VR for Sports?? (Page 3): How true about the teeny little buffer! Even with the fastest cards, unless shooting small jpg the D7100’s is very limited for burst shooting! :sm24: :sm24:...

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Thomas902 wrote:

Sparky54 your real challenge isn't VR... it is the... (show quote)

How true about the teeny little buffer!

Even with the fastest cards, unless shooting small jpg the D7100’s is very limited for burst shooting!

tomcat

I have noticed that when I am shooting in low light with my D3s, the 70-200 lens on VRII does indeed slow down the shooting speed. However, I will keep VR on for sharpness because I shoot at a marginal shutter speed of 1/500 to 1/1,000 to keep ISO down. Since I'm not shooting for Sports Illustrated, I don't worry about the frames per second and maybe missing the focus at the start of a burst. I start my burst shots in anticipation of the actual movements of the subject because at my age, I am getting more mentally challenged. I find that when I think I have a good shot coming, it's already happened. So I just starting shooting early and often. So I do keep VR on.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

tomcat wrote:

I have noticed that when I am shooting in low ligh... (show quote)

If you keep your finger on the button the camera may not refocus on the second or third shot so you will have all shots out of focus. The camera focuses when you are holding the button down half way and if set to AFC it will follow focus and refocus if you release the button to half way and then shoot again. Sometimes you may need to refocus during a shot that is moving away from you. Yes keep the VR on especially if you wan't to reduce vibrations from handholding and such. A monopod helps too.

tomcat

drklrd wrote:

If you keep your finger on the button the camera may not refocus on the second or third shot so you will have all shots out of focus. The camera focuses when you are holding the button down half way and if set to AFC it will follow focus and refocus if you release the button to half way and then shoot again. Sometimes you may need to refocus during a shot that is moving away from you. Yes keep the VR on especially if you wan't to reduce vibrations from handholding and such. A monopod helps too.

Focus accuracy is dead on because I use the BBF method for acquiring focus. The only ones that aren't in focus is when I react slowly and miss the girls when they are spinning on the bars and it's operator error. I do use AF-C and 9-points to keep the targeting focus points very tight. I don't want the potential points wandering away from my subject, especially during a gymnastics routine indoors where I'm shooting a very very shallow DOF. Every time when I am out of focus, I can usually find something on the wall or another person somewhere that has perfect focus, :) If my vision was good enough that I could manually focus, then I'd not use AF since the subjects are always within a very short performance path. For one event, I'm going to attempt to use the green light to let me know I'm in focus and shoot manually from there. I could easily do this if the lighting were better so that I could shoot 5.6 or 8, but a lot of times I have to stay at 2.8-4.0 range.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Sparky54 wrote:

Hello to all, Looking for opinions on Vibration Reduction . I have a chance to buy a Sigma 70-200 2.8 lens without VR at a fairly good price. How would this work for sports , soccer ect. on a Nikon D 7100?? Do I really need the VR? Thank you for any and all recommendations.

Your shutter speed will need to be high for fast action sports so VR is pointless if that's all it will be used for. OTOH you may want to use it for other things as well and VR will expand its capability.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

drklrd wrote:

If you keep your finger on the button the camera may not refocus on the second or third shot so you will have all shots out of focus. The camera focuses when you are holding the button down half way and if set to AFC it will follow focus and refocus if you release the button to half way and then shoot again. Sometimes you may need to refocus during a shot that is moving away from you. Yes keep the VR on especially if you wan't to reduce vibrations from handholding and such. A monopod helps too.

On a Nikon in Continuous Focus mode, focusing starts when the shutter button is pressed half way down and CONTINUES to (adjust) focus until the button is released. Any VR system is going to slow down focus acquisition speed and is not needed at 1/1000 under most conditions. Essentially, VR allows one to shoot at much slower speeds while retaining good focus in the image. Best of luck.

tomcat

cjc2 wrote:

On a Nikon in Continuous Focus mode, focusing starts when the shutter button is pressed half way down and CONTINUES to (adjust) focus until the button is released. Any VR system is going to slow down focus acquisition speed and is not needed at 1/1000 under most conditions. Essentially, VR allows one to shoot at much slower speeds while retaining good focus in the image. Best of luck.

You know, I remember that from earlier comments and I should be able to remember it. But old habits do die hard, especially with us "seasoned" photographers (aka old). I'm going to try this on my granddaughter's next gym performance and see if it will help me acquire focus faster. I really don't have a problem with OOF images due to camera equipment. When I target her, the images are as sharp as can be for the low light. My OOF is due to me not being fast enough to physically track her movements, so I stay on C(H) and let the machine gun go and eventually I catch back up to her position. The D3s and the 70-200mm combo are working splendidly, as designed. There is no cure for lack of tracking unless someone invents a lens with a swivel that can actually follow the action---like that Studebaker car from many years ago that had the swivel headlights linked to the steering wheel.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

tomcat wrote:

Focus accuracy is dead on because I use the BBF me... (show quote)

I never tried the BBF method. Probably because it required me to reset a button to do that and that meant one more button to use before I pulled the trigger. I have read about it and just know in My D7200's I will reset the focus by repressing the shutter occasionally until I feel the lock on occurs with focus in AF-C. I usually have more than 9 focus points. As for light I can usually get an f8 and with the Sigma 100 to 400mm the bottom is f5.6. When the stadium lights finally come fully on f8 usually works with either ISO 12800 to ISO 25600

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

drklrd wrote:

I never tried the BBF method. Probably because it ... (show quote)

FYI...When I shoot sports, I normally use the widest aperture available on the lens. If you don't do this, you should give it a try. Naturally with this method your focus needs to be spot on. Best of luck.

tomcat

drklrd wrote:

I never tried the BBF method. Probably because it ... (show quote)

BBF took a little getting used to, but now I don't give it a second thought. Because as long as you hold down the BBF with AF-C, the camera will continue to track focus whether you are shooting or not. If you use shutter release for focusing, then as soon as you release the button, focusing stops and you have to re-initiate. Just try it a couple of times and see if you like it. At first, I wasn't so sure, but now am sold on it. So I'll start pressing the BBF even before I get my eye to the viewfinder, in anticipation of the action that's about to happen.

tomcat

drklrd wrote:

I never tried the BBF method. Probably because it ... (show quote)

If you can get f/8 on stadium lights at ISO 12800-25600, then you must have some really powerful lights there. I am jealous because my 20000 ISO seems like I'm in the bedroom with a 40-watt bulb. I would kill for that lighting in our gym.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

cjc2 wrote:

On a Nikon in Continuous Focus mode, focusing starts when the shutter button is pressed half way down and CONTINUES to (adjust) focus until the button is released. Any VR system is going to slow down focus acquisition speed and is not needed at 1/1000 under most conditions. Essentially, VR allows one to shoot at much slower speeds while retaining good focus in the image. Best of luck.

thank you for actually what I was trying to say with exception to the 1/1000 sec. you mentioned. I shoot usually lower than the speed especially when the stadium lights come on initially. My Sigma 100 to 400 usually works much faster auto focus than my Nikon 100 to 300.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

drklrd wrote:

thank you for actually what I was trying to say with exception to the 1/1000 sec. you mentioned. I shoot usually lower than the speed especially when the stadium lights come on initially. My Sigma 100 to 400 usually works much faster auto focus than my Nikon 100 to 300.

sorry meant to say Nikon 55 to 300mm

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

tomcat wrote:

If you can get f/8 on stadium lights at ISO 12800-25600, then you must have some really powerful lights there. I am jealous because my 20000 ISO seems like I'm in the bedroom with a 40-watt bulb. I would kill for that lighting in our gym.

I do get it in the better high school stadiums. The stadiums with real grass are usually the stadiums with a low light level. If I find I need extra I will also use the plus 1 stop exposure correction button. It is usually set for during bright sun for a -1/3 atop to keep the white uniforms from blowing out. But I change it to 0 for normal shots and then use it to add 1 stop for difficult low light shots. My D7200, when you go past the ISO 25600 it goes to B&W only mode but if I add 1 stop exposure correction it stays in color mode at 25600 ISO. I have pushed it as far as it will go once and it still stayed color at 25600 ISO. A little noisy but I got the shots no one else got that night in a dark stadium. That exposure comp button is the one with the +/- on it.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

tomcat wrote:

BBF took a little getting used to, but now I don't... (show quote)

You are talking about assigning the AEL AFL button to BBF? I am thinking. On my D7200 it is the button closest to the shutter button top but on the camera back. Or are you assigning BBF to another easier to reach button?