First try - baseball on manual

I haven't been using a DSLR long. This is my first real try at baseball. I'm not pleased at all. I don't think I got one great shot. I'm not sure how to improve, any tips? Any tips given are very much appreciated. Most all of my photos are out of focus. I can't get a clear shot of a face to save my life.
All were shot with XTi, 70-200mm F/4L.

ISO 200, F/4, 1/1600

OK, first thing, don't panic. This isn't easy, but it's also not rocket science.

Your lens is a little on the short side, but you should be able to get pretty close to the action to make up for it. What AF mode are you using? Which AF point(s) are you using?

The exposure looks pretty good on these, so that's good.

Thank you.
It's good to hear I am on the right track with exposure, I struggled with it and I am finally starting to really understand (though I know I am still not there).

I shot in Manual mode. I used the center focus and I started off in one shot and switched to AI focus. I'm not certain yet of the two, which should I be using?

Do you think I should pick up an extender? If I get a 1.4, how much reach would that give my 70-200, and, would it be ok to shoot at 5.6 (which is what I think it will stop me down to from F/4, is this correct?)

Carol,

Well, one thing you want to do is go from AI Focus to AI Servo. An extender might work, but as long as you can get close to the field, and concentrate on the batters, base runners and infielders, you should be OK. Shooting at f/5.6 is getting a little too far stopped down IMO. Your depths of field will open up too much.

Auto focus for sports is a little tough to master. The only real way to get better is to practice more.

What is the difference between AI focus and AI servo?

I thought the same, thats why I haven't gotten one yet. I started off with the 75-300mm when I first got my camera. I liked the reach but didn't like stopping down so far. I am saving my pennies for a better sports lens, but right now it isn't practical since I only do this for fun.

I can get closer to the action... I was just very lazy today, it was freezing out. I also am not real comfortable to going to the other side of the field for some reason. I guess because my son plays, it doesn't seem right to go to the other side of the field.

caroleigh wrote in post #5220844
What is the difference between AI focus and AI servo?

AI Focus starts out in One Shot mode, and switches to Servo if the camera thinks it detects subject is movement. It's rarely a good idea to have your camera do the thinking, so take charge and put it in AI Servo - that's where you should be for most any sports situation anyway.

I hafta disagree with smwierz here - if you are shooting in bright sunlight (like you were in the photos you posted), then 5.6 is perfectly OK for an F-stop. You are still going to be able to go 400 ISO and 1/2000 or so on the shutter with 5.6, and it is not as if 5.6 is giving you a DOF to infinity - you WILL lose SOME DOF, but I think it's a fair trade for the extra reach (it just won't work well on a cloudy day or anything less than bright sunlight).

Always, ALWAYS use AI SERVO for sports - center focus point is usally best unless you are spot-focusing, then you may want to manually select the focus point that matches up with where the face will be when it gets to that point.

I do agree with dmwierz that the ONLY way to get better at AF for sports is practice - I know how to do it, but it is almost impossible to put into words that make sense - the more you see, the more you learn in shooting sports (at least in my experience).

Keep shooting and good luck - you do seem to be on the right track!

Brad - http://www.ohiovalleyp​hoto.com