[nocturnal]

Yes, that is also because of pro gear support for now favours DSLR. Photographing sprinters might be easier with mirrorless because of eye AF if you stand behind finish line and shoot with a long lens.

---------- Post added 09-17-19 at 12:36 PM ----------



Nope, I do know for some shoots flash is useful. But the photo above isn't appealing to me. Using flash in that particular instance seems to make the runner not belong in the photo....

Not using flash in the photo would have resulted in a rather drab image as if Clackers was part of the trees and I know this from experience.

Lots of athletes wear sunglasses, almost all cyclists too, they open and close their eyes regularly, look down, around and all around the place... So eye AF works with these situations flawlessly I suppose?

Have you any sports photography experience yourself or just chucking out theories as you did use the "might" word? I'm not being cheeky btw 😀

[Rondec]

Yes, that is also because of pro gear support for now favours DSLR. Photographing sprinters might be easier with mirrorless because of eye AF if you stand behind finish line and shoot with a long lens.

---------- Post added 09-17-19 at 12:36 PM ----------



Nope, I do know for some shoots flash is useful. But the photo above isn't appealing to me. Using flash in that particular instance seems to make the runner not belong in the photo....

I have not used it, but my impression is that eye AF is not great for tracking. For relatively slow moving subjects it keeps up OK, but the idea that you are going to using eye AF for an Olympic sprinter or a footballer who may not have his eyes turned towards the photographer all of the time feels less useful. Maybe some day it will be able to lock on to a small eye in the frame and maintain focus on that, but currently it isn't there yet.

[normhead]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Eye AF have to be programmed. And how does Eye AF work if you decide to change eyes, If you have three runners in the frame towards the end of the sprint, how does eye AF know which one you want to focus on?

Just wondering.

I seem to hear one thing from folks who use Eye AF and a much more wonderful sounding care free operation form those who have just read about it. Over time I get confused.

[Serkevan]

Not using flash in the photo would have resulted in a rather drab image as if Clackers was part of the trees and I know this from experience.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't; I also think that Clackers looks slightly "copy-pasted" on top the background, but it's absolutely true that anything less would have resulted in a muddled frame, there's already quite some motion blur... Very challenging situation.
@clackers you should wear brighter trousers to make it easier for the photograher! (Also are those Salomon trainers?)

[Trickortreat]

Not using flash in the photo would have resulted in a rather drab image as if Clackers was part of the trees and I know this from experience.

Lots of athletes wear sunglasses, almost all cyclists too, they open and close their eyes regularly, look down, around and all around the place... So eye AF works with these situations flawlessly I suppose?

Have you any sports photography experience yourself or just chucking out theories as you did use the "might" word? I'm not being cheeky btw 😀

I dont know. I would like to see the photo with and without the flash to say whats better... but just looking at that single photo - well it looks strange to me :/

Sprinters rarely use sunglasses. I was mostly talking about photographing them as i see eye af would mostly benefit shooting them

0 experience in sports photography. Just theorycrafting here

[clackers]

0 experience in sports photography.

Yeah, it shows.

If I was an editor at Sports Illustrated, I could never give you a job … you just have to be able to control light, and that includes flash work. If you can't do it, I award it to the next person on my list, it's that simple, you're crossed off.

Rondec posted this guy before, he's a National Geographic photographer, check out his sports portfolio and see how often strobes are used.

In particular, they make for stunning cover images (that's more money and fame) and they are how the athletes themselves want to be photographed in commercials and in magazine profile pieces ….

Joe McNally: JOE MCNALLY PHOTOGRAPHY

[clackers]

@clackers you should wear brighter trousers to make it easier for the photograher!

He went to a lot of effort, that guy, it was the only setup like that around the course where there were four other photographers.

I would've high-fived him but it's actually very steep this section, if I tried to pull up I would've ended up rolling end over end until the bottom of the hill.

(Also are those Salomon trainers?)

Well picked, Serkevan, Goretex ones with nice grippy soles, I might as well look the part, right?

It was a five mile event, but I'm not really a runner, I'm more a cyclist.

[MarkJerling]

Strobes aren't useful for all sports, but they are definitely used. As to whether you personally like them, I suppose that is immaterial.

Pretty useful for a 01h00 ultramarathon start. (100km event) The official photographer was still in bed.

[Trickortreat]

Yeah, it shows.

If I was an editor at Sports Illustrated, I could never give you a job … you just have to be able to control light, and that includes flash work. If you can't do it, I award it to the next person on my list, it's that simple, you're crossed off.

Rondec posted this guy before, he's a National Geographic photographer, check out his sports portfolio and see how often strobes are used.

In particular, they make for stunning cover images (that's more money and fame) and they are how the athletes themselves want to be photographed in commercials and in magazine profile pieces ….

Joe McNally: JOE MCNALLY PHOTOGRAPHY

Yes, I know. I wouldnt even want to work as a sports photographer. Not my cup of tea

I've seen the portfolio. Forgot to comment - The images that show athletes in action - those I really like. Staged ones - not at all. Ive never been a fan of staged photography, no matter how good the photographer taking them actually is or how good to someone and results are.
As for strobes - look at the Usain Bolt photo - no strobes there. I was talking about that kind of photography that can really take advantage of eye AF and other mirrorless perks.

[Rondec]

Yes, I know. I wouldnt even want to work as a sports photographer. Not my cup of tea

I've seen the portfolio. Forgot to comment - The images that show athletes in action - those I really like. Staged ones - not at all. Ive never been a fan of staged photography, no matter how good the photographer taking them actually is or how good to someone and results are.
As for strobes - look at the Usain Bolt photo - no strobes there. I was talking about that kind of photography that can really take advantage of eye AF and other mirrorless perks.

Let's just say that that Usain Bolt wasn't taken with an MILC. McNally shoots with Nikon cameras and while I think he does own a Z6 now, it wouldn't have come out before Usain Bolt retired. That most certainly was taken with a D5, not using eye AF. Seems to bring it around to the fact that SLRs are actually capable of high quality auto focus in the hands of a skilled professional -- even without eye AF while using the OVF.

[Trickortreat]

Yes im not arguing that shot was taken with a d5. Hey, a lot of good shoots of sprinters were taken with film cameras.
Im just saying that that kind of photo would be easier shoot with a mirrorles with eye af, not that i cant be done with a dslr

[nocturnal]

What about back of the head AF tracking? I wrote my own AF algorithm and inserted it into my camera firmware.

Read what it says on the billboards held by the St.John's ambulance girls.

[Blue]

Mirrorless bodies are safer for vampires to use during lens changes.

[clackers]

The images that show athletes in action - those I really like. Staged ones - not at all. Ive never been a fan of staged photography, no matter how good the photographer taking them actually is or how good to someone and results are.

Environmental portraiture is what they are, and they are the sports photographer's dream job. They might be shooting for the athlete and their business manager, for images that they can use on their website or bio. They might be shooting them to endorse a product, such as for Nike. Or they might be shooting to support an interview in Sports Illustrated.

They pay extremely well, unlike an actual event itself where if the photo agencies are covering (like the Super Bowl or the Olympics) you will get beaten on price everytime, it won't be possible to make a living.

As rodeo specialist and photography tutor Matt Cohen points out, you're really only shooting events to promote yourself (even making a loss on the travel and accommodation) so that you can get the environmental portrait gigs. You tag potential clients on Instagram, they see your pic of themselves in action, and get in touch with you for future work.

As for the sport itself, here's a strobe example from Garrett Elwood, who's shot 19 NBA finals. Credit: Want your sports photos to stand out from the crowd? Use a strobe: Digital Photography Review

[clackers]

Im just saying that that kind of photo would be easier shoot with a mirrorles with eye af, not that i cant be done with a dslr

I've shot eye AF with an A7 IIIR, Trickortreat.

If you're not close enough, it doesn't appear at all, at other points it falls back and attempts face AF, where it is similar to the Pentax face AF.

Here is the Nikon Z, and you can see it has failed. With other athletes around, it may even jump to their faces instead of the guy you're shooting

You're better off with an athlete panning yourself and keeping the AF point over your target. Panning is the Primary Skill of a sports photographer.