My new old 300 2.8 non is & my thoughts

bigrob

bigrob

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Robin
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Ok so I've been lusting after a 300 2.8 IS for ages, but never seem to have enough money for a 2nd hand one.

Well I saw a beat up non IS one, so decided I'd go for it.
In the past I've only ever shot sports with a 70-200 (F2.8 and F4).

Phew what a total different kettle of fish.

It arrived this morning & my youngest had a warm up game for the new season this evening - starting at 6:45pm.

So what did I learn?

1) The fold up chair I had that leaned slightly back was a pain in the bum.
Have got a backpack/stool so will try that next.

2) Sitting on the sidelines doesn't work too well as other parents restrict your field of view.
Not sure how I'll get round this as I don't want to be behind the goal line all the time as I want to photograph all the kids.

3) Putting the MkIII in AV doesn't work well as when it started to get darker I was changing the ISO all the time to get a decent shutter speed.
Have read JamesB84's tutorial on settings, so will be going manual next time and also setting the Auto-ISO shift.

4) Photographing black kids when their heads are against a dark backround wasn't so successful.
Will spot metering as suggested by James work here? - Will see next time.

5) All my images were soft - see attached.
Not sure why - any help appreciated.

6) It's 8 months until the end of the season.
Target = much much better images straight out of the camera.

Any advice is most welcome.
 
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I presume I can't attach images as I didn't put this in the sharing section.

Any chance a mod can move this please to Sports sharing section?

Thanks
 
1) Use a stool :)

2) try and come to an agreement with the people in charge so that there is space between you and the crowd, if not tough luck :) or go behind the goals and do a half on each team.

3) Auto ISO on the MKIII is best in TV, the biggest problem with AV on the MKIII is that you can't have a lower limit on the shutter speed. I'm pretty sure the "ISO safety shift" and "set aperture value range" don't work in manual on the MKIII though its a good six months since i got rid of mine.

4) This is what exposure compensation is for :) spot metering in AV/TV will be nasty :puke: Spot metering in Manual is good

5) Soft images, either shutter speed to low, AF settings not right or user error, were you using a monopod?

6) Keep shooting, keep posting hopefully you'll get some good (sometimes blunt) crit and your images will be far better
 
Rovers_Andy said:
I'm pretty sure the "ISO safety shift" and "set aperture value range" don't work in manual on the MKIII
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"I would imagine" it doesnt work on ANY camera Andy... would kinda defeat the whole concept of manual control :)
 
Hi Chaps

Thanks for your help.

Yes I was using a monopod. I will definitely have a go next week on the MA and will post some photos in the Sharing section for some C&C (n.b. harsh is ok as I NEED/WANT to get a lot better).

Kipax - yes I see what you mean about the ISO safety shift being pointless in Manual as that is why you are in manual.
 
KIPAX said:
"I would imagine" it doesnt work on ANY camera Andy... would kinda defeat the whole concept of manual control :)
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Ahhhhh but i can on my Nikon bodies and it acvtually works very nicely in manual :razz::razz::razz::razz:
 
Rovers_Andy said:
Ahhhhh but i can on my Nikon bodies and it acvtually works very nicely in manual :razz::razz::razz::razz:
Click to expand...

So your saying in manual your nikon wont let you set your aperture or iso etc outside certain boundaries set in other functions?
 
so do nikon cameras have any sort of manual control where you can be sat pitchside and set everything yourself however you want it.. ? without going into custom functions?
 
KIPAX said:
so do nikon cameras have any sort of manual control where you can be sat pitchside and set everything yourself however you want it.. ? without going into custom functions?
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of course... and we don't have any of that custom function rubbish with codes and numbers to worry about :) Auto-iso does however work well if you turn it on, though I rarely use it.

iso's one button + scroll wheel to change, ditto white balance, shutter speed and aperture on the two wheels on the hand grip. simples.
 
KIPAX said:
so do nikon cameras have any sort of manual control where you can be sat pitchside and set everything yourself however you want it.. ? without going into custom functions?
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Yes you can shooty fully manual, however, in the menu it is possible to set the ISO limit, the shutter speed is still controlled manually.

For it to work in manual the lower limit is what you set the ISO to before turning on the Auto ISO, simples :)
 
Rovers_Andy said:
Yes you can shooty fully manual, however, in the menu it is possible to set the ISO limit, the shutter speed is still controlled manually.

For it to work in manual the lower limit is what you set the ISO to before turning on the Auto ISO, simples :)
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I like the way canon let you use full manual.. nikon sounds more like a toy..





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Just pulling Nikon legs :)
 
KIPAX said:
so do nikon cameras have any sort of manual control where you can be sat pitchside and set everything yourself however you want it.. ? without going into custom functions?
Click to expand...

My favourite Nikon custom function is CF-NIK01 its set to +1 during the manufacturing process and means when you use the camera it actually works. :D
 
hook line and sinker.. I cant believe it took you so long to jump in this one Gary:)
 
KIPAX said:
hook line and sinker.. I cant believe it took you so long to jump in this one Gary:)
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:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

I was gonna jump in after Tobers reply but didn't, it still really hacks me off that "some" canons just flatly refuse to work and even seem worse once Canon have had their mitts on them.

All hail Rob Galbraith, all hail. :LOL:
 
Guys guys - stop the Nikon - Canon baiting ...:nono:

Can't figure out how to post images, so please follow my link and give me a beating please :D

http://photoshotz.co.uk/p361670784

Link at the bottom to Show All.

Thanks and puts newspaper down my pants.
 
Tobers

Can you explain a bit more your MA tests as I want to get this done ASAP.

It's the bit I've highlighted in Bold that is a bit unclear to me.

Thanks
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"My method for perfecting the micro-adjustment of the lens focus has evolved and is really pretty simple. As most of the things I photograph are moving, I’ve found that doing the fine-tuning on a fixed subject like a test card on a wall doesn’t yield the best results. Instead, I sit in my car with the window open and the camera tethered to my laptop, and take 5-10 shot sequences of cars driving towards me. I’ll obviously have the lens at its widest aperture, the camera on AIServo, and use the centre focus point only.

I start off at zero adjustment, then go +10 and -10. Each time you can see instantly on the laptop the effects of the changes, and you can see the focal plane moving on the ground beneath the car. I’ll then fine tune with smaller adjustment increments until the focus is spot on."
 
I'll have a go.

Shooting tethered to the laptop, when you take the shot it'll pop up a few second later on the screen. Hopefully the car's number plate should be perfectly sharp in which case you dont need to do anything.

If it isn't sharp, do you move the focus forward or backward? If you look at the road in front of the car you should be able to see the area that is sharp. If it's in front of the plane of the number plate, you need to move the focus adjustment back a bit. If it's behind, move it forward a bit.

When I said you'll see the focal plane "moving", what I meant was that as you make your adjustments, you should see the sharp area moving forwards or backwards accordingly when you compare the shots to each other.
 
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Hi Tobers

Thanks for that.

So to confirm, if I had it set at +10 and the focus is in front of the number plate I would say try +5 (i.e. moving it back) and if I had it at -10 I would move it to -5?
 
I didnt get on with the cars thing ... exact same theory but wiht people for me :)
 
Rovers_Andy said:
In a Layby near Accy getting funny looks of passers by :LOL:
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when we tried cars yeagh haha.. funniest thing was people on mobile phones.. didnt realise until i looked at pics when got home.. funny how there on them one minute and not when they see cameras :)
 
bigrob said:
So to confirm, if I had it set at +10 and the focus is in front of the number plate I would say try +5 (i.e. moving it back) and if I had it at -10 I would move it to -5?
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I think it's the other way around but don't take my word for it. Backward is moving the focal plane away from you so is a positive number as the distance is increasing.
 
Did some tests with my son running up and down the pavement.

Got it set at +5

So now need to try it anger during a match.
 
You know with this MA test, does it have to be done on a subject at least 50 x focal length away? For example, 300mm at 15 meters, with 1.4x on it around 21 meters, or can you get reliable results at a shorter distance
 
alexw9 said:
You know with this MA test, does it have to be done on a subject at least 50 x focal length away? For example, 300mm at 15 meters, with 1.4x on it around 21 meters, or can you get reliable results at a shorter distance
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Doesnt have to be any distance... x50 is a reccomendation... However I find the closer the subject the lesser the problem ..so not too close no..
 
I know it could be looked upon as a daft thing to say but it is also recomended to do the MA at a similar distance to that at which you will generally will be shooting.

This for me with the Sigma 120-300 was a difficult thing to do as I was shooting at lots of different distances. But for a fixed prime it should be a little simpler.
 
Ok here we go. MA done. Going manual. Got comfy stool. Sun is shining. Son starting at no.8. Now it would be good if the oposition turned up!!
 
Just tried MA on my 300/2.8 and new-to-me 1DmkIII. 0 was rubbish but then anything from +3 to +10 looked fine. Struggled to find a best setting. Tomorrow I'll have to bribe the kids into running up and down our road to try MA on moving subjects or is it a bad idea to mix MA with potential AF tracking issues?
 
ian I did exactly that after the suggestions here - kids running up and down the pavement.

My 300/2.8 is 18 years old and "well" beaten. My Mk III is within the "affected" range but had been sent for the fix before I got it.

Well what can I say - I still have a helluva lot to learn but I got loads of really sharp images yesterday.
 
bigrob said:
My 300/2.8 is 18 years old and "well" beaten. My Mk III is within the "affected" range but had been sent for the fix before I got it.
Click to expand...

Ditto. My 300 had papped Jordan [insert your own joke here] the morning I bought it and had regularly been dumped in the back of the tog's car along with his dog. Still, it looks pretty sharp, and a lot better than it did on my mkII.

I've just set the custom settings as advised in Canon's AF doc you linked up (cheers for that). Now I'm just hoping my local rugby club get some teams out this weekend.
 
A lot of it is technique, tracking with a monopod takes a bit of getting used to, remember to squeeze the shutter gently and carry on following the action. I used to look for the next shot as I took the picture which caused me to jerk the camera as I took the picture blurring it. Took me a while to realise what I was doing wrong
 
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