Baseball camera set up?

[Strnge]

First off I am using a 1 D MK II. So when you are setting the camera up for baseball, softball, or even t-ball it seems you need to set it up to shoot 200 ISO at sunny day games, 320 ISO later in the day, and even 1600 ISO at night games. Is this to keep the shutter speed upwards towards the 8000 mark? It seems all the good shots are at 2000 and above, which is to stop the motion. Also what focus points are being used when shooting a sport which changes so rapidly? Single center, single top or bottom, single right or left, multiple points center , multiple left or right, multiple top or bottom?

[ErikM]

1/2000s is plenty to stop all motion but you won't always be able to get it up that fast if you are shooting at night. Day games are great :) I generally use center point ai servo.

[dmwierz]

I don't necessarlily agree that 1/2000s it too slow. I worked an NHL game the other night and wasn't able to get faster than 1/1000s and things worked out fine (and IMO, pro hockey is a lot faster than baseball, at least most of the times).

In general, shutter speeds should be 1/1600s or faster, but when you approach 1/5000s and faster, you get freakishly-stopped action, which sort of removes the feeling of motion from shots. See this thread near the end for an example of what happens at 1/8000s: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=481856&page=3

For the most part, when shooting MLB, I keep my shutters around 1/2500s to 1/4000s during day games, and at night, I pray for 1/800s.

Other camera settings include AI Servo; Center Single Point AF; Back button focus C Fn 4-1 (or 4-3); Av when the light is changeable; Manual when light is consistent; +1/3 to +_2/3 EC in Av to pull faces out from under the visors (or +1/3 to 1 stop over exposure in Manual mode, metering off the sunlit grass).

Hope this helps.

Dennis

[Strnge]

I am gong to take some photos of my coworkers at a softball game on tuesday at 10 am here in Califonia and I wanted to get some ideas before I go shoot. I will post photos on tuesday afternoon in this post based on the info recieved.

[Strnge]

Dennis, which focal point are you using?

[ErikM]

He wrote center point :)

[Strnge]

oops:oops:

[Strnge]

Back button focus C Fn 4-1 (or 4-3); +1/3 to +_2/3 EC in Av to pull faces out from under the visors


What is C Fn 4-1, short for? What EC? I am still learning shorthand.

[Cody21]

C Fn 4 is the "function" that sets the Shutter/AE lock "*" on the back of your camera. It should be documented in your manual. This is a VERY nice feature and worth experimenting with -- especially for Sports Photography.