First College football game with the 7D

[10megapixel]

I'm starting to like this camera the more I use it. If you can set the AF properly and keep on your target, this camera produces some great results. This was my son's first college game, and my first time shooting one...a great day indeed. C&C welcome and appreciated !



My Son here in this one ...


And this one ...













Entire gallery HERE

[bobbyz]

Nice ones.

[PryorKnowledge]

Does your son play for Franklin or Anderson? I played baseball at Bluffton. Nice to see some fellow HCAC'rs out there!

[Klepper]

Great looking pics!

[arctic-char]

Nice shots. This is the clarity and pop I'm after. Hope to get there one day.

[snyderman]

REally nice work! Agree, I love shooting live sports with the 7D. Wouldn't trade if for anything right now.

dave

[10megapixel]

Originally Posted by PryorKnowledge

Does your son play for Franklin or Anderson? I played baseball at Bluffton. Nice to see some fellow HCAC'rs out there!

He plays for Franklin

Thanks for the kind comments everyone!

[bobbyz]

Guys, I have been thinking of trading in my 5d for 7d. That gives me a better high ISO body for sports (I have 1dmk2). What do you think AF wise, will I be happy with 7d when using 300mm f2.8?

[Andy Z]

Love my 7D with a 300 2.8. Bad field lighting here. I resized and converted to sRGB, otherwise SOOC.
1/1000, f2.8, ISO 12,800 on my 7D, 300mm 2.8
EHS v Cedar Pk 2010-09-03 555.jpg

[10megapixel]

Originally Posted by bobbyz

Guys, I have been thinking of trading in my 5d for 7d. That gives me a better high ISO body for sports (I have 1dmk2). What do you think AF wise, will I be happy with 7d when using 300mm f2.8?

The high ISO capability was the #1 reason why I've replaced my 1D2N with the 7D. I can shoot at 3200 now and no noise reduction is required, at least I don't think so, the files look great IMO...

7D -1/500th- ISO 3200


One thing that REALLY bothers me though is the loss in FPS when it gets dark due to the new metering system, this is very frustrating and unfortunately something that can't be adjusted (At least to my knowledge). When the light is good the FPS blast at near 8 with no problem, but when the sun goes down and the stadium lights come on it fluctuates and feels like I'm getting 3-5 It's just something I'll have to get use to and I know probably not that big of a deal, I will admit that I came to the 7D already quite spoiled with the sweet speedy shutter of the 1D2N. I just wonder when I get into a crappy lit gymnasium for basketball how slow is the 7D going to be

At this moment I would still have to say the AF system of the 1D2 felt a bit faster to focus and easier to track objects with, but I have only had the 7D for a few days, so it could just be a matter of getting familiar with settings and the camera in general. It's definitely no slouch in the AF department, faster than any XXD I owned for sure.


The things I'm definitely enjoying with the 7D over my 1D2N are:

1. The size and weight-my arms are thankful for the lighter body.
2. Brighter Screen - What can I say, I'm a chimper
3. High ISO quality kicks butt
4. I can crop A LOT more with the 18mp, and I'm doing this alot more than I thought I would...and loving it.
5. The shutter is quiet, and this could come in handy for other areas of photography.
6. Video- I didn't think I would ever use it, and I've already shot a good hours worth of my family. The quality is amazing.

[hckydad]

Awesome stuff!! I will be giving my 7D a go at football this Friday afternoon, and if I end up with these results - I will be very happy to say the least. Would you mind sharing your setting? I noticed your exif is not attached. Did you make any CF adjustments, or is everything set to factory defaults? Also - I'm assuming you used your 70-200 listed in your "gear list"..? They look as sharp as a 300 2.8 to me.

I also love the high ISO capabilities... here's one from a soccer game shot last Friday night at 6400 with no noise reduction beyond the camera's factory settings. I shoot a lot of hockey, and I'm really looking forward to giving it a good test this season.

EXIF attached..


Thanks

[10megapixel]

Originally Posted by hckydad

Awesome stuff!! I will be giving my 7D a go at football this Friday afternoon, and if I end up with these results - I will be very happy to say the least. Would you mind sharing your setting? I noticed your exif is not attached. Did you make any CF adjustments, or is everything set to factory defaults? Also - I'm assuming you used your 70-200 listed in your "gear list"..? They look as sharp as a 300 2.8 to me.

I also love the high ISO capabilities... here's one from a soccer game shot last Friday night at 6400 with no noise reduction beyond the camera's factory settings. I shoot a lot of hockey, and I'm really looking forward to giving it a good test this season.

EXIF attached..


Thanks

If you try to shoot sports with the factory defaults your probably not going to be happy with the results . I can't remember exactly but I think it (AF) was set from the factory at auto-select with face recognition turned on or something, I almost immediately found the manual-select single AF and parked it in the center...anyway, the point is that you will need to tweak it for action. When it first came out, I think a lot of folks tried to take the 7D straight out of the box and shoot sports or moving objects only to end up cursing the camera or starting a "There's something wrong with my 7D's autofocus" thread. I have never been a fan of just pointing the camera in the general direction of what you intend to photograph and letting it "Best guess" what you want, and I think that's kinda how it's set up from the box. The AF definitely takes a little tweaking if you want the best results, but it's worth the effort as I found out Monday night


Yes, I used the 70-200 2.8 (I'm proud to say that my copy is nice and sharp ). I shoot jpeg 99% of the time when I shoot sports, and just set up my own picture style setting with the sharpness turned almost all the way up, contrast at +1, and saturation at 0. The AF is set at center point, AI servo, High speed.

C.FnIII settings:
#1 AI Servo Tracking sensitivity set at "Slow"
#2 AI Servo 1st/2nd Img priority set at 0
#3 AI servo tracking method set at 1

Someone recommended that I enable AF point expansion around the center point to help track subjects but I personally didn't find it very helpful, in fact, it just caused me more missed shots. I'm a single active focal point kinda shooter, and it's usually the center.

[hckydad]

Thank you...! and wish me luck ...

[10megapixel]

Originally Posted by hckydad

Thank you...! and wish me luck ...

Good luck!

[Andy Z]

Here are some settings to consider:

Picture Style - Standard (but sharpness upped to 4)

C.Fn III: Autofocus Drive
1 - AI Servo tracking Sensitivity: Set to -1
2 - AI Servo 1st/2nd img priority - Set to 0 - AF priority/Tracking Priority
3 - AI Servo Tracking Method - Set to 0 - Main Focus point priority (that way the camera focuses on what you want, not what it wants)
4 - Lens Drive when AF impossible - Set to 0
5 - AF Microadjustment - Set to 0
6 - AF area select mode - Been shooting mostly on single point w/expansion for sports.
7 - AF Manual pt. selection pattern - Set to 1 (Continuous)
8 - VF display illumination - set to 1 (Enable)
9 - Display all AF points - Set to 0
10 - Focus Display in AI Servo/MF - Set to 0
11 - AF-assist beam firing - set to 2 (Enable to external flash only)
12 - Orientation linked AF point - Set to 0
13 - Mirror lockup - Set to 0 (Disable)

C.FN IV: Operations/Others

Shutter button is set to Meter only

I tried AF expansion but went back to single point. That and Manual settings and I had more keepers this week than last.