DPReview.com is closing April 10th - Find out more

Photos: Pen-F does a good job shooting baseball in burst mode with C-AF

Started Apr 16, 2016 | Discussions
racin06 Senior Member • Posts: 1,198
Photos: Pen-F does a good job shooting baseball in burst mode with C-AF
5

I shoot quite a bit of my son's high school baseball games. My camera of choice for shooting baseball has been my Panasonic GX8 with either the Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 or Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens. The GX8 does C-AF very well. However, during my son's game today, I thought I would give my Pen-F a chance at shooting baseball with the Panasoonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens. I set up the Pen-F in burst mode at 10 fps and used both S-AF and C-AF. Also, all photos were shot RAW in burst mode, 1/2000 sec. SS, f/5.6 and Auto ISO. I was also shooting through a chain-link fence. I was very pleased with how my Pen-F performed with C-AF. Sure, the Pen-F's C-AF isn't quite up to par with the GX8; however, overall, the Pen-F did a great job with a high keeper percentage. Below are nine photos from the game. Also, see by Flickr album for all of the game photos, including a few burst sequences. You'll probably notice that there are several photos of the shortstop, #3. That's my son, Cam. Cam's a sophomore and had a decent game today. The last photo below illustrates Cam being hit in the shoulder by an 85mph fastball... that smarted, but Cam's OK. BTW, I'm loving my Pen-F!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30161756@N00/albums/72157667078519562

 racin06's gear list:racin06's gear list
Fujifilm X100V Fujifilm X-H2 Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS Fujifilm XF 50-140mm F2.8 Fujifilm XF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 OIS WR +7 more
Olympus PEN-F Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 II ASPH
If you believe there are incorrect tags, please send us this post using our feedback form.
DLBlack Forum Pro • Posts: 15,865
Re: Photos: Pen-F does a good job shooting baseball in burst mode with C-AF

Wonderful series if photos. It is good to hear how the Pen F performs with action.  It is great to hear that your son is ok.

 DLBlack's gear list:DLBlack's gear list
Pentax K-7 Pentax K-5 Olympus E-M5 II Olympus PEN-F Olympus E-M1 II +46 more
Pstmstr Senior Member • Posts: 1,016
Re: Photos: Pen-F does a good job shooting baseball in burst mode with C-AF

Some nice shots, how close were you to the fence?  I'm playing around at my grandsons games with the Pen F and Oly 40-150 4.0 lens. I've found that manual focus works best for me. I'll give the c-af focus another try this week if it ever stops raining here in OK.

greenjp Regular Member • Posts: 143
Re: Photos: Pen-F does a good job shooting baseball in burst mode with C-AF

In all but the 3rd picture, the subjects are stationary, and even in that one it's just the baserunner who's moving relative to the camera.  Between that and the f5.6 for a deep depth of field, I'm curious as to what benefit C-AF would provide over S-AF?  Seems like S-AF would work just as well.

These shots seem to be more about getting the focus point correct (ie not accidentally focusing on a background element) than what focus mode was used.

Honestly curious as I'm experimenting with the different modes on my new-to-me GX7, whereas I always used S-AF on my old G3.

jeff

Keyboard shortcuts:
FForum MMy threads