Basketball 1DMK2 AF setup question.

[mmahoney]

Just wondering what everybody is using for their 1DMK2 basketball setup, in particular:

AFPS versus MFPS
AF point expansion .. yes or no
AI servo track sensitivity

I'm guessing manually selected center AF point, no AF point expansion, and standard or slow track sensitivity are the way to go? But it's new to me so just making sure I'm not missing something.

[DDCSD]

I'm guessing manually selected center AF point, no AF point expansion, and standard or slow track sensitivity are the way to go? But it's new to me so just making sure I'm not missing something.


That's what I do. I use slow for the sensitivity.

EDIT: I actually manually select an AF point above the center point so that can get the whole player dribbling the ball in the shot without having to crop the shot too much.

[NickJushchyshyn]

That's what I do. I use slow for the sensitivity.

EDIT: I actually manually select an AF point above the center point so that can get the whole player dribbling the ball in the shot without having to crop the shot too much.
+1
Shooting in portrait orientation, I like to keep select a point above center and keep that trained on the face of my target.

[primoz]

I have no idea what you meant with AFPS vs. MFPS. And for other two questions... No point expansion, and slow tracking sensitivity. Oh yeah... and any other but center af point ;)

[mmahoney]

Thanks for the replies .. the body is new to me and won't see any real action until this weekend. So in the meantime I'm having to sort the settings out by having my 19yo son run towards me outside in pretty good light.

Using manually selected center point, slow sensitivity, no expansion and keeping focus on his chest with him wearing a low contrast jacket I'm averaging 75% perfect focus. Not bad, and that should improve when I have a higher contrast target like a players numbers on the jersey.

But when switching to an off center AF point and using his face as my focus point my keepers drop to about 25% in focus. Pretty bad and really just what I expected. Yet a couple of replies so far suggest using a non-center AF point which gives me pretty terrible results .. what am I missing here?

[NickJushchyshyn]

The main thing for me is that, during game action, there can often be a lot more focusing obstructions between the camera and player below the shoulders. Things like the player holding the ball in front of his chest, other players reaching in, etc.

There are some obstructions around the face, too ... but if there is an obstruction, it's not a photo I want to snap anyway, but if I can see and focus on the player's face that typically has a better chance of being a good shot than if the camera focuses on the ball out in front of the player leaving the face somewhere behind the DOF.

[RonnieA]

I often re-read the Mark II manual to get a refresher of all the camera's capabilities. If you haven't downloaded the manual, I suggest you grab the .pdf from Canon's website.

The Mark II has 45 AF points. Only 9 are cross-type (vertical + horizontal sensitive). They are 3 times more sensitive than the other AF points which are horizontal sensitive only, and run top to bottom from the center AF point in landscape orientation. When in portrait orientation - which is normal for basketball - none of the cross-type AF points are above or below the center AF point (they are to the right and left).

With the Mark II, you can also register a AF point to a button, so you can quickly switch back and forth between center point and the registered AF point.

[mestes]

thanks this confirms what I thought would be good to use before actually trying yet. Just got my 1D MkII N today no game until Friday.

What do most use the 11 point or 9 point setting or is the 45 point better? Not really understanding what the benefit of having less points is?

[DDCSD]

thanks this confirms what I thought would be good to use before actually trying yet. Just got my 1D MkII N today no game until Friday.

What do most use the 11 point or 9 point setting or is the 45 point better? Not really understanding what the benefit of having less points is?

I leave all 45 active. Having less active will allow you to cycle through the points faster, but doesn't allow you to pick exactly the point that you want to use.

[mestes]

Ok that what I thought, I usually just choose the center point and keep it there not sure why I would want to change is on the fly with sports as long as I use center point to track always.