Finally getting the 7D dialed in for basketball - GREAT results!

Not sure any of you guys have been following the saga of a few of us who 'don't get' the 7D yet. A guy was kind enough to provide the secret recipe in terms of choosing the correct focus settings for the 7D. The results last night were the best I've seen.

Drove to this game last night in a freakin' BLIZZARD of a snowstorm because it's a new facility. Was able to shoot at 1/800, ISO 2000 at f/2.0. No strobes, but I'll take these results ANY day of my LIFE!!!

1. Loading up for a quick "2."

I am not seeing any problems with your photos.I would lower your ss to 500 and it would give you a little more depth of focus on your lens opening.

These look really nice to me, especially for ambient light. I would be interested in hearing the settings you used to resolve the focusing issues you have experienced.

900spg wrote in post #9554994
These look really nice to me, especially for ambient light. I would be interested in hearing the settings you used to resolve the focusing issues you have experienced.

Thanks! Yep, pretty happy with the results last night. Long story short on the 7D, I'd chosen the centerpoint only focusing option which looks like a single [] in the view screen.

I'd put that [] right on a number or a face, hit focus button (*) and shoot. The camera would snap to focus instantly and on something, but RARELY where the [] was. Very disappointing.

I posted about the focusing issue in the camera section and got the usual litany of 'user-error,' 'send it back,' 'you don't know what you're doing' responses.

Someone was kind enough to recommended using what the 7D calls 'centerpoint expanded' setting which is the [] surrounded by 4 additional active focusing sensors, I guess.

Same principle--put [] on target, focus and shoot. Results were what you see above. The only time I didn't get shots in focus were clearly a result me not getting there quickly enough with the camera. What was killing me was pointing the camera at something that wasn't even moving, hit the focus button and shoot only to come away with OOF shots most of the time.

dave

See this thread: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=822806

mrgooch wrote in post #9554870
I am not seeing any problems with your photos.I would lower your ss to 500 and it would give you a little more depth of focus on your lens opening.

You know, I thought of that late in the game. Could have also raised the ISO even more given the great high ISO capabilities of the 7D, dropped the SS to 1/640 and probably stopped down to at least 2.8 or maybe even 3.2.

It's not every game that you get a high school gym with this nice lighting! Heck, I only know how to act in the dungeon gyms we have around here!

dave

Woodfire wrote in post #9555199
See this thread: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=822806

Ahh, the OP of this thread created that thread to explain his issues to show other people how to fix them?

Nice shots OP, glad you're enjoying the 7D!

Wow, those are some really nice shots. That IS a well-lit gym.

Which of your lenses did you use?

Dave

Those are very nice shots in a very well lit gym. I usually use the center point expaned function as well and have gotten good results. The last two games I tried center point focus, but I haven't had a chance to look through the pics to see the difference.

Again nice shots.

Chris

dringess wrote in post #9557105
Wow, those are some really nice shots. That IS a well-lit gym.

Which of your lenses did you use?

Used the 85mm f/1.8 lens. Also, the gym lighting had these huge, flat-bottomed outward flared metal dishes below the lights that reflected the light upward and off the ceiling. This bounce a great amount of light evenly onto the floor. Quite a lighting concept, I'd say.

And thanks for the kind words on the shots!

dave

ChrisK10 wrote in post #9558327
Dave

Those are very nice shots in a very well lit gym. I usually use the center point expaned function as well and have gotten good results. The last two games I tried center point focus, but I haven't had a chance to look through the pics to see the difference.

Again nice shots.

Chris

Thanks Chris and definitely let me know how your shots using the centerpoint only turned out. When I used that mode, the camera might grab accurate focus, but usually didn't for some reason. Still stumped over that.

However, I am going to try it again now that I've put the lenses back to zero on the microadjust. I was using the centerpoint, one shot to MA the lenses and had them totally out of whack due to the focusing issues.

dave

The Moose wrote in post #9556612
Ahh, the OP of this thread created that thread to explain his issues to show other people how to fix them?

Nice shots OP, glad you're enjoying the 7D!

Correct Moose. Someone helped me so I thought I'd pass the info along to others as well.

And thanks for the kind words on the shots. Nice to actually get some GOOD shots for a change!

dave

Dave

I used center point focus for the last two games and I didn't see a difference in keeper rate. The only thing I would have to get used to is when I was trying to frame two players side by side. I focused on the team I was shooting, but then the photo didn't always come out centered. Oh well live and learn. After all this is all a big journey for me and I'm loving every minute of it.

Chris

These look great. I take it you've used some noise reduction in your PP workflow ?

Olly_K1 wrote in post #9572245
These look great. I take it you've used some noise reduction in your PP workflow ?

Olly:

Absolutely NONE! The high ISO performance on the 7D is incredibly good. No NR on any of the shots! All processing, and minimal, was done in DPP only. Just crop, adjust contrast/brightness and sharpness.

dave