Pro 1 Action shots.

SpyderUnderH2O · Jun 8, 2004

I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ... The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

jwcdds · Jun 8, 2004

The pro1 is about as capable as any other prosumer cams out there to take action shots. However IMO, the biggest disadvantage is that if you do not prefocus, it's so much harder to "frame" the shot properly because the EVF/LCD completely blanks out while it tries to autofocus. So it would be difficult to follow the moving object/subject when it blacks out, especially under significant zoom. I didn't get an opportunity to play w/ the other 8mp prosumers so I do not know if they suffer a similar restriction.

As stated, this isn't as big a problem if you prefocus with shutter half pressed, or if you are able to get away with MF during the event. Low-light action shots is wishful thinking at best.

Happy shootin'

SpyderUnderH2O said:
I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine
for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most
of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ...
The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son
plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the
Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some
examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

--

'A picture paints a thousand words...' It's just that sometimes, it takes a few thousand attempts to capture that right picture.

scott_SF · Jun 8, 2004

I have to say that after owning the Pro 1 for a couple of weeks the action shooting capabilities are limited. Of course, you can pre-focus on an area and get the shot but your success rate depends largely on what type of action you're trying to shoot. If you're shooting something like a bike race it's easy because the riders will always be passing the same spot. If you're trying to shoot something like a soccer game where it's difficult to anticipate where things are going to end up, you're going to miss some shots. Practice will help your success rate, but at some juncture the camera's mechanics just can't keep up. On the bright side, the images you do get will be fantastic.

I admit I'm a bit critical on this issue and the Pro 1 is likely no worse or even much better than a lot of the market. However, my other two cameras, Fuji S602z and Sony DSC-T1, seem to focus at least twice as fast as my Pro 1. Maybe even faster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm keeping my Pro 1. Its images are unbeatable in its class. But if the question is concerning its action capabilities, it's definitely a weak point.

One man's opinion....

--Scott

--
http://www.pbase.com/saproduction

SpyderUnderH2O said:
I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine
for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most
of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ...
The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son
plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the
Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some
examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

PhillipsArt · Jun 8, 2004

Phillip

Srf_Cast · Jun 8, 2004

SpyderUnderH2O said:
I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine
for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most
of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ...
The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son
plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the
Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some
examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

Peter Spiro · Jun 8, 2004

These are three great shots, but the question is, how many shots did you have to take to get them?

As a previous person mentioned, you can prefocus. However, that means you will only get the shot if you guess right and the action ends up in the area onto which you prefocussed. Taking dozens of shots, you are bound to get lucky and catch a few good ones. However, do you miss a lot of important parts of the action that you wanted to capture?

PhillipsArt said:
Phillip

Carl Hoang · Jun 8, 2004

SpyderUnderH2O said:
I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine
for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most
of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ...
The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son
plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the
Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some
examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

RM Wilson · Jun 8, 2004

My first major camera was a 35mm SLR Canon FT QL. Strickly a manual focus camera. Used it for many years and didn't miss autofocus because I didn't know anything about autofocus. That was forty years ago.

Today we get spoiled with all of the conveniences.

I'd be happy to get my hands on a Pro1. But for now I will happily use my G1 which has more than 16,000 pictures now and still working.

SpyderUnderH2O said:
I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine
for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most
of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ...
The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son
plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the
Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some
examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

PhillipsArt · Jun 8, 2004

Hi Peter, I did not take many shots at all this day. The first shot is the only one I attempted of this bike rider. It was easy to do because I knew where the bike would be. All I had to do is prefocus on a spot on the ground similar distance to the bike rider & fire the shutter just a fraction of a second before he got to the spot I prefocused.

The second shot of the bike racer, did take a few shots to get the one I wanted. But it's like this on my SLR as well. Again easy to do because I knew where the action will be. I used a slow shutter speed & panned.

The third shot I just prefocused on the jump. & timed the moment to trigger the shutter so that the horse will be in this position. this is the only shot I took of this horse & rider.

Phillip.

PhillipsArt · Jun 8, 2004

Ahh yes the digital rebel would be good for action, Actually let me refrase this, The Rebel or as it's known here in Australia 300D would be easier to capture action shots than with the Pro1. But the Pro1 can certainly capture action shots it just takes a little more photographic skills by the photographer.

Phillip

mantic · Jun 8, 2004

I've looked at all the prosumer offerings and none are "good" for true action shots. They all have painfull shutter lag, something that plauges all prosumer cameras. So far the only way to avoid this is to buy a DSLR. If I were you I would definatly spend the $1000 the pro1 costs on the Canon 300d. The only prosumer camera I would consider right now is the Olympus 8080 but i would still rather spend that money on a DSLR. Since i'm not a pro and have no true need for a DSLR now i'm going to wait a little longer and see what happends in the next few months and see where things are going in terms of digital cameras.

PhillipsArt · Jun 8, 2004

Hi RM Wilson.

You have nailed it. I agree, sorry to say this to you new photographers out there but to many of you relly on AF, When I started photography I only had a MF camera & managed just fine with it.

Phillip.

RM Wilson said:
Today we get spoiled with all of the conveniences.
I'd be happy to get my hands on a Pro1. But for now I will happily
use my G1 which has more than 16,000 pictures now and still working.

SpyderUnderH2O said:

I'm looking to buy the Pro 1 and I think it will suit me just fine
for most of what I am looking to do. I have seen examples of most
of what I will be shooting, portraits, landscape, night, etc ...
The only concern I have is the occasianal action shots, my son
plays a lot of sports. I know this is not a strong point of the
Pro1 and a DSLR may be better suited but I would like to see some
examples if anyone has them. Thanks.

Click to expand...

PhillipsArt · Jun 8, 2004

I would pay the little extra & get a 10D if I was you, I am saving up for one myself.

Phillip.

Mantic said:
I've looked at all the prosumer offerings and none are "good" for
true action shots. They all have painfull shutter lag, something
that plauges all prosumer cameras. So far the only way to avoid
this is to buy a DSLR. If I were you I would definatly spend the
$1000 the pro1 costs on the Canon 300d. The only prosumer camera I
would consider right now is the Olympus 8080 but i would still
rather spend that money on a DSLR. Since i'm not a pro and have no
true need for a DSLR now i'm going to wait a little longer and see
what happends in the next few months and see where things are going
in terms of digital cameras.

SpyderUnderH2O · Jun 9, 2004

Thank you all for your feedback. I didn't really hear anything I didn't expect.

I have a 15+ year old T70 which has served me well and manual focusing is not a new concept for me. Right now I am using a Kodak P&S and want to move back toward Prosumer. I am no professional and I think the Pro1 will suit me just fine for my purposes. What I was looking for was some examples of action photos taken with a Pro1 and I have now seen that it can do it just fine.

I have no problem with practicing. Thats the nice thing about digital photography, it doesn't really cost anything to take the picture so I think it promotes people to be more creative. I know I personally don't have a problem taking a picture many times until I get it the way I like it.

Thanks again.

Carl Hoang · Jun 9, 2004

and got Digital Rebel 300D in taking action shots. G3/G5 are great cameras for slow moving and still photos.

PhillipsArt said:
Ahh yes the digital rebel would be good for action, Actually let
me refrase this, The Rebel or as it's known here in Australia 300D
would be easier to capture action shots than with the Pro1. But the
Pro1 can certainly capture action shots it just takes a little more
photographic skills by the photographer.

Phillip

jwcdds · Jun 9, 2004

Just for fun, I just took the following shot:

The fullsize can be viewed here: http://www.pbase.com/image/29965068

I did re-save and used a higher compression to reduce the filesize to about 40% original. I was at a full stop (at the light), I saw the motorcyclists approaching so I framed my shot and waited for them to cross into the path. Camera was set on Av mode fixing the aperture at f/3.5. The rest of the variables were left up to the camera. This is the only shot I took so it's not like I had a selection to choose from and post my best. Came out decent, IMO.

SpyderUnderH2O said:
Thank you all for your feedback. I didn't really hear anything I
didn't expect.

I have a 15+ year old T70 which has served me well and manual
focusing is not a new concept for me. Right now I am using a Kodak
P&S and want to move back toward Prosumer. I am no professional
and I think the Pro1 will suit me just fine for my purposes. What
I was looking for was some examples of action photos taken with a
Pro1 and I have now seen that it can do it just fine.

I have no problem with practicing. Thats the nice thing about
digital photography, it doesn't really cost anything to take the
picture so I think it promotes people to be more creative. I know
I personally don't have a problem taking a picture many times until
I get it the way I like it.

Thanks again.

--

'A picture paints a thousand words...' It's just that sometimes, it takes a few thousand attempts to capture that right picture.

GeraldW · Jun 9, 2004

SpyderUnderH2O said:
Thank you all for your feedback. I didn't really hear anything I
didn't expect.

I have a 15+ year old T70 which has served me well and manual
focusing is not a new concept for me. Right now I am using a Kodak
P&S and want to move back toward Prosumer. I am no professional
and I think the Pro1 will suit me just fine for my purposes. What
I was looking for was some examples of action photos taken with a
Pro1 and I have now seen that it can do it just fine.

I have no problem with practicing. Thats the nice thing about
digital photography, it doesn't really cost anything to take the
picture so I think it promotes people to be more creative. I know
I personally don't have a problem taking a picture many times until
I get it the way I like it.

Thanks again.

--
Spyder,

I ought to thank you for posting this question, as it's the same one I had. My experience with AF cameras and sports with fast and erratic action (soccer or hockey,for example) has been that the AF action is simply not fast enough even with an SLR and that a keen sense of anticipation and timing is necessary. I actually regressed to MF cameras when my son played soccer in high school, it just made life easier. Now it's the granddaughter who is a hockey player, and the action is even harder to follow. I usually use a film SLR, but for her last game I tried the G5. I think I got 5 shots that I'd consider saving for posterity and none that I'd show anybody. I'm probably going to get a Pro 1 as well, but I'll use film for the hockey games. I am able to handle more predictable action, even with the G5's slow response by prefocus. The Pro 1, should be significantly better.

I really don't want to commit to an SLR right now, as I expect much better models are coming this fall.

Jerry

mantic · Jun 9, 2004

Everyone looking at the pro1 have you glanced over the Oly 8080?

jwcdds · Jun 9, 2004

And what would looking over the Oly 8080 do in terms of action shots? As with all the other 8mp prosumers, it suffers from the same limitations, fact being it's not as fast as the dslr in speed and AF/shutter lag.

So aside from you wanting to start a brand war, I'm not quite sure what good the 8080 will do for this particular instance. Maybe us pro1 owners should go to OTF and suggest you try the pro1?

D

Happy shootin'

Mantic said:
Everyone looking at the pro1 have you glanced over the Oly 8080?

--

'A picture paints a thousand words...' It's just that sometimes, it takes a few thousand attempts to capture that right picture.

mantic · Jun 9, 2004

I didn't say it would do anything for action shots. If you want jump to conclusions and ASSume I'm trying to start a "brand war" have fun, i'll sit back and watch you waste your time. If you read my other reply to YOUR thread you would have read the following :

"I've looked at all the prosumer offerings and none are "good" for true action shots. They all have painfull shutter lag, something that plauges all prosumer cameras."

I posted this above maybe you read it maybe you didn't but there it is. I clearly stated that all prosumers have shutter lag. I mention the 8080 because it's as good if not better then the pro1 and costs alot less, BRAND has nothing to do with it. If this isn't information you want to hear i'm sorry... Go buy your pro1 and have fun with your action shots...

jwcdds said:
So aside from you wanting to start a brand war, I'm not quite sure
what good the 8080 will do for this particular instance. Maybe us
pro1 owners should go to OTF and suggest you try the pro1? D

Happy shootin'

Mantic said:

Everyone looking at the pro1 have you glanced over the Oly 8080?

Click to expand...

--
'A picture paints a thousand words...' It's just that sometimes,
it takes a few thousand attempts to capture that right picture.

Pro 1 Action shots.

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