f/2.8 For Rugby/Sports

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Having got my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens I have now got to learn to use it.

I used it on Saturday for Rugby and some of my photo's came out with foreground players blurred and background players in focus. I know that f2.8 has a short DOF so I think I must have been concentrating on the play and not on where the focus point was (white shirt in the 2 example shots).

My camera was set to AF-C and Dynamic (AF-Area) which uses 11 points to follow the subject. So it could have been that the focus point had moved away from the player I wanted and I didn't notice as I was concentrating on something else.

So the question is 'Where am I going wrong?' and 'Whats the best way to get it right in the future?'

Many thanks for reading and for any comments posted.

1. Referee's In Focus
DSC_0195.jpg


2. Player Furthest Left In Focus
DSC_0196.jpg
 
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Use single point focus and bear in mind that AF needs "contrast" to focus accuratly so if trying to focus on a single coloured shirt with nothing but that single colour then AF might struggle a little bit, also bear in mind the AF on a D5000 isn't nearly as quick and accurate as a D3 series camera

Im at work and my filter blocks photobucket images so i cant see them
 
Two possible solutions.

1. If using single point focus, camera may be locking onto a central figure which is not necessarily the centre of the action. The dof at f2.8 (if thats what you was shooting at) may well make the main player oof. My guess this is the problem as in both shots the ref looks to be sharp and is in the centre of the image. If he is the point your camera has focused on then shallow dof will render those in front and behind oof.
Solution is always lock focus on the main subject and then crop out of camera around the subject to "centre the action".

2. Lens may be back focusing. This is a common problem but should be checked out and can be done easily. I suggest you do this today by taking a few test shots. Try standing by the road side and shoot a couple of cars coming towards you. Lock on the numberplate to test focus.
 
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Sorry, don't know nikons. When you say uses 11 points to follow focus, is this all the focussing points or using one with others assisting?

I love shooting rugby at f2.8 as it really helps pull the subject out. I tend to shoot centre focus point only (as that's where I naturally point the camera) and crop later if required
 
Gary Coyle said:
Use single point focus and bear in mind that AF needs "contrast" to focus accuratly so if trying to focus on a single coloured shirt with nothing but that single colour then AF might struggle a little bit, also bear in mind the AF on a D5000 isn't nearly as quick and accurate as a D3 series camera

Im at work and my filter blocks photobucket images so i cant see them
Click to expand...

Cheers Gary, I was warned off of single point focus as I was told that the camera is slower to focus in this mode, but will give this a try on Sunday as I am togging a friends son's football team.

snapzz said:
Two possible solutions.

1. If using single point focus, camera may be locking onto a central figure which is not necessarily the centre of the action. The dof at f2.8 (if thats what you was shooting at) may well make the main player oof. My guess this is the problem as in both shots the ref looks to be sharp and is in the centre of the image. If he is the point your camera has focused on then shallow dof will render those in front and behind oof.
Solution is always lock focus on the main subject and then crop out of camera around the subject to "centre the action".

2. Lens may be back focusing. This is a common problem but should be checked out and can be done easily. I suggest you do this today by taking a few test shots. Try standing by the road side and shoot a couple of cars coming towards you. Lock on the numberplate to test focus.
Click to expand...

Thanks Graham, not all the photo's came out oof just the odd ones here and there and if I remember rightly, when I looked at the screen I found that my focus point was over to the right side instead of in the centre.


Byker28i said:
Sorry, don't know nikons. When you say uses 11 points to follow focus, is this all the focussing points or using one with others assisting?

I love shooting rugby at f2.8 as it really helps pull the subject out. I tend to shoot centre focus point only (as that's where I naturally point the camera) and crop later if required
Click to expand...

Hi Byker, using one with others assisting. I was using Dynamic and I think Canon call it Matrix, so I have never shot in single point mode, but when focusing I do usually make sure that it is in the middle before aiming and shooting, but a couple of times I don't think I did.
 
Actually looking at the 2 shots on here they dont look too bad, but in Elements at 1:1 they look oof except the ref in one and the guy way over to the right in the other.
 
AFC said:
Cheers Gary, I was warned off of single point focus as I was told that the camera is slower to focus in this mode.
Click to expand...

most sports photographers use single point focus. deffo give it a try next time :)
 
Right, so next time I will set up with Single Focus Point, AF-C and continuous shooting.

At least if it all goes wrong I can blame you lot...:p
 
I asked the other club togger what settings he was using and he said "I use shutter priority with continuous focus mode which sets the aperture automatically"

Do you guys prefer aperture priority over shutter priority?

I was using aperture on Saturday.
 
I use aperture priority when the lighting conditions are changing rapidly, Manual for everything else
 
Manual will probably come eventually....in about 20 yrs time.
 
AFC said:
I asked the other club togger what settings he was using and he said "I use shutter priority with continuous focus mode which sets the aperture automatically"

Do you guys prefer aperture priority over shutter priority?

I was using aperture on Saturday.
Click to expand...

Manual when you can guarantee the light wont change but 95% of the time i shoot Aperture Priority
 
I use Av set at f4 but for night matches manual. NB at this time of year you need to keep an eye on your shutterspeeds once the light starts to fade when using Av.
 
I have used manual settings for other forms of photography, portrait etc but as this is my first venture into sports photography I can imagine me becoming all fingers and thumbs and panicking if I've got the settings right while trying to focus and get the shot....I feel panicky just thinking about it....:LOL:
 
snapzz said:
I use Av set at f4 but for night matches manual. NB at this time of year you need to keep an eye on your shutterspeeds once the light starts to fade when using Av.
Click to expand...

Too true - I was swinging between 1/2000 and 1/200 on Saturday (wide open at iso 400) as the weather shifted and had to ride the iso aggressively to keep above 1/500 (vets rugby so a bit slower than usual!)
 
On Saturday I was using ISO sensitivity and it was set to,
Minimum ISO - 200
Maximum ISO - 3200
Minimum Shutter Speed - 640
so the camera changed to suit.
 
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