Truly shocked by my D300's AF...

I was shocked today as my D300 was able to track a softball ball.

100% crop from the last frame.

I'm not a sport's photographer, so I'm shocked how fast and acurate the machine is.

Nikkor 85mm f1.8 (non D)

Yes, 3D tracking, normal lock-on.

Impressive! In my case, it was drag racing.

I was at the 400ft mark. The top fuel and funny cars could reach me in 2 seconds, running about 200mph as they passed by. The D300S would fire off 13 shots in the 2 seconds, all in focus. I was using the 700-200 f2.8 VR-I. Of the 1000 I took all afternoon, I seldom missed a shot due to focus.

excellent machine and of course your technique. great shot. thanks for sharing.

Extraordinary images! Well done.
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Great advert for the camera, lens and of course , yourself. Well done and thanks for posting. I really never use the 3D tracking , will have to give it a try for soccer
Cheers,
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Anticipate the Light and wing it when you get it wrong
Tom
http://taja.smugmug.com/

This confirms what I have recently discovered. The 85 1.8 combined with the D300 motor equals fantastically snappy AF. With that combo the tracking is superb.
--
The sky is blue and there is nothing we can do..
My Escape:
http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/myescape/id348079652
?mt=8

Cool, thanks for sharing...shows that the machine is capable and that any tracking issues are likely down to the user's technique...it's definitely something that I'd like to work on.

Regards
Shereif

Remarkable shots.

I've used 3D tracking a few times and it has work well but I really haven't spent much time playing around with the settings. I really ought to learn how to use it more than I do.

I have to agree, sometimes I'm thinking about purchasing an af-s 70-200 f2.8 zoom. But compared to 85mm f1.8 it's:

• 4x as heavy

• 4x as long

• 4x as expensive

and thus attracts 4x as much atention. That's the last thing a good photographer likes to do - to attract an atention.

JasonED wrote:

This confirms what I have recently discovered. The 85 1.8 combined with the D300 motor equals fantastically snappy AF. With that combo the tracking is superb.

I know this too well. I like street photography and the presence of a big rig can attract attention. I came to digital from an Oly OM4 and an OM4Ti and when I compared them alongside my D300s they're tiny. Add a 70-200mm f2.8 and it's too conspicuous for that kind of work.

I love the quality of the 85mm f1.8 and for the money it's a bargain.

goodgeorge wrote:

I have to agree, sometimes I'm thinking about purchasing an af-s 70-200 f2.8 zoom. But compared to 85mm f1.8 it's:

• 4x as heavy

• 4x as long

• 4x as expensive

and thus attracts 4x as much atention. That's the last thing a good photographer likes to do - to attract an atention.

JasonED wrote:

This confirms what I have recently discovered. The 85 1.8 combined with the D300 motor equals fantastically snappy AF. With that combo the tracking is superb.

Yes, 6 fps is slow for sequences like this, but as I wrote before: I'm not a sport photographer. I'm a journalist and a portrait photographer, so even 3 fps is much more than I need

Nice shots!

From the position of the ball and the stance of the pitcher, it looks like it's Fast Pitch(vs. slow pitch softball)? If so, then i'm really impressed!

Wow, I'm very impressed. Especially since the focus could keep up since it's a D lens. Nice.