sports advise

[kingthomofnaturallight]

I have a rebel 300 d for some sports activities. I know that the buffer is slow, I also know that prefocusing is a must since the af is slow as well.

I have been using a sigma 100-300 lens. I have been using the automatic feature for motion, but I am just not happy with the pix. 90% of the pix I scrap because of blurr, ghosts, and softness on the focus.

What is a tip for me in manuel mode to acheive higher quality pix, prefocusing, but less aberations, and more sharpness.

thanks.

[ktixx]

One suggestion would be to shoot in a higher ISO, and speed up your shutter. A faster shutter will literally freeze your subjects. If you were shooting a soccer match (for example) 1/250 sec shutter will freeze your subject, but the ball will be blurred. You might also want to try a software program such as Noise Ninja. I have heard/read good things about it. Shooting in a higer ISO will most likely cause grain in your photo's, noise ninja will do a good job of getting rid of it. With the software i believe you can even download custom profiles for the 300D (or any other camera for that matter) which will aid in getting rid of noise. I have a 20D and it has something called AI-Servo for focusing constant motion. If you camera has this you might want to read-up on this feature. Good luck
Ken

[gary_hendricks]

The best advice is to switch to a high ISO (say 400 at least), then up the shutter speed. A fast shutter speed will freeze the action, while the high ISO ensures that the camera needs very little light to capture the shot.

The disadvantage is that the picture will be noisy. You can correct that in a photo editor with a noise removal tool.

[D70FAN]

Originally Posted by ktixx

One suggestion would be to shoot in a higher ISO, and speed up your shutter. A faster shutter will literally freeze your subjects. If you were shooting a soccer match (for example) 1/250 sec shutter will freeze your subject, but the ball will be blurred. You might also want to try a software program such as Noise Ninja. I have heard/read good things about it. Shooting in a higer ISO will most likely cause grain in your photo's, noise ninja will do a good job of getting rid of it. With the software i believe you can even download custom profiles for the 300D (or any other camera for that matter) which will aid in getting rid of noise. I have a 20D and it has something called AI-Servo for focusing constant motion. If you camera has this you might want to read-up on this feature. Good luck
Ken

Ken. You have to remember to throw in a pointer to the software you are referencing.

Noise Ninja: http://www.picturecode.com/

[dwig]

Originally Posted by kingthomofnaturallight

I have a rebel 300 d for some sports activities. ...I have been using a sigma 100-300 lens. ...What is a tip for me in manuel mode to acheive higher quality pix, prefocusing, but less aberations, and more sharpness.
...

1. Up the ISO, as everyone has suggested. You may need to post-process to reduce the noise (electronic analog to film "grain") but freezing both the subject's movement and your movement of the long lens is a critical first step.

2. Shoot in Aperture Priority mode or use Manual exposure mode, with either, set the lens to maximum apeture (widest aperture, lowest f/ number). This delivers the fastest possible shutter speed for the given ISO and lighting conditions.

3. Pre-focus on a spot and shoot when the action moves to that spot. You will _NEVER_ be successful follow-focusing fast action, either manually or using AF in a trap-focus mode.

4. "Less aberations", if you are using "aberations" correctly in this context, requires replacing the lens with something better. Stopping down usually reduces the appearance of aberations in a lens, but its not an option for action sports photography. In terms of bang-for-the-buck, a fast fixed focal length lenses will always beat any zoom for long tele work or action sports.

[kingthomofnaturallight]

my next opportunity for a sports pix I will post my end result. I would love to hear a critique then for the obvious reasons so as to hone my skill.