[dadipentak]

Slow the shutter down. Would be nice to see some blur in some of the pictures!

Really? I shoot at 1/800 or higher specifically to eliminate blur so that goes against the grain to my mind. It might be neat to have the ball leave a trail as it heads toward the goal (or wherever it's going;~) though.

[monochrome]

Slow the shutter down. Would be nice to see some blur in some of the pictures!

Interesting - when I shot my son with a K10D playing Lacrosse (that's how I got started with this whole PF thing in the first place) I always struggled to get the right combination of fast enough shutter (1/1000) and small enough aperture for full-body in focus and the defender in focus (DoF distance). The freeze-shot of the goalie just about to block the bounce shot is what I strove for.

Really? I shoot at 1/800 or higher specifically to eliminate blur so that goes against the grain to my mind. It might be neat to have the ball leave a trail as it heads toward the goal (or wherever it's going;~) though.

I got plenty of those shots. Unfortunately everything else in the frame also had a motion trail.

I recall one action shot from my High School yearbook where the shooter caught the center's snap and the motion of the offensive line firing out to block - while the defense was still stationary. That was actually a really neat image and a good story about a 'State Champion' line. Shot fall 1973 from a stepladder on the sidelines, probably with an FT and 135mm IIRC who took the shot.

[crewl1]

Folks our own Ron Hendriks needs our help to be able to keep shooting soccer matches.
Please see this thread and take action.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/261384-would-you...e-vote-me.html

[johnmflores]

Playing around with the K-3's FPS. Not bad, but my Nikon V1 @60FPS would have provided more steps. Then again, it would have more DOF.

Attached Images

   

[dosdan]

my Nikon V1 @60FPS would have provided more steps. Then again, it would have more DOF.

The K-01 will do 60fps @ HD res (1280x720). Since my main interest in using high fps is for analysis of long jumps, and for javelin & rotational discus throws, the resolution isn't that important., so I don't need Full HD.

What I really want is a way to single-step or slow-mo through the frames, without having to transfer to a laptop first, so I can do analysis in-the-field (with a hood) more easily.

I know that Casio has a good range of very high fps cameras, but I wonder how flexible and user-friendly they are in playback mode?

Dan.

[Ray Pulley]

First of all, a disclaimer:

I do not shoot much action or sports and am not real good at it. It is fun, however, so maybe I will try and shoot a bit more in the future.

Below are 3 from the recent Amgen Tour of California that was held in Folsom, CA, but first the details:

These were shot after one in the afternoon with the sun very high overhead and quite bright. It was very hot as well.

I shot with the K3 and 2 lenses:

Sigma 70-210 f2.8 (older screw drive version)

Sigma 50-150 f2.8 HSM.

I played with various AF settings, including center point, expanded area, back button AF and half-press AF. Most around F8 or so due to the very bright conditions and very bright clothing worn by the riders. I did play with some fill-flash along the way as well. SR was off (mainly). The camera was in its highest frame rate setting, and I would normally fire off 3-5 shots as the rider passed by.

All shots were hand-held, no tripod or monopod.

These were shot during the time trial on a long straight road before the turn-around. One way was slightly downhill and therefore the riders were much faster and they arrived in this area from a crowded turn, so tracking was trickier and there was less time to acquire focus. Coming back they were on the other side of the road, moving a bit uphill, so slower, and could be seen for quite a ways away.

I apologize if these are too big, but my only other option seemed too small to be able to see much detail.

Downhill Direction


Uphill Direction


Uphill Direction - Fill Flash


My Observations:

Center point seemed to work best in this situation. I think this is because often the riders are closely followed by cars, motorcycles and many other high contrast moving objects such that the expanded area options could not easily distinguish the subject, especially when starting tracking at a distance.

Continuous focus on the K3 does not seem to be a smooth servo focus. The focus stuttered and lost lock a bit even when the rider was being tracked in a very linear path with consistent speed. Now, to be fair, my technique probably did not help as I am sure focus lock will be lost with very little camera movement when tracking the rider starting at a far distance. The HSM lens seemed a bit better in this regard than the screwdrive, but it is also smaller and lighter to hold.

The K3 acquires focus much quicker than the K5, however.

My keeper rate was not great, maybe (being generous) 60%. In this regard, and with the same lenses and photographer (me) my K5 classic did almost as well in similar situations.

My biggest problem by far was keeping focus when the rider transitioned from more or less heading at me to passing by. Since this was where I really wanted to capture an image, it was a bit of a let down, but still fun.

With the sun overhead, the faces were well shadowed, and no matter what anyone says about the K3 being as good in overall DR as the K5 per area, I did not find that to be true. The faces were quite noisy even at low or moderate ISOs.

Lastly, in this much light, I have no idea how anyone gets a very shallow DOF while still having a slow enough shutter speed to show some motion, at least on the wheels? I guess one could us a ND filter, but that has its own drawbacks.

I welcome any comments or pointers to try for my next venture into action shooting.

Ray

[Alex Nostalgix]

first sports shot with the camera..need a bigger zoom though!

[johnmflores]

2014 Tour of Somerville, AFAIK the oldest continuous bike race in the US

[jiimaa]

I went out to a soccer game for the first time ever. K-3 & DA*300























I ain't even mad 'we' lost - that wedgie is a good one. Well played by the enemy.

[jppp]

I went out to a soccer game for the first time ever. K-3 & DA*300

That must have been the Finnish 2nd division match FC Hämeenlinna - TPV, FT 0-1.
Are these jpegs straight out of the camera?

[zode1]

I went out to a soccer game for the first time ever. K-3 & DA*300























I ain't even mad 'we' lost - that wedgie is a good one. Well played by the enemy.

Very, vivid colors on those shots. Nicely done.

[jiimaa]

Thanks! Yes that's the game. The red team won 0-1.

No way these are straight out of camera. Who'd show pics straight out of camera. These are shot raw, processed in LR, and I've lately used a MIDI panel to do the adjustments 'blind' to get to a new (hopefully better) look. There's a ton of little adjustments, but most strongly added contrast, vibrance, and shadows, if I recall correctly.

[DSims]

No way these are straight out of camera. Who'd show pics straight out of camera.

It's definitely done with sports, including with pros. It just depends on your workflow and how soon you need to post the photos, or whether you'll be transmitting them over a limited-bandwidth connection.

In fact, this is one of many reasons a pro might shoot with a Nikon D4S, for example. It will produce the best quality JPEGs you can get from a Nikon lens, even in low light, with no need for later applying NR, downscaling to get "equivalent noise", or any of that other nonsense (it's not nonsense for fine art photography, but it is when you need to post your photos quickly).

[jiimaa]

Oh, you're right. I'm nothing of the sort - I'm doing it for fun, I've got all the time I need, and the game isn't being covered by anyone I think, me the least. Also I need the postprocessing to make them not suck. That's one big difference between me and a pro also.

Edit: in fact, one of the reasons I'm sticking with Pentax is I'm not losing hair over noise, like a Nikon shooter would... - i'll just let it noise, it's not that bad. :P
These pics have no extra noise reduction added.

[DSims]

Oh, you're right. I'm nothing of the sort - I'm doing it for fun, I've got all the time I need, and the game isn't being covered by anyone I think, me the least. Also I need the postprocessing to make them not suck. That's one big difference between me and a pro also.

I'm don't think they're gonna suck - especially with that camera and lens. You're taking good photos. It's a choice you can make.

You can slightly alter the camera's JPEG settings to suit your taste. And Pentax has a pretty good exposure system (some say it's one of the best, in fact). So it's possible.


Don't underestimate the time value of your photographs. There's more interest right after the event.