Question: IS for sports

Went to a company baseball game last night. Had my 70-200 f4 IS with me. Had my camera set to AI-Servo and Av (f/4). Adjusted ISO through out the game to get a fast enough shutter speed. Possibly need a faster lens for next time, but I digress.

I lost a lot of shots when I took my finger off the shutter between play. IS motor stopped. When I started shooting again I got blurry shots.

My questions: Should I keep the shutter half pressed from the beginning to end of the inning? Will it drain my battery so much that I may have to switch during the game?

i dont have IS, but there shouldnt be any reason why youd permanently need to keep your finger on the shutter..

just sounds like mis-focusing to me.

When you start the IS running, you need to give it a couple of seconds to stabilize before pressing the shutter to take the shot. It's all in the manual for the lens.

Try a monopod for one thing. Yes, keeping the button held down will wear out the bty a bit sooner and the lens as well - I might not advise it. Myself, I have learned to anticipate the action. Many here would tell you that you do not need IS for sports. Posting a couple of the shots that didn't work might also help here.

Night game and f4 lens and then using IS.

You need f2.8 glass and keep IS off.

Thanks for the quick responses.

neil_g wrote in post #5251381
i dont have IS, but there shouldnt be any reason why youd permanently need to keep your finger on the shutter..

just sounds like mis-focusing to me.

... and there was quite a bit of that too ...

bsmotril wrote in post #5251399
When you start the IS running, you need to give it a couple of seconds to stabilize before pressing the shutter to take the shot. It's all in the manual for the lens.

... and that's where the problem started ...

gasrocks wrote in post #5251470
Try a monopod for one thing. Yes, keeping the button held down will wear out the bty a bit sooner and the lens as well - I might not advise it. Myself, I have learned to anticipate the action. Many here would tell you that you do not need IS for sports. Posting a couple of the shots that didn't work might also help here.

... anticipating the action is definitely where I messed up. I've never played baseball as a child and don't know the rules either. There were a blur of people going in and out of the field. I was lost.

I decided to use IS thinking I may be able to pan some of the shots if I can't get proper shutter speed.

I accidentally deleted all the blurry shots from the CF card last night. (I thought I was doing it in the computer.) But here are a couple that worked.

bobbyz wrote in post #5251673
Night game and f4 lens and then using IS.

You need f2.8 glass and keep IS off.

I plan on using my 85 at the next game.

a couple more...

I think the shots are great. May need a level adjustment, but great shots.

Agreed. Those shots are fine. Nothing that IS would have helped. If you wanted to "freeze" the bat as well, you would have needed faster shutter, but I like the bat being in motion. Those shots are great.

Thanks. These were the better shots though. Like I said I accidentally deleted the bad ones.

Rubberhead wrote in post #5253036
I think the shots are great. May need a level adjustment, but great shots.

I'll have to play with levels tonight.

TaDa wrote in post #5253187
Agreed. Those shots are fine. Nothing that IS would have helped. If you wanted to "freeze" the bat as well, you would have needed faster shutter, but I like the bat being in motion. Those shots are great.

Faster shutter speeds would have been difficult with that lens. IS was simply circumstantial as that is the longest lens I have. I'll have to try the 85 at the next game.

i guess if this is the kind of photography you want to stick with, the 70-200mm 2.8 would work better than the F/4 IS.

I like your shots though. Great scenery too, seems like there are some woods in the back.

85mm for baseball?

Wish exif was present in the posted shots. They look under-exposed to me.

tonyage wrote in post #5253338
i guess if this is the kind of photography you want to stick with, the 70-200mm 2.8 would work better than the F/4 IS.

I like your shots though. Great scenery too, seems like there are some woods in the back.

Thanks. This was just for fun though . I don't think I'm ready to get into sports yet.

bobbyz wrote in post #5253460
85mm for baseball?

Wish exif was present in the posted shots. They look under-exposed to me.

I know it'll be rather short. I wish I had a 135.

Exif got zapped when I rotated them in windows. They do look a little dull to me too, I assumed it was because of the fading daylight.

Edit: I just changed the Brightness/Contrast.