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philduncan

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Hi I am a very basic learner and seem ok with the normal lens 18:55 for my Canon EOS 500D but I am trying to get some decent shots using my new 55-250 zoom. Some seem ok as I am taking shots of my son playing football ie action and movement. I have the camera set to sports mode. I am not expecting perfect shots but 95% are blurred. I am obviously doing something wrong. Appreciate any tips thanking you.
 
Posting some examples with details would enable analysis, but most likely causes are too slow a shutter speed or not focused. Firstly I would forget about one of the programmed modes and take control of your camera. I'd start with Tv or shutter priority. A high shutter speed is required to freeze the action so be looking at 1/500 at least, preferably faster. Now sorting the exposure, light at this time of year isn't particulalrly bright even on a sunny day so you will need to increase the ISO probably around 800. Hopefully with these settings you should get an aperture setting of around f5.6, but with the camera set to shutter priority it will sort out that for you, it may flash a warning if there is insufficient light to cope, in which case increase the ISO or reduce the shutter speed to get more light in.

So you now have settings to freeze the action, focusing is the next challenge. Set the camera to Servo focus so that it will continually adjust the focus at your selected focus point ( I'm assuming you have this set to the centre one). Pick up the action and press to focus probably a half press, continue like this untill the moment then press completely to take the shot.

Many people prefer to seperate the act of focusing away from the shutter button to use what is called back button focus, have a look in your manual, this way it seperates the act of shoooting and exposure setting from focusing. You can keep the back button pressed and then activate the shutter when the moment for the shot occurs.

I hope that helps get you on your way, but ask again if you need help.
 
You are trying to photograph something in winter in dull light is that correct.

Photos please.
 
Thank you to both of you for taking the trouble to reply so much appreciated I will try to get to grips with arty man s advice and will post a few example pics if this helps
 
philduncan said:
Hi how do I show you some pics ? What's servo focus sorry for being dumb thank you
Click to expand...

Put them on photobucket, then left click the bottom link and past here

pb-1.jpg
 
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Thanks again I live in Brighton will try the photo bucket later to show you my total lack of knowledge
 
Don't use sport mode, it's useless.

Use AV mode with the lens wide open and set the iso around 400 and away you go. It'll give you the fastest available shutter speed for the selected iso.

If it's not fast enough, up the to 800 or for overcast / dull days even 1600 if need be.

Use SERVO AI focus, not one shot.

And - this is very important. Use only a single focus point and track with that single point. I'd suggest the centre one to start with. Otherwise the camera will try to lock focus to the background / foreground .

In essence;

*AV mode, set the lens wide open (lowest value).
*AI SERVO focus mode.
*ISO at least 400
*Centre focus point.

That should get you going with a much better keeper rate!
 
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Hi Phil. First off the advice and settings etc Ken gave you seem spot on to me so I won't give them again. I would definitely add an extra recommendation to the suggestion of trying out back button focusing/seperating the AF from the shutter release button.

The lens you're using is the ef-s 55-250 IS i assume? If so i've also got this lens and in all honesty the AF isn't that fast (not on my 1000D anyway) even using just the central AF point and AI Servo focusing. I suspect that might be the cause of some, if not all of your problems. In my experience blurred photos are basically down to either incorrect focus or too slow shutter speed to cope with either the subject's movement or camera shake. And also the ef-s 55-250 seems to a little soft at the 250 end and wide open to me anyway.

If it helps you out there's some photos of my rugby team taken using my 1000D and the ef-s 55-250 here, feel free to have a look ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saintsman_07/sets/72157627625199431/
 
Oh, if you want help on how you set up back button focusing if you google it or look on youtube there's no doubt guides on how to do it.

On my 1000D it's an option in the "Custom Functions" menu but it might be elsewhere on the 500D.
 
odd jim said:
Don't use sport mode, it's useless.

Use AV mode with the lens wide open and set the iso around 400 and away you go. It'll give you the fastest available shutter speed for the selected iso.

If it's not fast enough, up the to 800 or for overcast / dull days even 1600 if need be.

Use SERVO AI focus, not one shot.

And - this is very important. Use only a single focus point and track with that single point. I'd suggest the centre one to start with. Otherwise the camera will try to lock focus to the background / foreground .

In essence;

*AV mode, set the lens wide open (lowest value).
*AI SERVO focus mode.
*ISO at least 400
*Centre focus point.

That should get you going with a much better keeper rate!
Click to expand...

This is good advice, however I would also put the camera in continuous shooting mode. This will enable you to take multiple shots without a pause.

Ensure that you have a shutter speed of at least 1/500 and you should get some good shots that are not blurry.
 
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philduncan said:
Hi I am a very basic learner and seem ok with the normal lens 18:55 for my Canon EOS 500D but I am trying to get some decent shots using my new 55-250 zoom. Some seem ok as I am taking shots of my son playing football ie action and movement. I have the camera set to sports mode. I am not expecting perfect shots but 95% are blurred. I am obviously doing something wrong. Appreciate any tips thanking you.
Click to expand...

Hi

Following on from the good advice in the posts above, Sports mode is an automatic program (Basic program Canon call them) and the camera sets everything up, wth you not being able to alter much (if anything).

With regards to the blurred shots,

It could be your panning technique, which if you are not smooth, following the action and continuing to follow the action after you press the shutter, this can cause some blurred photos. Practice, practice, practice will help with this.

As the Camera is set to an automatic programme, I seem to remember the camera also chooses all the AF points - so whichever point grabs a focus, this is what it tracks and will be in focus when you take the shot - which may not be the person you're after.

Do you have IS switched on, this can help with some camera shake - the 55-250IS is an automatic IS which detects movement.

Use the settings suggested in the previous posts as a starting, and go from there. It is a learning game and the beauty of the digital technology, you can try and try again, with no extra cost involved (films, developing etc).

Enjoy your camera and have a good Christmas and New Year
 
Barks great pics all very helpful can't wait to start shooting again when lad starts playing footie again
 
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