One shot or AIServo?

canonnoob wrote in post #9275277
well sports mode is not a good mode to be in.. I have yet to see a good photo taken in sports mode.. lol

not saying it cant be done.. I just havent seen it..

What is good for you, is not good for everyone. Sometimes I am taking a picture of my daughter, trying to get her to "pose" in the yard, and my other daughter may do something worth taking a picture of. It's much easier to flip the dial to sports mode and take a "bad" picture than to open up the aperture, boost the shutter speed, crank up the ISO, change to high speed burst mode, and switch to AI servo. By then the shot is gone.

It may not be a "good" picture, but I was glad the mode was there. I don't think I've ever used any of the other modes, but the Sports mode I've surely used more than once, even if it's not "correct."

apersson850 wrote in post #9270782
The other reason is that One Shot AF is more accurate, especially in low light. This is due to the camera giving the AF sensor twice the time to measure the current focus position, compared to in Servo AF.

is that stated by Canon somewhere?

sandpiper wrote in post #9275328
But sports mode is just another 'let the camera decide' mode, like AI focus.

You will find that you can get better results inputting the settings you want, for the affect you wish to achieve, rather than using the 'one size fits all' settings that the camera will pick.

Sports mode is fine, while you find your feet with the camera and learn what settings change what. Once you know what you are doing though, you are much better off making your own decisions.

High end cameras don't have such modes, because it is assumed that they will be bought by photographers with enough experience to use them without relying on auto modes as a crutch.

I'm not criticizing you for using it, if you are happy with the results then that is all well and good. However, for example, I would expect that sports mode (I've never used it, so I am assuming here) piles on a fast shutter speed to freeze the action, which may be too fast and leave the image looking too static. Often a slower speed is better and gives some nice background blur as you pan, which gives a much greater sense of action.

No doubt, if I know I am going to be shooting action, I will try to choose my settings carefully. If I don't know, and something is happening quickly, it goes into sports mode.

tkbslc wrote in post #9275665
9/10 sports mode is going to pick the "correct" settings - as in the settings you would have picked. Flipping to sports is easier than changing my shutter speed, ISO, Focus mode, continuous shot and AF point selection all seperately. So when I am cool with JPEGs, I'll use the scene mode.

As for the comment "I've never seen a good shot taken in sports mode", how would you know? Who advertises what mode they used to take the shot? I can't even really remember or I would post one.

Cobblers ( in my experience anyway) and I don't know a single sports photographer worth his salt that uses sports mode.

I shoot mainly motorsport, and the very last thing I want is the camera choosing my settings for me, and I certainly don't want the fastest shutter that I can get.

When doing any kind of shooting I want full control of the camera.

neil_r wrote in post #9275291
I bet you have not seen a grown woman naked either, that does not mean they do not exist

he might have caught a glimpse of mom .... ya never know .

ed rader

Simon Harrison wrote in post #9277720
Cobblers ( in my experience anyway) and I don't know a single sports photographer worth his salt that uses sports mode.

I shoot mainly motorsport, and the very last thing I want is the camera choosing my settings for me, and I certainly don't want the fastest shutter that I can get.

When doing any kind of shooting I want full control of the camera.

OBviously it is not for every shot, but if I want to quickly enable a fast shutter speed, continuous burst and AI Servo, it is the fastest way. Obviouisly if I wanted to maintain 1/100 for panning motorbikes.

tkbslc wrote in post #9275665
9/10 sports mode is going to pick the "correct" settings - as in the settings you would have picked.

I can absolutely guarantee you it wouldn't pick the same settings as i would.

narlus wrote in post #9275715
is that stated by Canon somewhere?

Yes. Unfortunately, I don't remember if it was Chuck Westfall or in some white paper or where, but it comes from Canon.

I make my own "sports mode" on my cameras, storing the settings I like for sports, they way I shoot it, under C1 and C2 (I have two different sports mode settings, depending upon the environment). My 7D doesn't even have any pre-programmed sports mode, and the one on the 40D is utterly useless, as you can't change neither the focusing points used nor the exposure compensation.

Thanks to this forum, I have been using the back button focus (*) and I like it. Normally I always use One-shot AF because most of my subjects don't move. Today I tried AI Servo AF with the back button and it works wonderfully for me. One press of the * and it is like One-shot, but I can hold down the * and it is AI Servo. The best of both worlds.This forum is great.
...Terry

One shot for everything. Center point 99.98534% of the time.


Sports mode. hahaha. Hilarious.

ALL DSLRs should be locked in M mode for the first 5k shots. Learn or sell the camera.

I have a few point to add here:

1. For still subject One shot is the best. This is a fact. That is why this setting is still available in all new camera. If they found something better they would have dropped this AF mode.
2. AI Servo is the best when your subject is moving and you are tracking. One shot cannot fulfill this just because when the camera AF locked on the focus would be shifted prior to shutter open because of subject movement.
3. AI Focus is to compensate both style of shooting. Some still object and some moving object. Frankly speaking from experience it only produce good focus 95% of the time. meaning out of 100 pictures maybe 5 will be out of focus.. still not bad I guess.
4. But if Every shot count and you need to flip through the setting between One shot and AI Servo, here is a good news. I am using 7D and guess what you can actually reprogram DOF button to toggle between One Shot and AI Servo... so neat. Who need a DOF button anyway... wink-wink-wink.
5. One last point, I found out that when shooting using AI servo, It is best to shoot in burst mode. At least one or two picture out of 10 will be super sharp. If you watch sport event on TV with high profile players and when he was about to do something spectacular, you will hear a burst of camera shutters covering the moment from he the time he was about to do it till he had finished doing it (what ever he was doing)..

Hope this help...

mlav wrote in post #9280954
ALL DSLRs should be locked in M mode for the first 5k shots. Learn or sell the camera.

LOL why stop there, all people buying DSLRs must have at least 10 years experience with film, and before you are allowed to buy any photo editing software you must prove your competence in the darkroom.

(that would certainly significantly reduce some of the questions posted on here)

On the other hand lets just "Leben und leben lassen."

neil_r wrote in post #9282559
LOL why stop there, all people buying DSLRs must have at least 10 years experience with film, and before you are allowed to buy any photo editing software you must prove your competence in the darkroom.

(that would certainly significantly reduce some of the questions posted on here)

On the other hand lets just "Leben und leben lassen."

I dunno about that Leben stuff (sounds suspicious to me) but when I was a kid my family went to Mount Lassen, a dormant volcano in Northern California, a number of times...can I play?

Most of the time I leave it on AI Focus (using * button). If I am shooting sports I'll switch to AI Servo just to make sure I stay in "action" mode.