[RioRico]

Even fast AF with a fast lens may not be enough to track fast action. So, a suggestion: don't. Don't try to track the action, that is -- *anticipate* it. My favorite zooms for such purpose are MF: M42 Sears-Tokina 55-135/3.5 (cost me US$8); M42 Vivitar Series 1 70-210/3.5 (v1 Kiron, under US$50 awhile back); PK-A Vivitar Series 1 70-210/2.8-4 (v3 Komine, just US$35 a few weeks ago on the Marketplace here). All fast and cheap and manual.

The 'anticipation' trick can be worked a couple ways. The traditional method is to prefocus at a point where you expect action to occur, and SNAP when it gets there. The modern way uses CIF (catch-in-focus): hold the shutter down and it SNAPs when a subject comes into focus. Set drive to CONTINUOUS and it just keeps SNAPping as long as the subject is there.

Sure, you can spend a lot if you wish. I'm a cheap bastard. I avoid that.

[hoanpham]

Agree with RioRico.
Prefocus trap in manual mode, then shot continuously. Any lens can work.
I have split screen, and almost never use CIF.
For fast moving objects, no AF is fast enough - I haven't used one with good result. Always ended with manual focus.

[eddie1960]

I'm also with Rico and Hoanpham. I shot a lot of sports when i was in school, well before AF. Predict action, prefocus on a zone and machine gun when the play enters frame. Got some stellar shots at the time, but you really need to know the sport well so you can predict play and get a good keeper ratio. Heck this is the way the sports illustrated guys had to do it as well before AF (and in many cases despite af they will still do it )

[Buschmaster]

Do you think my Tamron 70-300 4-5.6 would work if I used it that way? I only tried AF last time we played frisbee. Maybe I'll take the pup outside again today and try only MF.

It's tough when I am also the thrower of the frisbee and then have to snap the camera up.

[lytrytyr]

It's tough when I am also the thrower of the frisbee and then have to snap the camera up.

Like Eddie said, you need to know the sport.

So, here's a challenge for you:
Can you throw the frisbee in such a way
that the dog will catch it at your pre-focused distance?

[Buschmaster]

Like Eddie said, you need to know the sport.

So, here's a challenge for you:
Can you throw the frisbee in such a way
that the dog will catch it at your pre-focused distance?

Oh great, now I have no frisbee talent, limited camera talent and I want great pictures.

[RioRico]

Do you think my Tamron 70-300 4-5.6 would work if I used it that way?

It's a bit slow but it will work. The slowness actually increases DOF, so you're more likely to have shots with the pup in focus.

It's tough when I am also the thrower of the frisbee and then have to snap the camera up.

Multi-tasking, eh? What I would do: Pick your throwing spot, with a landmark visible in front of you -- a tree or whatever. Prefocus on that. Throw the frisbee so the pup will be inclined to leap for it NEAR that landmark, at a similar distance. You should have time to grab the camera and SNAP-SNAP-SNAP at the critical moment.

I recall a classic photo that pioneering photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt shot around 1932, with a 9x12cm press camera (and probably a 120/5.6 lens). Eisie was at a Swiss mountain resort famed for their ice-skating waiters. His solution to shooting a fast subject with a slow camera: prefocus on a chair. When a waiter (in formal attire, balancing a loaded tray with one hand) skated past the chair, Eisie shot.

That's the secret. Don't follow the subject. Wait for the subject go to a prepared location. I think that's a military tactic also.

And it's a trick I use for street-shooting. I'll set myself somewhere and focus my slow MF short-tele on a doorway or parking meter or whatever. Whenever someone reaches that index point, SNAP-SNAP-SNAP..Easy-peasy, eh?

[Buschmaster]

I'll give that a shot. Be prepared for my learning process here in the forum!

[eddie1960]

IT is easier if you aren't playing the sport yourself maybe get someone else to throw the Frisbee for the photography session

[Buschmaster]

That's a good possibility. But I'm the better of the throwers, and if there is a thrower and a photographer, the camera will most likely be in AF.

It's a tricky situation.

[eddie1960]

That's a good possibility. But I'm the better of the throwers, and if there is a thrower and a photographer, the camera will most likely be in AF.

It's a tricky situation.

Well that's a staff training issue, you need to train the thrower before it works

[hoanpham]

Train the dog to throw or to be photographer?

[Buschmaster]

Train the dog to throw or to be photographer?

You might be onto something here...

[RioRico]

I think skeet-shooters use mechanical devices for tossing round targets into the air, eh? Perfect for photographing frisbee-chasing dogs. Then a person whose only friend is their dog can still capture the action.

[Buschmaster]

I think skeet-shooters use mechanical devices for tossing round targets into the air, eh? Perfect for photographing frisbee-chasing dogs. Then a person whose only friend is their dog can still capture the action.

I'm not sure a clay pigeon tosser would work with a frisbee because A: They're a lot lighter and B because they throw them really differently.

I like the outside the box thinking, though!

My girlfriend is getting better at throwing so I think this issue may be resolved, but I really want her to enjoy both the photography and frisbee aspects of it, so an AF lens is still probably my ideal situation... Even if I personally use it in MF mode.