Sporting achievements

Preparing you and your Canon camera for fast AF performance

When photographing fast-moving action and sports, many photographers find they don’t get the results they want. They’ve invested in the gear and expect it to do the job for them. Here’s the problem: you need to understand the sport you are photographing, and how your camera and lens can be configured, for the greatest chance of success.

When you want to photograph a new sport, build up your knowledge of the sport, venue and competitors. Research event information first and check out other photographers’ shots of the same place or event. This means that when you arrive, you know what will happen, who is involved and where the best action spot is.

For most sports, you need to use continuous drive mode and AI Servo focus as a minimum. If your camera has a multitude of focus points and patterns, try to see if you can limit it to only the ones you need for the sport you are covering. I often find that with all AF points active, I have little idea of where in the frame the camera has chosen to focus, so it’s better to select just a single or small group of AF points. There’s unlikely to be time for reading the manual during the action, so spend time learning about your camera before the event.

Check the light and work out how you will expose the scene. With experience, you might choose manual, but if that’s a little too tough, give shutter priority a try. For head-on shots of fast action, you’ll need to choose 1/1000 sec or even more to avoid the competitor simply moving through the point of focus during the exposure. If you are trying to get some movement with a panned picture, start at half of the hand-holding speed for your lens, then start to slow the shutter speed more if needed. The key to most successful photos is picking up the key subject early, and getting the AI Servo focus to track them. Keep your finger on the shutter or back button to keep the focus tracking and predicting the subject’s movement. It helps to make sure that your lens is pre-focused to the right point even before you pick the camera up. This means the AF finds the subject faster and tracks more readily.

Ask Brian! Confused with your Canon DSLR? Email EOSSOS@ futurenet.com Pre-focusing on a small stone on the crest of the jump ensured that focus is almost perfect as the car appears, and it tracks much more effectively

At full speed, head on, you need a very fast shutter speed to freeze the quad’s movement