or my 40D. I started using AI Servo (which I used for football) but have switched to AI Focus. In conjunction with this setting, I am setting the focus points to "all" and, when batters are at the plate, it will invariably lock on the batter. The AI Focus follows the batter when he/she strides and (hopefully) hits the ball. I switch to AI servo when the home team is in the field because I'd never get a shot focused when using the settings I use for the batter's box.

All that said, what settings would you recommend for batter's box shots? fielding shots?

Since this is my first post, I'm including what I consider to be my best shot from this spring. I finally got the timing down and got several "off the bat" shots during the last softball game. This particular shot was a HR. Thanks for looking and any advice you can throw my way.

(Shot info: Av mode, ISO200, f/4, 1/3200 sec, Canon 30D + 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens)

vetkrazy

Unfortunatly your photo did not show up.

As for settings everyone finds what works best for them. That being said, you are shooting action sports and you really need to use AI Servo. My settings are as follows: AI Servo, AV & AWB ( I shot in the desert and it is always bright sun ), CF 4-3 and Center Point Focus. I keep the lens wide open and the ISO high enough to freeze the action.

donek

When I shoot baseball, I turn off the focus on the shutter release and just use back button focus. I also set up to just focus with a center point. This allows me to focus where the action is going to be and then shoot without worrying about locking onto something else. I have tried the all focus points as you are using. It works fairly well as long as nobody gets between you and the action.

vetkrazy

Not bad, but it might be more dramtic to crop it landscape from the waist up. That would eliminate the messy background and pull your focus to her face and the action.

sportsshooter06

i hope you don't mind, we just cropped it

beetle8

Hey look! a shot that definately works better with a horizontal orientation.

ccimages

Thanks for the responses everyone.

@vetkrazy & donek . . . thanks for the info about the back (*) button. I used that during the Cal Ripken league game I shot the other day and it worked great. Took a little time to get the hang of it, but well worth the effort. Makes it much easier to swap from a static subject (batter) to a player fielding a ball that the batter just hit.

@sportshooter06 & beetle8 . . . your crops are almost exactly the one that I submitted our local paper. Our sports editor looks at my shots from the games that we both make it to and will usually ask me to send him one or two of mine to choose from.

@beetle8 . . . It's kinda hard to sell a "sports crop" to parents who generally only work in increments of 4x6 (mostly), 5x7 and 8x10 (very rarely). They get a little confused when it doesn't look like it will fit in a standard frame or an album slot. That's why I only upload the full frame.

Thanks again everyone!