Uh-Oh...opened my big fat mouth, and now...

[Brownie]

My grandson is in Tae Kwon Do and will be competing this coming Saturday. He's too young for contact, but he will be competing in forms and another non-contact sparring positions thing, can't remember what my daughter called it. Anyway, I would naturally like to take photos and asked her if she'd ask the Master if I could set up down on the floor. That turned into yes, and then the question about if I'd be willing to take photos of anyone else. "sure", I said...

I've never shot this kind of thing before. It will be indoors with school gym lighting. I'm planning to take the 24-105/4, the Minolta A Mount 80-200/2.8, and not knowing how far away I'll actually be from the action, the 200-600. The first two won't be bad for ISO and SS, but the last will present issues. I'm really thinking (hoping) the 80-200 will be the right one.

Settings? I already have my grandson's face registered in the camera from a previous school event, so that will help when he's up there. I'm most comfortable with M mode and will likely use it. I am thinking (correct me if wrong) that once I get the camera set for conditions, nothing will change much from person to person.

What about focus? AF-C for the action, which tracking mode? Which focus area/size? I think using Face/Eye would be best?

Adjustments will be necessary once they get going, I just need starting points. Am I on track?

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Buy a mad camera, get some good lenses, then make professional level images. It's as simple as that, as my mate who just bought the same camera as me just found out...

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I would have thought most settings would be pretty close to the settings you run at the drag strip mate. I have it on tracking wide for wildlife I think...

 

[Brownie]

I would have thought most settings would be pretty close to the settings you run at the drag strip mate. I have it on tracking wide for wildlife I think...

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Use the same settings but add people/eye detect to the mix.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Good thing for you Timmy is you're also accustomed to shooting motion in low light too right?

 

[Brownie]

Good thing for you Timmy is you're also accustomed to shooting motion in low light too right?

To a point, but you can't overcome physics. I'm hoping the gym is really well lit. It's being held in one of their newer schools, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll have LED lighting. I'm hoping I won't have to bump ISO more than 6400.

 

[Ralph]

Is there any way that you could get into the Gym and do a few dummy shots to get your setting right or very close to what you may need on the day. I have never done this sort of thing so apart from that I have no idea.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Just put the camera in auto mode and you're good to go!

 

[Brownie]

Is there any way that you could get into the Gym and do a few dummy shots to get your setting right or very close to what you may need on the day. I have never done this sort of thing so apart from that I have no idea.

No, don't think so. I think my bigger concern is how close I'll be to the action. If the 80-200/2.8 is ok compositionally, then I won't need the much slower 200-600.

Just put the camera in auto mode and you're good to go!

Yeah...no.

I wonder if the new A7RV can anticipate upcoming motion?

 

[spudhead]

No, don't think so. I think my bigger concern is how close I'll be to the action. If the 80-200/2.8 is ok compositionally, then I won't need the much slower 200-600.

Yeah...no.

I wonder if the new A7RV can anticipate upcoming motion?

Tim don't forget to turn live view off in doors and auto would be a disaster indoors in my opinion, use manual don't let the camera mess with shutter speed and aperture, lighting type could be an issue as you know, multi metering, not sure I would use tracking, you need to quickly find a setup that works, no electronic shutter as I don't know if it will cause rolling effect. sorry to say I am glad it's you and not me behind the camera good luck mate and remember if it looks good in the view finder it's probably not far off and post in raw will recover lots of detail!

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

auto would be a disaster indoors in my opinion

I'm sure everyone on this forum would agree with you. Well, at least Tim got the joke...

Auto is a disaster anywhere...

 

[spudhead]

I'm sure everyone on this forum would agree with you. Well, at least Tim got the joke...

Auto is a disaster anywhere...

ok I assumed that was your little jive

 

[Brownie]

Damn, forgot all about live view. Funny that, I was shooting the grandkids carving pumpkins last night, but decided to use a flash. Part of that was to see how well the Minolta 28-135 did in that instance. Having the flash set to sync immediately brightens the viewfinder and I never gave it a second thought.

Good advice!

(well, a lot better advice than...um..."Use Auto")

I'm figuring there will be warm-ups going on before the event since some of this is contact sparring, so if I get there early enough I'll have time to get my settings.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I've never been on that end of the lens at a martial arts tournament, but sparring and some performances would be fast-paced, so highspeed burst shooting will be your friend. Is the Minolta lens a fast focuser? I would almost take the native Sony lens instead to make sure you have the best chance at autofocus keeping up with your subjects. As Clint said, you're probably ok with the same settings/equipment you use at the drag strip, except for the higher ISO you'll be using indoors.
I can't wait to see these pictures, if you'll be sharing them here. Tae Kwon Do features some fancy kicking, fast and airborne in some cases, so the results should be pretty dramatic!

 

[spudhead]

Damn, forgot all about live view. Funny that, I was shooting the grandkids carving pumpkins last night, but decided to use a flash. Part of that was to see how well the Minolta 28-135 did in that instance. Having the flash set to sync immediately brightens the viewfinder and I never gave it a second thought.

Good advice!

(well, a lot better advice than...um..."Use Auto")

I'm figuring there will be warm-ups going on before the event since some of this is contact sparring, so if I get there early enough I'll have time to get my settings.

Tim don't forget front curtain shutter off with the Minolta lens you can end up with inconsistent shading and colours if its left on, you will be fine Tim you know the limits of the camera shutter speeds and aperture, on a 7iii I would be good with iso up to about 12800 its quite forgiving and remember dial some exp in if needed but you know that may the force be with you

 

[Brownie]

Tim don't forget front curtain shutter off with the Minolta lens you can end up with inconsistent shading and colours if its left on, you will be fine Tim you know the limits of the camera shutter speeds and aperture, on a 7iii I would be good with iso up to about 12800 its quite forgiving and remember dial some exp in if needed but you know that may the force be with you

It's already off. Shooting the 7M4, I still hate ISO even above 100 or 400, so will try to survive as low as possible. 12,800 is only one stop faster than 6400, hoping I can keep it there.

 

[spudhead]

It's already off. Shooting the 7M4, I still hate ISO even above 100 or 400, so will try to survive as low as possible. 12,800 is only one stop faster than 6400, hoping I can keep it there.

It's already off. Shooting the 7M4, I still hate ISO even above 100 or 400, so will try to survive as low as possible. 12,800 is only one stop faster than 6400, hoping I can keep it there.

Guess it would be easy if you didn't need higher shutter speeds to freeze the action, set iso limit to 6400 then and dail a bit of + exp in if needed

 

[Brownie]

I've never been on that end of the lens at a martial arts tournament, but sparring and some performances would be fast-paced, so highspeed burst shooting will be your friend. Is the Minolta lens a fast focuser? I would almost take the native Sony lens instead to make sure you have the best chance at autofocus keeping up with your subjects. As Clint said, you're probably ok with the same settings/equipment you use at the drag strip, except for the higher ISO you'll be using indoors.
I can't wait to see these pictures, if you'll be sharing them here. Tae Kwon Do features some fancy kicking, fast and airborne in some cases, so the results should be pretty dramatic!

I had posted this before but it was generally ignored, so here it is again. This is the Minolta 80-200/2.8 APO HS G, HS standing for High Speed, which is still fairly slow compared to today's lenses. Nonetheless...

70-200 is not a focal range that I use much. When I realized I would need a fast zoom at the track when it got dark, the thought of spending over $2,000 for something that would get used a few times per year wasn't very cheery. I did some poking around and decided on the Minolta 80-200 (that's it in my avatar). IQ is rated very high, equal to the last of the Sony A-Mount offerings. I was warned that it couldn't focus fast enough to keep up out at the track, but me being the bullhead I am decided to try it anyway. I spent a week or so looking and communicating with eBay sellers and ended up getting one from a Japanese dealer. Excellent (and I mean almost LN) condition with hood/caps/case for $371.

I figured I'd better get it sorted out in daylight before I had to depend on it at night, so it was put through its paces on the first trip to the track. The camera was left with the same settings I use for newer E-Mount lenses. Burst, tracking, everything.

This sequence is unedited except for RAW processing as I normally would. No cropping, and no images were left out. Bear in mind the cameras is capable of only 6 FPS when shooting uncompressed RAW. There are 19 images, so this happened in three seconds.

I took the first shot as both cars were leaving the line, focusing on both.
DSC04821 by telecast, on Flickr

Slightly closer each time in the next few:
DSC04822 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04823 by telecast, on Flickr

By this time the nearer car was pulling ahead and I moved the camera to it:
DSC04824 by telecast, on Flickr

Closer yet, and moving a lot faster:
DSC04825 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04826 by telecast, on Flickr

At this point the car was so close (about 15') that it was becoming difficult to pan at the speed he was moving:
DSC04827 by telecast, on Flickr

I started to divert my attention to the car in the far lane. Note the camera is still focused right where it's pointed, the rear quarter panel:
DSC04828 by telecast, on Flickr

As I moved off the near car, the camera found the signs in the center divider:
DSC04829 by telecast, on Flickr

It immediately finds the car in the far lane in the next frame:
DSC04830 by telecast, on Flickr

It hangs with the car (even though I couldn't!) for the nest few frames:
DSC04831 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04832 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04833 by telecast, on Flickr

What's interesting to note is that the car remains in focus even if it isn't centered. That tells me the lens will track like the new ones:
DSC04834 by telecast, on Flickr

And here it is. The one frame that wasn't in focus. I think if I tried to sharpen it I could save the shot, if it were something I had to keep:
DSC04835 by telecast, on Flickr

Back in focus for the rest of the burst:
DSC04836 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04837 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04838 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC04839 by telecast, on Flickr

So, 19 frames in 3 seconds, and three different subject compositions. Both cars/near car/far car, and only one shot out of focus. Not too bad!

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Looks like you're good to go then Tim!

 

[Brownie]

Looks like you're good to go then Tim!

As long as the competitors are running past me at 100MPH, yeah!

I'm hoping that once I get into position near the mat any focus adjustments would be minimal. I am more concerned about light and shutter speeds like Spud posted. I want to be able to freeze them in place.

 

[spudhead]

As long as the competitors are running past me at 100MPH, yeah!

I'm hoping that once I get into position near the mat any focus adjustments would be minimal. I am more concerned about light and shutter speeds like Spud posted. I want to be able to freeze them in place.

Tim some of the e-mount guys would be amazed at what some of this old glass can do, looks good to me

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

ok I assumed that was your little jive

Oh no, I like to take full responsibility for my disastrous images...

 

[Brownie]

So, it wasn't much better than organized chaos. Started late, no decent place to shoot from, people all over the place. I got shots of my grandson and some of his classmates, and bailed.

Shooting wasn't terribly difficult though. I got there early and did some testing. Ended up with Auto-ISO with a limit of 10k, the camera was sticking mostly around 6400 and 8000. left the aperture at 2.8 and tried to keep the shutter at 800 or above. I am again pleased with the AF speed/Tracking and IQ of this old Minolta lens. I have 500+ to go through, here are a couple of quick samples:

DSC08647 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC08809 by telecast, on Flickr

 

[spudhead]

So, it wasn't much better than organized chaos. Started late, no decent place to shoot from, people all over the place. I got shots of my grandson and some of his classmates, and bailed.

Shooting wasn't terribly difficult though. I got there early and did some testing. Ended up with Auto-ISO with a limit of 10k, the camera was sticking mostly around 6400 and 8000. left the aperture at 2.8 and tried to keep the shutter at 800 or above. I am again pleased with the AF speed/Tracking and IQ of this old Minolta lens. I have 500+ to go through, here are a couple of quick samples:

DSC08647 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC08809 by telecast, on Flickr

very natural lighting as predicted you got the job done Tim

 

[spudhead]

very natural lighting as predicted you got the job done Tim

How the heck did you rack up 500 shots? did you manage in focus bursts? I looked at your flicker exif and focal length I think you did a great job, and the lens stands up well

 

[Brownie]

How the heck did you rack up 500 shots? did you manage in focus bursts? I looked at your flicker exif and focal length I think you did a great job, and the lens stands up well

Yes, I was shooting longer bursts than I ever had. I have 6 or 8 in there now, amazing combination with that lens.

DSC08779 by telecast, on Flickr

DSC08944 by telecast, on Flickr