300D Sports mode limitations

[Sherpa]

I used my 300D to photograph some motorsport yesterday and I tried to use the 'sports' mode and I think I now understand the limitations. I used the 300D with a 70-200 f4 L and 1.4x extender.

In sports mode the AI Servo worked fine but it was using 1/1600 s at f8 which froze the cars and didn't allow much scope for panning. I switched to Tv mode and set a shutter speed of 1/200 and the results were better but now I lost the AI Servo so probably 75% of my pictures are badly focussed.

I guess most of this is down to practice and technique but I am a bit miffed at the limitations of the non-hacked camera for this sort of sport. Have I got this right?

[tommykjensen]

Yes You correct, that is one of the limitations in 300D but that does not mean You can't get good results. As You said Yourself it takes practice.

But most will say that the 1D MK II is the perfect camera for motorsports but the new 20D is also a good choice.

[cmM]

yes, pretty much.

But, AI servo won't help you much when you're panning. Practice is the key.

I never hacked my rebel, and i never used the sports mode. I just used manual mode or AV, center focus point and keep my trigger finger in shape. I got some pretty decent results like that shooting sports.