Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Hard to do while doing fast action sports.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Mightymouse,

Before you try it out on the 'real thing', practice on something in the distance during normal daylight to get a feel for the task.

Michael G

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Very good idea I will try it out! Thanks again Michael

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I concur, great answer. ;)

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Most new L canon have actually 3 modes and the third only actuates the IS as the photo is taken thus removing completely any possibility of focus drag. Though I have never experienced IS slowing my speed of focus in any way on my camera.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Mighty, canon lenses have the most sophisticated IS of all lenses, including being fully tripod sensing, so it doesn't matter if or when it's on. The only disadvantage if to save battery life, which for me has never been a problem.
Just leave it on all the time. If you need it, it's on. If not it doesn't cause any harm. There are only 4 Canon IS lenses that might be affected and it's not likey you'll ever come across one of those old lenses. Good luck ;-)
SS

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Hey Sharpshooter thank you for the tip! As it turns out I never think to turn the IS off until I am home! : ).

Dun1 Loc: Atlanta, GA

Most sports action shots should be shot at no less than 1/500, in some cases if you want to stop the action and capture certain shots, the ball leaving the hands of the quarter back, the ball as it is caught by a receiver, may require 1/1000 of a second. Where you are shooting form along the sideline and the distance from your camera and lens will affect you speed and ability to get action shots. At 1/500 or IS should not be a factor because of the high shutter speed.
Generally you camera should be set the spot focus setting
Set you control to the AV setting (you control the shutter speed by increasing your ISO until your ISO is high enough to get a shutter speed (1/500 and above)
The first shot was taken from behind a chain link fence so distance is an advantage, The second shot the player is in center field approx 352 feet
Set you camera to shoot in the A1 servo mode vs single shot.
Set your 70-200 lens on 2.8 lens opening this will allow you to get the most light of the scene and use higher shutter speeds. The idea is to get the player in focus and have the background as blurred as possible, the smaller the lens opening the more blurred the background should be, as you adjust you lens opening away from F 2.8 to say F 16 you background will be less blurred,
Here are the complete list of custom functions settings that will help you obtain better sports shots


C.Fn III: Autofocus Drive
1 - AI Servo tracking Sensitivity: Set to -1
2 - AI Servo 1st/2nd img priority - Set to 0 - AF priority/Tracking Priority
3 - AI Servo Tracking Method - Set to 0 - Main Focus point priority (that way the camera focuses on what you want, not what it wants)
4 - Lens Drive when AF impossible - Set to 0
5 - AF Microadjustment - Set to 0 (Most people have said this is ineffective. Even the manual says it needs to be done on location where you are shooting to do any good.)
6 - AF area select mode - I have single point w/expansion selected and single point. Been shooting mostly on single point w/expansion for sports.
7 - AF Manual pt. selection pattern - Set to 1 (Continuous)
8 - VF display illumination - set to 1 (Enable)
9 - Display all AF points - Set to 0
10 - Focus Display in AI Servo/MF - Set to 0
11 - AF-assist beam firing - set to 2 (Enable to external flash only)
12 - Orientation linked AF point - Set to 0
13 - Mirror lockup - Set to 0 (Disable)

Most or the majority of outdoor venues are poorly lighted, the time of the day matters, if you shoot day games or afternoon games vs night games, the darker it becomes means that you will have to increase your ISO to keep your shutter speed above 1/500. You should look at your shots and get an idea about the distance of the action vs where you are shooting. Shots taken from one side line to the other might be difficult to get the best results, you lose the ability to isolate the players from the background

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Peter from NH Loc: Dublin NH

I shoot a lot of high school sports. Soccer is amazingly quick. You need a really high shutter speed to maximize your good pictures. Experiment with taking your shutter speed over 1/1000th of a second (I wouldn't think of shooting soccer at less than 1/500th unless I am trying to introduce blur into the ball). At that speed the players are uniformly crisp and the ball generally is too. You also have to accept that with the amount of players weaving in and out, that your autofocus is going to focus on the wrong thing from time to time. In order to minimize that, you have to be willing to use your legs to get good shooting lanes.

And no matter what lens you use, you have to be willing to crop and crop in post. I typically crop down so that the there is a foot(head size) of space above the head of the subject player/action and a foot of space below the players feet (assuming that everything made it into the shot).

Finally, shoot a lot. I shoot around 500 shots a game (I use a 7D MII so you can shoot a lot in a hurry). Probably 2/3 are technically usable (in focus, in frame, no refs in the way etc.) and about 10-15% are special enough that I want other people to see them.

Dun1 Loc: Atlanta, GA

Yes Peter with very few exceptions who the photos are cropped in post production will determine how much better we can get make a good shot into a great shot
If possible I always try to frame my shots or crop my shots so body members,legs arms are not cut off.
Yes, soccer is such a fast sport to shoot, seldom doe the action stop vs football where you have time between plays to move and get in position for the next shots

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Good general advise except I'd go for 1/800 to 1/1000 depending on light.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

It depends on the shutter speed you are using and the lighting conditions but 99% of the time you should turn it on for any hand holding of your camera/lens. Really fast flying birds in good light is about the only time I turn it off when hand holding because IS adds a slight lag to focusing and when shooting fast flying birds I need the focus to be as fast as possible.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Since you are shooting action, using live view is rather problematic. Too much time is involved. With your lens, you should be shooting at 1/500 at the slowest for action shots, preferably 1/1000. Push your ISO if you need, for better exposure. If you are still having problems with focus, you may also want to go to f4 or smaller. 2.8 might not give you enough depth of field to catch the subject of your shot.

Mightymouse Loc: Long Island NY

Thank you again everyone this will take me a little time to digest! lol. Have one more question that maybe I should ask separately. Bryan Peterson says you should be able to get satisfactory shots with no PP which I am terrible at. I probably make my photos worse! Any truth to being able to do this?

Peter from NH Loc: Dublin NH

A lot of professional sports photographers just shoot their images in JPG. They shoot so many that they don't want to deal with a lot of post. They only crop them. So yes.

I don't because the lighting conditions where I am shooting can be very different at one end of a field from the other. So I want the flexibility that RAW gives me to deal with shadows and bright spots. More work, but for me better results.