Men's Baseball - First Time Using Back Button (*) Autofocus

Here are some shots from our men's league last night. Just mainly batters and pitchers, but this was the first time I tried using the * button on the back of the camera for AF (CFn IV on my 40D.). This is recommended by many as a preferred way of shooting sports.

I did like the ability to pre-focus on a point and then be able to recompose without the focus picking up on something else. One question I have though relates to the AI Servo tracking. If for example, I bang the button once to pre-focus on batter and then shoot a sequence of him swinging then running, will the servo keep him in focus as he moves? Or do I need to ensure that I am continuously holding/pressing the * button during the sequence to ensure that the servo is tracking him and keeping him in focus?

Anyway here are the shots. EXIF is there. C&C appreciated. Full series at http://www.cjscons.com​/ghbaseball/jul2/
Chris

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Chris - good timing on these. A couple look a bit soft and the whites appear a little blown out on my monitor.

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No, the AI Servo only tracks if you hold the button down. When I shoot batters, during their warm-up swing, I'll pre-focus on the front shoulder, and then release the * button and concentrate on timing the swing with both eyes open. Virtually all the movement of a batter (with the possible exceptions of his hands and the bat - to get these you'll need to stop down to open up the depth of field) is within the depth of field and parallel to your plane of focus.

Once the swing has happened, though, you need to re-acquire the subject by pressing down the * button and tracking the batter out of the box.

The same can be done with pitchers shot from the first or third base location. Since almost all of their motion is parallel to the plane of focus, and within the depth of field, you can pre-focus on their face/chest, and then work to time your shots and keep them in frame (with a 400 this is sometimes a challenge with "big kids").

Dennis already explained it pretty well.

Basically using that custom function and being in AI Servo mode, you get the benefits of one shot mode as well as AI servo mode without actually switching from one mode to the other. You just focus with * button and release it. You can re-compose and shoot like you are in one shot mode. But if you keep * button pressed, camera will keep trying to focus like in AI servo mode.

oh and btw, does anyone else think the batter in the last photo looks a bit like a skinny Jose Canseco?

Sweet shots.

Nice shots, but a couple look soft and almost have a "glow". Strange, especially if you're using the 70-200 2.8. What PP did you do?

Great shots! And, welcome to the * button club! It'll drive you nuts for about 1/2 hour then you'll wonder how you lived without it! Nice captures all around.

Manut:

Slight tweaks in Lightroom to the sliders for Exposure, Blacks and a bit of NR...maybe too much? As Dennis noted I may have tweaked exposure too much as some of whites are blown on pants.

cstewart wrote in post #5843278
Manut:

Slight tweaks in Lightroom to the sliders for Exposure, Blacks and a bit of NR...maybe too much? As Dennis noted I may have tweaked exposure too much as some of whites are blown on pants.

Yeah, maybe a bit too much NR. Do you have the originals SOOC perchance?

SOOC = ??
(still a newbie with some acronyms)

ah ha just got it...straight out of camera!!

Manut:
Here is a comparison of the last image from above with one SOOC. The SOOC shot has only been cropped to same size and had the default sharpening applied in LR. No tweaks on anything else and all NR set to zero.

1. SOOC Image

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sorry i just got a Canon Rebel XTI and really dont know what u guys mean by focusing with the * button? where is this button located and how is it used? i havent been able to find any information on focusing with this... i use the shutter pressed down half way... can some one tell me me information?

derckis:
On your camera (I think) the * button is the inside button of the two buttons on the top right of the back of your camera...the ones commonly used to zoom in and out of images when previewing them on the LCD. There is (at least on the 40D and up) a Custom Function of the camera (C FN IV) that can move the auto focus off of the shutter button and put it in control of the * button. Thus when you push the * button with your thumb you start the autofocus and the shutter only controls exposure.

HERE IS A HUGE THREAD THAT TALKS ABOUT IT MORE

so how do i go about setting up these custom functions... wow i never knew any of this??