[C&C] - a few sports shots from the weekend

mervifwdc

Bit of a mixed bag, all taken yesterday.

#1 Horse racing (Naas)


#2 ditto (as they came by)


#3 Soccer in Naas. From the camera:


#4 same as above, but cropped:



#5 Rugby (Newbridge)


#6 More Rugby


Yes Remus, all with that b*stard lens (except 1) :-)
Merv.

rymus

nice shots... I wouldnt have cropped off yermans head in #4 though... lovely dof in #5

Covey

Nice shots indeed, whats the lens?

run_Forrest_run

yes, #5 is my favourite. dof perfect and very sharp. nice one.

paudie

Yeah give us the gear please.

The racing shots are amazing, really amazing.
The soccer shots don't really do it for me, too flat or something.
The rugby shots are pretty good especially the first, but not as good as the racing ones,
wow they're nice.

mervifwdc

Hardware:
all except #2 were on a 1dMII with an ef 400/f4 IS lens. All taken at F4, on multishot and AI servo. I usually get better focus on the second and subsequent shots, so I often shoot 2 or 3 in a burst. ISO was between 250 and 400, but all shutter speeds were faster than 1/1000 sec. single point focus (centre point), no expanding turned on.
#2, Canon 5d, 70-200/2.8 IS L. Set to F3.2, ISO 200, centre point focus, AI Servo.
Both cameras set to no sharpening. prefer to do that in PP. Often set to underexpose by 1/3, but not yesterday, left as normal exposure.


However!: There is a way you can figure all the info out from the image. It's all in the exif data, you just need to be able to read it (easily). one handy tool is available on www.opanda.com where it allows you to download and install an exif reader. Then, in your browser when looking at anyones image, you can right click on it and you get a new option to view the exif data. You get to see loads of stuff (unless the publisher of the picture has hidden any). I leave mine on as it's very useful for myself to look at one of my own pages and lookup what I used, and at what settings. Best of all, it's free.

Once downloaded, I use bibblepro to process the raw files (always shoot raw). I do a little sharpening, adjust levels, exposure etc. I also use that for cropping (only the soccer tackle is a cropped picture, and this is the third crop at 100% of the same image as the full size and the crop above).
These are all produced at full size.

Finally, once a directory of images I want to publish, I use Arles to read the directory and produce a web page, with resized images and thumbnails. Arles will sharpen the images as it re-sizes them, and will put on the copyright stuff so that I do not have to put it in the originals.
http://www.digitaldutch.com/arles/

Guess that's about it! :-)
Merv.

Morlar

That exif reader looks like a good one - might give the freeware version a shot later. Cheers for the link. Cool pics btw - the 2nd one would be my favourite from that set.

Philistine

I really like pics #1 and #5. The DOF is spot on with the backgrounds out of focus enough to make you eyes concentrate on the main action. Well done

mervifwdc

Oh, and thanks for the nice comments! Much appreciated!

Merv.

Dimy

Can I drool on your gear? :rolleyes: Excellent shots! I agree with rymus' comments about the crop though. Personally I'd like a little bit more contrast though, but I'm a junky for high-contrast

Ruu_Old

Nice work, very clear and sharp. Well done!

jlang

I really love #2. I can feel the horses beating down on me.

Valentia

Great shots Merv. That 400 gives beautiful results and the 70-200 is great too. I haven't seen many (if any) shots from a 400 here . Thanks very much for your detailed info it is very informative and useful.I can only dream about having that gear though

I agree with the others on the third. A small move to the right in "levels" would give it just that extra punch.

EDIT: I've just had a look at them again with the EXIF and something struck me about No. 2. It was taken at 70mm but I am so used to 70mm on a 1.6 crop that, because this was taken on a full frame, it looks so different. What do you think of the 5D compared to the Mk II?

mervifwdc

5d Vs 1dMII.
Hard to compare, but if I'm not shooting sports, and I dont need/want 2 cameras, I will always bring the 5d.
I find the 5d gives better results in low light / high ISO situations, less noisy results. I find it easier / quicker to navigate its menu's, even though I had the 1 first. I find the large file sizes both a pain, and a blessing if I need to crop like crazy.

As to image quality, I think they are both superb, and hard to call between them. I always shoot raw, so the whole "image profile" stuff on the 5d is lost on me. That may change if get good enough to set the camera perfectly accuratly (exposure, no biggie, but the white balance is tricky if you are pushed for time) every time, then I'll think of JPG. For now, I need the flexibility of RAW.

Oh, and the 5 is lighter :-) That's no bad thing. I've no grip on it, so it's also as subtle as I can get.
Merv.