Shooting Football with a 1D Mark II

[dougthebiker]

I just bought a 1D Mark II for photographing my kids' football games. I'm wondering how most 1D users set the auto-focus points for football. I assumed one of the top center points would be best, but I see there are custom functions to limit the number of selectable AF points to either 7 or 9.


I usually shoot the 70-200 f2.8, sometimes with the 1.4 II extender, usually set at f4.0, from the endzone.


What's best for keeping the ball carrier in focus with a 1D?

[peety3]

I hear a lot of suggestions that basically boil down to these preferences:


Most preferred: center point only


Less preferred: single non-center point


Least preferred: auto select


I think the manuals for the three (2007 vintage) DSLRs that I get to play with all have recommendations to use center point only when using a 70-200/2.8 with 1.4x TC. Therefore, I'd check your manual, as your magic answer might actually be in black and white.

[dougthebiker]

Thanks! You've motivated me to check the manual more closely.


All the best,

[Dallasphotog]

I use a 1D mkII for a lot of high school sports including football. Although, it gets heavy at times and I pull out my XTi to lighten the load. I also use the EF70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USMand the 2X teleconverter. I'll give you my starting point for both day and night.


Night: Tv, 1/200, ISO 1600, center focus point. The images will require post-processing to brighten them and to reduce noise. They will only be"good enough" for the newpaper or small prints.


Day: Av, f/2.8-f/4.0, ISO 200, CPL, center focus point. The images will be good to 16x20 and beyond.


Day2x: Av, f/5.6, ISO400-800, CPL, center focus point.


I usually set the focus on the QB's helmet right before the snap and that gets me close once the action starts. I shoot all my sports on AI servo and just try to keep the center focus point on the numbers. With the XTi, I get 50% or so that are really sharp. With the 1D mkII the percentageof in focus shots is much better, but not perfect. I shoot a lot of frames with either camera and then ruthlessly delete stuffthat isn't tack sharp.

[dougthebiker]

I appreciate all the specifics. That's a big help.


What does "CPL" stand for?

[Sean Setters]

CPL = Circular Polarizing Filter


A CPL allows you to use autofocus, while a Linear Polarizing Filter (LPL) only allows you to focus manually.


At least that's the way I understand it. :-)


Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_filter#Polarizer ("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_filter#Polarizer)


"There are two types of polarizing filters generally available, linear polarizers and circular polarizers (or CPL filters).
With the exception of how they interact with some autofocus and
metering mechanisms, they have exactly the same effect. Both transmit
one of two states of linearly polarized light. The difference is that a circular polarizer alters the light leaving the filter and entering the camera by using a quarter-wave plate
to circularly polarize that light. This has the same effect
photographically as a linear polarizer, reducing glare in the scene.
The metering and auto-focus sensors in certain cameras, including
virtually all auto-focus SLRs, will not work properly with linear polarizers because the <span class="mw-redirect"]beam-splitters
used to split off the light for focusing and metering are
polarization-dependent. Circular polarizers work with all types of
cameras, because mirrors and beam-splitters reflect both circular
polarizations equally."

[dougthebiker]

Thanks. I've got one. Just never thought of using it for football.