Moved from 7D to 5D III - Football AF Question

Hi,

I was a long time 7D user who recently moved to a 5D Mark III. I have read about and understand the various AF modes on the 5D. Last night I photographed the local American football team at the local field, something I have done many, many times with my 7D.

I expected that the AF would be as good and most likely better than the 7D, but it was not...at least how I had it set up. Bottom line, it missed more shots. It seemed slow to acquire the new focus target and actually focus. When it did acquire, it was fantastic.

I used: AI Servo, Case 4, AF Point Expansion - up, down, left, right. Canon 70-200/2.8 II L

I had read that Case 4 seems to be popular for American football.

So, for those 5D III that shoot football, what are your AF settings?

Thanks,

Tom

--
www.tommarronphotography.com

What are the priority settings for first and subsequent frames, (focus or tracking)?

Hi,

Both are set to equal.

Thanks,

Tom

[No message]

Is the 5DIII a better camera for sports than the 7D? Certainly the lens isn't your problem. I'd just question wether the difference in autofocus capability is worth the change.

I don't have a 5D3, but I do have a 1Dx, which is a similar (but not exactly the same) AF system. One of the key things on the 1Dx that helped with my action shot hit rate was enabling the CF function that makes the joystick control the AF select point. In AI Servo mode, it's important to remember that you still have an active AF point -- it's where the camera will try to start looking for initial lock before it goes into tracking. If you were not using the AF select point, then perhaps it was trying to start acquisition on the background/wrong player/etc. rather than on what you really wanted it to focus on.

Assuming you haven't modified case 4, it's just set to standard "agility" in acquiring a new target to focus on. Try case 3, or modify case 4 by setting the first of the three options further to the right.

This is relevant only if it's the first acqusition of the target you have a problem with, not if you loose tracking of something you've already found focus on. But that doesn't seem to be the case from what you write above.