Disappointing baseball shots, 1DmkIII

I just recently got my camera back from Canon for a clean and check and decided to get some shots of my Nephew playing babseball - a first for me as I shoot more action, skate, surf, and jet skiing.

It was a sunny day, fair clouds in and out, I was @ 60 ft away by first base. I was concentrating on still shots - him at home plate swinging the bat, standing on base and also standing in the field. I setup on AV mode, wide open (f/5.6) with my 100-400, AI Servo, and focused on his face. As you can see below in the straight out of the camera shots they are not sharp at all.

What could I have been doing wrong, an incorrent f/n setting or a camera issue ?

Any help is much appreciated.

Without more information - there is no EXIF data in the images - and larger images it is impossible to tell what the problems are.

What was your shutter speed and focal length? I am guessing it's the shutter speed..If you used 400mm you are actually using 520mm. You would need at least 1000 sec. shutter speed to correct camera shake without a tripod.

I agree.. More info please..

I would at least apply sharpening before posting. SOOC is always going to be a bit soft unless you are allowing your camera to apply sharpening.

Gatorboy wrote in post #15749501
I would at least apply sharpening before posting. SOOC is always going to be a bit soft unless you are allowing your camera to apply sharpening.

Agreed

PaulB wrote in post #15749489
Without more information - there is no EXIF data in the images - and larger images it is impossible to tell what the problems are.

How do I get EXIF data to show up ?

First photo:

f/5.6
1/2000
ISO 800
+0.67 EC

Second photo:

f/5.6
1/2500
ISO 800
+0.67 EC

Third photo:

f/5.6
1/1000
ISO 800
+0.67 EC

The numbers look good. If you shoot in jpg try increasing the sharpness in the camera settings.

Using a filter on that lens?

2 cropped at 100% after sharpening in Lightroom:

blueM wrote in post #15749551
Using a filter on that lens?

Nope no filter at all.

Unless I'm doing something wrong / expecting too much in post, if anyone likes I'd gladly email a full res image to see what you can do

The last two examples look good. Are you experienced with the PP?

In the first cropped example, it looks like the focus point hit his helmet and not his face. That would lead to the softness in that a bit. Second looks like the focus point missed also. If you're using that lens and just concentrating on still shots, why not use IS?

elrey2375 wrote in post #15749581
In the first cropped example, it looks like the focus point hit his helmet and not his face. That would lead to the softness in that a bit. Second looks like the focus point missed also. If you're using that lens and just concentrating on still shots, why not use IS?

Good point -I'll give that a try next game.