40D->7D for soccer- Woohoo!

After my 40D shutter failed during a recent HS soccer game decided to go for a 7D instead of repairing. All I can say is wow! Using my 300 f/2.8 and expanded AF point focus was incredibly accurate. No more sharp fences and blurry faces. Customizing the speed and priorities of the AF helped here. Bonus came during last nights game as sun went down and weak stadium lights lit field- useable shots at ISO 3200, and 6400 were still better than not getting them at all after a little Lightroom work. Gamechanger for me (ISO 800 was best i could accept with 40D), and looking forward to night games now!

Welcome to the club.

For 2 years I've been saying that iso3200 on the 7D was like iso800 on the 40D (when you look at the overall photo). But nobody believed me.

Could it be better? Of course. But it aint half bad, right? Sorry to hear about the demise of your 40D but I think you chose wisely for its replacement.

PS. I am jealous of your 300.

I agree.
I still have my 40D and use it as a back up body but my 7D is my primary and there is a difference in performance and noise.

Stuart Leslie wrote in post #13242693
No more sharp fences and blurry faces.

Had to laugh at that.

Gratz!

Congrats! For sure, you will enjoy the 7D for those fast moving moments.

Definitely will, looking forward to getting out and capturing some BIF as well, should be a big improvement for me.

congrats!!!

Congrats! I just my shot first soccer shoot with a 7D and it was sweet! Just a little front-heavy with the 70-200/2.8 IS... I need to get a grip to fix that. Maybe that wi-fi grip... drool! Show some pics!

Congrats on your new camera, you won't regret it...
Now, it would be great if you could show some pics as Ebann said!

Ok guys, here are some of my soccer shots with my new 7D. All shot wide open with my 300 f/2.8 hand held.

Here are some of the shots from two nights ago (second time shooting with it). Evening soccer game ending in complete dark with 4 lights trying to light the field. All high ISO shots. Wouldn't have bothered with my 40D under these conditions in the past. Shooting the pictures for the team in white.

ISO 1000 1/1600 sec

Stuart Leslie wrote in post #13242693
Customizing the speed and priorities of the AF helped here.

Do you mind sharing what custom setting works for you?

Stuart Leslie wrote in post #13246045
Ok guys, here are some of my soccer shots with my new 7D. All shot wide open with my 300 f/2.8 hand held.

Here are some of the shots from two nights ago (second time shooting with it). Evening soccer game ending in complete dark with 4 lights trying to light the field. All high ISO shots. Wouldn't have bothered with my 40D under these conditions in the past. Shooting the pictures for the team in white.

Good heavens. Nice photos! Would have never known these were shot at night!

Awesome!

kenwood33 wrote in post #13246046
Do you mind sharing what custom setting works for you?

Sure, Shooting in AI Servo mode, manual exposure, AF point expansion (center point for horizontal format, point above this for vertical format- what a cool feature!)

Custom function III-1 AI Servo tracking sensitivity set one step from middle towards Slow (huge help here, allows AF point to wander for a second without locking onto the fence!)

Custom function III-2 AI Servo 1st/2nd image priority set to 3 (seems like what I want but haven't really compared to other settings yet)

Custom function III-3 AI Servo AF tracking method set to 1. Allows me to keep tracking my player even if an opponent crosses in front of them. No more nicely focused opponents with my player blurry (happened a lot with 40D)

That is how I'm set up for now, only shot twice though so will probably keep tuning these as I go to see if I can improve upon. Have to say though I am blown away with how much more satisfying it is to shoot with this camera. It is nice to be able to trash photos for poor composition instead of great composition but OOF.