5D II Auto focus system -Fast action-

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]I have the non IS
version of the 70-200mm. IS probably would have been a big help
this day as my panning was very shaky. I was shooting at approx
between 1/500 to 1/800 of a second to get blur in the tires and
background. Anything slower then 500/800 sec and the whole image
would come out soft from extra vertical and unmatched lateral
movement. I used my B&amp;W polarizing filter some of the time to
block out some of the light and reflections which in turn helped me keep the
lower shutter speeds but in respect caused the sky to be uneven.
Could not adjust the filter easily from scene to scene because of the
lens hood. Overall, I was not very prepared this day where I had not
picked up any of my cameras in a month so I had to over come that
rusty feeling that seemed to take a long time.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]I like the pictures of the
motorcycle racing, wish I could see some super sport motorcycle
racing first hand! Vorak can I come and stay with you!?!? There is
nothing cool like this in Arkansas where I wish I could get a gig for
next years Daytona Bike Week. I ride an R6 and really enjoy the
sport. That reminds me I really need a 400mm 2.8 lens for the
motorcycles.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]As far as the camera I
switched back and forth from center point focus to all the points
selected depending on the speed of the vehicles. Cars coming at me
and then passing me high speed I used center point focus, the car
approaching me more slowly all the focus points selected. There where
two different areas where the cars were doing either their high speed
passes and then the return down pit lane. I left the camera in
AI-Servo mode unless I was shooting still objects. I agree that the
7D would have been an easier camera to use this day but since I don't
have one I had to make the 5D2 work which it did a fairly decent job.
My 40D's shutter button is worn out where there's no way I'm going to
spend the money to send it in and have it repaired. I think its got
some major dust in that area as it was never the same after covering
the last AMA outdoor motocross race.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]My original point in this
post was to just express that the 5D2's focus system is not as bad as
people think or are led to believe. Yes there are more appropriate
cameras for this specific type of photography work but its not the
end of the world if you don't have every latest and greatest camera
body. I know there are a lot of folks who don't even own this camera
and write reviews which are misleading for people who want real
information or just want to make informed buying decisions.

Sheiky,


Predictive focus was working like it should for any decent camera as I began
tracking the high speed section of the cars where the start was half a mile away. At that distance the cars and motorcycles were about the size of a speck of dust. The tracking path had me arching from left to right about 140 degrees. This was a pretty big distance to start focus where the
camera had to predict future focus quickly and it accomplished it just fine for a non pro camera body. The challenge was keeping the very fast subject with in the center focus point the entire time. When the car would leave the center
focus point for even a millisecond the focus would go slightly towards
the foreground or background.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freelanceshots

<span style="font-size: small;"]My original point in this
post was to just express that the 5D2's focus system is not as bad as
people think or are led to believe.

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I get it. I chimed in because on occasion I have been one of the critics.

This is not a rule, but in my experience most of the time people blame their camera for bad images it's the photographer's fault. As I said, not a rule (think: 1d3 AF issues, etc), but I see people complaining about their 40ds and 50ds when in fact it is possible to create great images with them (think: Nate!). I know the AF on the 5D2 isn't superb (Why isn't everyone buying the D700?) but as demonstrated, in skilled hands it can work just fine.


brendan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bburns223

(Why isn't everyone buying the D700?)

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Good question. I honestly don't know :)


For me, I had a bunch of canon gear and didn't want to switch. And then what if the next time I want to update my camera, I like the Canon better. Switch back? Anyhow, I think I like canon lenses better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bburns223

in skilled hands it can work just fine.

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There can be no doubt about that.

After busting out the 40D for these car and motorcycle pictures I was just reminded how bad its shutter button had gotten. Well today I decided to do something about it where I tore it done and fixed the action of the button. If I didn't try and fix it I was just going to turn it into a paper weight. The operation was way easier to do then I thought where it worked out like a charm. I'm glad I've got my old trust worthy 40D back as I used to love using it. I went about a year dealing with that crappy shutter button problem where it made me miss countless photos and I thought I'd have to retire it.


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All I can say is.....You da man! [Y][Y][Y]

And I did it without getting shocked by the flash capacitor. The others who tried it said they got shocked and that it was very, very painful. I guess I just got down to business and didn't stick my fingers where they didn't need to be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bburns223

in skilled hands it can work just fine.

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I agree ... even though I'm not so skilled hands :-)


I often considered the 50D as my second camera (after the 5D mkII, but surely because the price at first. The more expensive, the 1st) but after searching a long time for the right lens for me, I began to feel very at home with it. Curiously, and even though I got a few good L lenses, best sport shots were made with a 55-250 (underrated, no pro gear, blah, blah... but make really good shots) !!