Canon 6D Does Skiing Shots

Thanks for opening my eyes to the 28-135! I didn't even know it was EF, and it produces great shots.
Sometimes unexpected combinations work really well.

mgk2 wrote in post #16602902
Congrats to OP that he made that to work for working around the huge deficit and limitations on the 6D, but seriously this is 2014 for God's sake, not the 80s...)

How sad is it that wanna be hobbyists and "semi" pro photographers **** and complain and trash a mid range camera that has more technology (including AF) than what was available only a short time ago. Huge deficit

I think that people feel really good about themselves by believing what they do is so demanding that Only the best possible Current thing will work for them. At least recognize you dont need half this crap, you just have it because you can. How on earth do you drive to work in anything but a Ferrari, seems like the limitations of your current automobile in comparison would be so astounding that it would be an impossibility

mgk2 wrote in post #16602902
Congrats to OP that he made that to work for working around the huge deficit and limitations on the 6D, but seriously this is 2014 for God's sake, not the 80s....

Sure pre focus should work rather well in OP's situation if you are shooting f5.6 or smaller, try f2.8 or faster and you'd be prepared to throw away huge amount of oof shots....

It's very sad that one still has to pre focus just to get an off center composition.... and I hate Canon for that with a passion

The OPs shots appear to have reasonably sharp backgrounds so I assumed f5.6 or smaller. Didn't check exif tho. I also don't believe one needs to prefocus with a 6D to do these shots with off center AF. I was just offering another option and how we did it in the pre AF days would likely work well in the OP's scenario.

Z0RR0 wrote in post #16602988
Thanks for opening my eyes to the 28-135! I didn't even know it was EF, and it produces great shots.
Sometimes unexpected combinations work really well.

I highly recommend it as a "budget walk-around"... I bought it to use with skiing mostly, because I don't like carrying multiple lenses in my pack and it offers the best range for a reasonably-priced EF lens. I've had it in the past on a crop camera and was never a huge fan, but it definitely exceeded my expectations on my 6D. I'm not a pro or anything, so I don't need to carry around expensive glass in that situation. I wish it were built a little more solidly, but for the price I'm not going to complain.

And to the other question above, I'm pretty sure most of these were shot around f/5.6 or f/7.1.

Bakewell wrote in post #16601548
Right... We sure don't want to give credit to those inferior peripheral AF points! Even though the OP said he was using them! He must be delusional!

The OP said he only used the outer points a few times implying he used center point the majority of the time...which leads me to believe he cropped the images. What would you conclude?

Hogloff wrote in post #16603486
The OP said he only used the outer points a few times implying he used center point the majority of the time...which leads me to believe he cropped the images. What would you conclude?

I conclude the 6D bashers have arrived....at least one of them.

Hogloff wrote in post #16603486
The OP said he only used the outer points a few times implying he used center point the majority of the time...which leads me to believe he cropped the images. What would you conclude?

Here's OP's explanation -

smmokan wrote in post #16601724
All of the AI Servo tracking shots were done with the center point and then I cropped for composition if I thought it worked. About 1/4 of the shots were done using AI Focus and the outer focus points to compose a shot where I waited for the skier to enter the frame (or get to the point where I wanted the image).

So Hogloff is spot on with the comment about selective cropping in post to place subject off-center.

To the people who thinks OP has shown how capable 6D's AF is has sadly mistaken. Contrary OP has shown quite the opposite, and that is how incapable it really is....

Why do you think OP resorted to using pre focus when trying to compose the subject off center? That's right, he has no faith and know very well those outer non crosstype points are unreliable when it comes to tracking.

Most people only post their best shots on forums, don't get fooled by those action shots with 6D and automatically thinks how capable 6D's AF is. Fact is it's worst than the current Rebel line.

mgk2 wrote in post #16603552
Why do you think OP resorted to using pre focus when trying to compose the subject off center? That's right, he has no faith and know very well those outer non crosstype points are unreliable when it comes to tracking.

Sorry, but this is total BS. I pre-focused on the shots I did (such as the one below) only when following the skier wasn't possible... and that was the case only when my friends were jumping off stuff, or there was a roll-over that didn't allow me to see them until the last second. Oh, and you're welcome to look at 15 other shots taken on Saturday if you think I only post my best shots. I actually deleted another 15-20 because they were too similar to the ones I included, and I didn't want to post near-duplicates. 35-40 keepers for shooting over the course of 3-4 runs isn't too bad, I'd say.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.stevemokanp​hotography.com …er-Day-Jan-14/i-6Vx9Vhc/A

smmokan wrote in post #16603611
Sorry, but this is total BS. I pre-focused on the shots I did (such as the one below) only when following the skier wasn't possible... and that was the case only when my friends were jumping off stuff, or there was a roll-over that didn't allow me to see them until the last second.

Thanks for the clarification. That certainly makes sense.

Having said that, the photo you posted above can be easily achieved with say an off center crosstype point with 4 points expansion with a 7D/70D/5D3 etc instead of using techniques from the 80s

So why al servo only with center point might I ask? Why crop and place subject off center in post when you can use outer point al servo to begin with? Personal preference I guess?

those are some great images! the action, the location, the timing, etc!

and taken with such an inferior camera, too funny!

I think a photographer should be defined by the results he gets and not the tools he uses to get them. Some (many?) people here on POTN just can't seem to accept that.
Once again, awesome shots!

gabebalazs wrote in post #16603667
I think a photographer should be defined by the results he gets and not the tools he uses to get them. Some (many?) people here on POTN just can't seem to accept that.
Once again, awesome shots!

Those are great results, no arguments there.

But HOW TO get to those results is one of the many reasons why people come to these forums. That is to learn and discuss techniques on how to achieve certain images, pros and cons of Canon DSLR etc.

great stuff man.

mgk2 wrote in post #16603641
Thanks for the clarification. That certainly makes sense.

Having said that, the photo you posted above can be easily achieved with say an off center crosstype point with 4 points expansion with a 7D/70D/5D3 etc instead of using techniques from the 80s

So why al servo only with center point might I ask? Why crop and place subject off center in post when you can use outer point al servo to begin with? Personal preference I guess?

I'm not sure how you would track the skier in this shot, given he came from out of view and into the frame in a matter of 1/2 a second (just a guess). I shot it as a pre composed image because that's my preference and its how I've always done those, I guess.

I typically used center point focus most of the time with my 60D so it was mostly out of habit. I don't print most ski shots, so if I have to crop a 20+ MP image a little to improve on the composition, that's ok with me. Another factor is that with skiing shots specifically, my friends don't always ski exactly where I want them to go. Sometimes they can't, or just don't. Therefore, I try to come up with a certain comp in my head, but shoot with some room for error knowing that. I find the center point allows me to do that easier.

smmokan wrote in post #16603710
I typically used center point focus most of the time with my 60D so it was mostly out of habit. I don't print most ski shots, so if I have to crop a 20+ MP image a little to improve on the composition, that's ok with me. Another factor is that with skiing shots specifically, my friends don't always ski exactly where I want them to go. Sometimes they can't, or just don't. Therefore, I try to come up with a certain comp in my head, but shoot with some room for error knowing that. I find the center point allows me to do that easier.

All fair point. All comes down to one's expectation, there's certainly no right or wrong answer.

Great job