chances of in-focus picture with 5d2/70-200 2.8 IS II subject running towards me?

Can anyone give me specifics on exactly how to set up my camera and any other details on the best way for me to get an in-focus shot with my 5d2 and 70-200 2.8 IS II @ f2.8?

I'm in AI Servo using back button focus and as you might expect the focus is consistently behind my subject. Is there really any remedy for that or is the 5d2 focusing just too slow to handle what i'm trying to do?

If you get a good angle right in front it might help lock on that focus.

OP, How fast is your runner and what is the distance to the subject? Canon has this all figured out already. They provide a table of values of either lens/camera with a range of speeds the camera can predict autofocus. I can't remember where I saw that chart right now though. (it might be in the owners manual)

The runner in my example is my dog trotting towards me from about 30ft away.

I was able to get dogs running full speed at me with a 5Dc and 70-200L non-IS. The new 70-200L is super fast so my guess is that there may be some CFs you may need to tinker with as I had to make CF adjustments on my 1D MIII to get it to focus just right. I would not think the 5D2 would be slower that the classic. Just a thought.

I just shot a snowboard competition with my 5DMII with snowboarders coming off a jump, pretty much straight at me. I've really never had an issue with the camera's autofocus keeping up with people or animals. Make sure you're using a single focus point along with AI servo, and you really shouldn't have any issues. I guess worse case you could stop down the lens a bit to get more DoF, but that really shouldn't be necessary.

tnis0612 wrote in post #14150163
The runner in my example is my dog trotting towards me from about 30ft away.

What breed and color is he?

Dave

he's a golden retriever...who is...golden

Hmmm... so much for that idea. Nice dog though

Dave

Is your AF set to the center point? Are you keeping it on the dogs head? If focus point gets off the subject, even for a split second, the lens will refocus on what it is set on. Also the AF needs contrast. Even a golden is a solid color and may give the AF a hard time.

center focus - AI sevo seems to work well


TNIS; was your focus only set for "center" focus?

that could be it

yes, I use center point, back button autofocus and AI servo...i'll give it a shot again and see what kind of results I get. Thanks for the help everyone.

If it's your own dog, making sure he has a contrasting collar on can help, though your center of focus will be the collar so you need to have enough depth of field to compensate.

Good luck!
Dave