IS or Not ? Just took photos of my sons Jr. High soccer game. Got mostly decent action shots made a few errors trying to shoot quickly. ? Is should I have my IS on or off hand holing...

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Just took photos of my sons Jr. High soccer game. Got mostly decent action shots made a few errors trying to shoot quickly. ? Is should I have my IS on or off hand holing for action shots? I am using a Canon 60d with a 70-200 2,8 II. Trying to get better shots. My other problem is I do not take the critical shot because I am cheering ! Would not make it at Sports Illustrated! : )

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

IS lessens camera motion, but it won't help with subject motion. You will have to use a high enough shutter speed to stop that, and IS would be extraneous.

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Hey John so shooting manual up speed and adjust accordingly?

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Thank you for your help!

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

I've improved my birds in flight and other action shots by having IS on if I'm not zoomed in too far, otherwise it actually slows down the autofocus for continuous action. If I am zoomed in, hand held or on a monopod for relatively stationary subjects, IS has definitely gotten me more sharper shots. Experiment and see for yourself. You may have more than one IS setting on your lens, read the manual and make sure you are using the appropriate one. I know some Canon lenses have an IS setting designed for when you are on a tripod as well as settings for more unstable conditions. Good luck.

roicead Loc: delaware

your shutter speed should be 1/focal length or faster to eliminate camera shake.

there isn't any quick and easy equation that i know of to tell you what shutter speed to use to stop subject motion. it all depends on how close you are to the subject, how fast they're moving and in what direction. with a school soccer game i'd start at 1/200 sec and then adjust to a faster shutter speed if necessary.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Mightymouse wrote:

Just took photos of my sons Jr. High soccer game. Got mostly decent action shots made a few errors trying to shoot quickly. ? Is should I have my IS on or off hand holing for action shots? I am using a Canon 60d with a 70-200 2,8 II. Trying to get better shots. My other problem is I do not take the critical shot because I am cheering ! Would not make it at Sports Illustrated! : )

I keep IS on. But that is my preference and I seem to get a better percentage of useable shots. Like you I have a tendency to be cheering at the time I should be taking photos.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Mightymouse wrote:

Just took photos of my sons Jr. High soccer game. Got mostly decent action shots made a few errors trying to shoot quickly. ? Is should I have my IS on or off hand holing for action shots? I am using a Canon 60d with a 70-200 2,8 II. Trying to get better shots. My other problem is I do not take the critical shot because I am cheering ! Would not make it at Sports Illustrated! : )

Mightymouse,

All Zoom Lenses have one common problem, they loose image quality at their extreme focal length ends. Keep your focal length in the mid part of it's focal range, then crop in PP to isolate the action figures.

Turn off IS, it will be useless at 200 - 300mm, and may cause more problems that it solves. IS is for camera movement, not subject movement.

To freeze subject movement you need a fairly fast shutter. Consider taking the reciprocal of the adjusted focal length of your lens (200mm = 1/200sec). At a minimum double the dividend to set your Shutter Speed (1/200 = 400sec. and for good measure one stop faster). Set the Aperture to capture good DOF on the primary subject, and the ISO to allow for all of the above.

Michael G

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Thank you all for your help! Will take your suggestions and practice. Also have problem with wrong subject being in focus when shooting action in a group with players being closer but not in the action. I am back button focusing which helps but still often get wrong players in focus

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Mightymouse wrote:

Thank you all for your help! Will take your suggestions and practice. Also have problem with wrong subject being in focus when shooting action in a group with players being closer but not in the action. I am back button focusing which helps but still often get wrong players in focus

Mightymouse,

Is your camera's Auto Focus set to "Center Spot"?

If not try using Center Spot focus and locking the focus with shutter button. This way, once focus is locked on a subject, you can follow the action, compose the frame all in one action and press the shutter all the way down at the best possible moment.

Michael G

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Thank you Michael I had my focus points set on Auto ! My Bad!

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Would that be why I would have to manually focus after auto focusing to try and get my subject?

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Mightymouse wrote:

Would that be why I would have to manually focus after auto focusing to try and get my subject?

Mightymouse,

That would be one reason, another is using a zoom lens at the extreme end of its focal length. The zoom lenses are calibrated for the center of their range, and the farther you move off center the more you move away from the calibration point.

If you have the option with any lens where you need sharp focus on a distant object, ignore the optical viewfinder for critical focus. Use your center point auto-focus to get into the ballpark on your prime subject, then turn off auto-focus, turn on Live View so your subject is well centered in view. Using the LV control buttons magnify the image 5x, check focus and center the object in the center of view. Magnify to 10x and view the object for sharp focus, tweak the lens focusing ring to make the object pin sharp in focus.

Michael G

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Wow that might be a little out of my skill set but worth a try! Thanks Michael I will try that.

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

And yes a lot of my shots were at the far end of my range