Help with auto focus!!!!

PCRader · #1 09-11-2009, 01:04 PM

I'm shooting high school football in WV on Friday nights with very low light and only a Canon 430 ex shoe mount flash with a Quantum QB1 compact battery pack on a Canon EOS 1D w/ 300mm 2.8L lens. I'm having all kinds of trouble with my autofocus I'm not sure it's on the right setting. I have it on the center. Somebody please help with some advice. I usually have to position myself on the sidelines, as there's not enough light in the endzone.

Terry Zorich · #2 09-14-2009, 04:41 PM

Can you provide some more detail about what settings you're using? That would be helpful...

Certainly you should be using the AI Servo focus mode. There is also a custom function in the camera (well, probably, depending on which variant of the 1D you have) which controls the AF sensitivity when something passes between the camera and the subject you're tracking. You may need to experiment with different settings there.

If you are using an original EOS 1D, and/or an older version of the 300/2.8, it's possible your gear simply isn't capable of tracking focus in your available lighting conditions. Upgrading to a newer body and/or lens might produce better results. Hopefully that's not the case, as it would cost thousands to do so.

DougAxford · #3 09-16-2009, 06:38 PM

I was shooting night football last week and even with my 50D at max ISO and 70-200 2.8, I was forced to drop my shutter speed well below what I wanted to use to get anything printable. The lights in many HS football stadiums quite simply stink. Shooting action near the end zones was brutal and I restricted myself to areas where the light was barely usable. Focus was very noticeably worse - just not enough light for the fast action of the game.

BTW - ditch your flash. If you do get a good shot of a player running right at you and you zap a shot close-up, they will be temporarily blinded at night. I would not want a mad football player in front of me.

It's best to shoot mid-day games until you've got more experience.

Terry Zorich · #4 09-17-2009, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougAxford

BTW - ditch your flash. If you do get a good shot of a player running right at you and you zap a shot close-up, they will be temporarily blinded at night. I would not want a mad football player in front of me.

Yeah...I respectfully disagree.
I'd suggest using your flash(es).
Otherwise, you'll have to use those unacceptably slow shutter speeds Doug was alluding to...

If you DO have a player running right at you, hopefully he's not looking right at the camera. (If he is cheesing instead of playing the game, I suppose he deserves whatever he gets...) You always have the option to NOT shoot. Since I generally shot night games with a 400/2.8, I didn't really have a problem with players being so close as to be blinded.

With my old Canon system, I actually rigged up TWO flashes on a tall flash bracket. These were both set up as slaves and triggered using an ST-E2 wireless transmitter on the hotshoe. To my amazement, both flashes always fired; I was surprised this worked outdoors, but I wasn't complaining.