D500 + fast dogs

Scots_quine

Scots_quine

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Joan
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I recently bought a D500 in order to get better shots of whippet racing. These little dogs travel at upwards of 30mph down a straight track. Between 2 and four dogs per race. Track is about 25ft wide and I can stand/lie at the side of it. Currently I'm using AF-C, Dynamic-area AF and shooting at Continuous High, F6.3, 70mm-ish focal length and around 1/4000 on a good day. When I look through the viewfinder I usually try to keep the little square on the same dog as they all run towards me. And try and wait until they fill the viewfinder before starting to shoot.
In all the shots below, I feel they could have been a bit sharper. Has anyone got any pointers/tips for me in order to improve? I haven't tried 3D tracking yet to see if that is any better. (I haven't done any other sports photography so this is a new area to me. I purely shoot for the joy of it.).


Apr 21 2019 (34).jpgJun 09 2019 (15).jpgJun 09 2019 (31).jpg
 
At 6.3, around 15 feet @ 70mm, your depth of field might only be about 3.5 - 4 feet, so you will struggle to get all the dogs sharp in any group photos.

A few other things, that would help to know, would be which lens you are using and the iso range of the images you have shown. Your images, certainly don't look noisy, so I suspect the iso isn't high, but even a moderate increase can sometimes affect sharpness.
 
if you keep the focus point on the eye there is not a lot of contrast to lock focus on
 
To fill in the details - Dynamic area AF - 153 points: 16-80mm 2.8-4.0ED VR lens; XQD card.
1. ISO 1000, f6.3, 80mm, 1/4000s
2. ISO 800, f6.3, 16mm, 1/4000s - taken lying down facing across the track - in that position all the dogs go past me in less than a second! And of course I can't see them coming!
3. ISO 800, f6.3, 65mm, 1/4000s
1+3 were taken in rain. 2 was taken on a drier day.

@holty - no way can I keep or even put the focus point on a dog's eye - they are moving far too fast for me to do that - best I can do is keep the focus point on a dog's head!
@johnnypanic - I think you may have solved part (if not all) of the problem. I did flirt with smaller apertures about a month ago but settled on f6.3 in order to get the shutter speed higher - wasn't sure how much further I could ramp the ISO up? With brighter weather hopefully coming in that should help a bit.
I also stand about half way up the track so the dogs will be a bit more bunched together than at the end of the track. Too close to the traps and I just have a flailing mass of bodies and legs.
 
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I would personally say not to use the 153, I find it a bit hit and miss, if you still have the pics in camera you could lol to see where/what point in choose to focus on ?

And as above 6.3 isn’t going to give a “group shot” and have everything sharp.

But for most sports and BIF I try to use single point, then group, then d25, never had much luck above D25 but I haven’t really tried the rest to much.

ISO wise is hard to say, your acceptable could be very different to mine, I’m relatively happy around 4k pending light and what I’m shooting
 
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One thing you could try is not getting so close to the action and a longer lens. I tend to concentrate on one dog. One of many I have taken .

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Stephen is correct more of a head on shot usually works


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I would choose a dog and try and keep AF 25 on it's head and try and keep the AF points covering the head, which is easier to do with a larger number of AF points. If focus is the main aim, rather than catching the moment with high fps, set the set the focus priority to 'focus' if it isn't already. You will at least have something in focus, maybe at the expense of fps.
 
Thank you all - that gives me a few things to try next time I'm there.
 
I don't see any problem with those photos. There is no focus issue as far as I can see. However you are using 4000th of a second which is giving an ISO of 1000 on a D500 as good as they are that will show and does show noise. Reduce the shutter speed too 1000- 2000 and the ISO will drop makingthe photos look sharper.
 
Going out tomorrow with all the above in mind - fingers crossed. Thank you all for your thoughts and tips.
 
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Had another go this week. Set my camera to Manual, choosing 1/1250s for shutter speed, f6.3, Dynamic AF (25 points), auto ISO. Had varying success but I reckon practise is the key. ISO at all times remained below 500 which was better. It's a challenge I can say that! Here are a few. First one is a puppy so much easier to get as it's not moving so fast!
Jun 30 2019 (6).jpgJun 30 2019 (21).jpgJun 30 2019 (37).jpg
 
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