D7000 - Better than expected results on AFC

[bh626]

I was out at the park the other day with the dog and my newly acquired 70-300 VR. So I thought it would be neat to try a sequence of pictures of the dog coming at me. (Boxers can sprint very quickly by the way). So, I threw the ball and got into shooting position.

So far so good With the AF-ON, 9pt AFC I started clicking away.

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The out of focus picture is a mishap caused by me. That dog was barreling at me so fast I thought he was going to knock me over :smile: I jerked the camera and lost focus...

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Re-grouped, I managed to get the last picture sharp.

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I really couldn't be happier with the AF, and the burst rate is more than adequate for me. On Cont Hi I get a dozen pictures in 2 seconds.

In hindsight, I could have used a faster shutter speed and maybe a smaller aperture (I wasn't really paying attention to it at the time). Also, I only took a few sequences and all of them were sharp, aside from the odd "user-error, no-time-to-think" out of focus frame.

Time to relax... (35mm 1.8)

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[aesop]

I think my 1.5yr is faster then your dog since I can't seem to get half as many sharp shots and that's using a 24-70

All kidding aside those shots turn out really good!

 

[bh626]

1.5 yr old boxer? Any pics?

Actually I was surprised when I looked at the sequences on the computer. That justified the lens purchase for me. I can't wait to use it for baseball, soccer pics, etc.

 

[Ed-Gein]

Wow those look great! thats better than i expected from the 70-300, what was your focal length?

 

[aesop]

1.5 yr old boxer? Any pics?

Actually I was surprised when I looked at the sequences on the computer. That justified the lens purchase for me. I can't wait to use it for baseball, soccer pics, etc.

Hehe. Human being.

 

[bh626]

Wow those look great! thats better than i expected from the 70-300, what was your focal length?

Thanks. The focal length in the exif and CNX is listed as 300mm. I see that my 35mm is listed as 35mm focal length, so that must be the set value (not a DX re-calc).

Here is another pic at 210mm, f5.3, 1/500. He's really motoring in this one as you can see from the dirt he's kicking up. I probably should have used a smaller aperture than wide open, to get a little more sharpness down the length of the dog. You can see by the grass how small the DOF is (looks to be 2 feet or so) - amazing technology really.

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[wizzard0003]

Brendan, those are just excellent, good job...!

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[bh626]

Brendan, those are just excellent, good job...!

Thanks. I gotta say it was mostly technology though. I just held on to the camera and tried to keep the focal point on the nose/head. Doing so yielded sharp, well exposed pics 85%-90% of the time. Love that D7000. And now the 70-300 too.

Here's a fast flying seagull where things did not go as well in terms of sharpness. Man it is hard to track those at close distance - 200mm.

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[Billy_M]

wow those pictures did come out pretty sharp, especially since your dog was going full speed

 

[leighton w]

Were you shooting in raw and using the Ch mode? Great captures by the way.

 

[GBNova]

Nice job. The seagull is pretty sharp too.

I'm often tempted to shell out the cash and get something like the 70-200, but I keep asking myself why to be honest.

 

[bh626]

Were you shooting in raw and using the Ch mode? Great captures by the way.

Thanks. I always shoot in raw since disk space is so affordable now. If I just want simple pics then I'll just hilite them and save as jpg. But I have found in the past that I had a really great shot in jpg that needed tweaking and wished I had taken it in raw to begin with.

If you mean release mode I believe they were shot in ContHigh although I don't usually keep the shutter down - too many pics.

Having said that the pictures are only sharpened and resized for the web. That's it. I love the OOC colors and exposure on this camera and the AutoWB is pretty much dead-on.

 

[bh626]

Nice job. The seagull is pretty sharp too.

I'm often tempted to shell out the cash and get something like the 70-200, but I keep asking myself why to be honest.

I suppose if I were doing this for a living or had the money I would buy a 70-200 or a telephoto prime. But they're so darned expensive :frown:

The D7000 does make you want to upgrade your glass though...

 

[leighton w]

Thanks. I always shoot in raw since disk space is so affordable now. If I just want simple pics then I'll just hilite them and save as jpg. But I have found in the past that I had a really great shot in jpg that needed tweaking and wished I had taken it in raw to begin with.

If you mean release mode I believe they were shot in ContHigh although I don't usually keep the shutter down - too many pics.

Having said that the pictures are only sharpened and resized for the web. That's it. I love the OOC colors and exposure on this camera and the AutoWB is pretty much dead-on.

Yea, that's what I was wondering. I find that the buffer is a little small when shooting raw and keeping the shutter down in ContHigh.

 

[bh626]

Yea, that's what I was wondering. I find that the buffer is a little small when shooting raw and keeping the shutter down in ContHigh.

I meant too many pics as in I don't want to have to delete them. With Lexar Pro 133 cards I can get 10 or 11 shots and the buffer clears pretty quickly.

Have you seen this SD card review? http://sportsphotoguy.com/nikon-d7000-raw-burst-test/

 

[Mad Hatter]

I don't really have anything to add about the gear (it seems to be serving you well) but I just wanted to chime in and say that your dog is awesome.

 

[bh626]

I don't really have anything to add about the gear (it seems to be serving you well) but I just wanted to chime in and say that your dog is awesome.

Thanks. Boxers look tough but are really quite gentle, like most dogs. He is a true athlete though.

 

[leighton w]

I meant too many pics as in I don't want to have to delete them. With Lexar Pro 133 cards I can get 10 or 11 shots and the buffer clears pretty quickly.

Have you seen this SD card review? http://sportsphotoguy.com/nikon-d7000-raw-burst-test/

Thanks, interesting read.

 

[Jaynometry]

I agree that the AF-C is very adequate for moving stuff! I shoot automotive photography at the race track and the camera tracks them down no problem! Haven't tried with birds or animals yet though.

 

[Pupator]

I have been very, very pleased with the D7000+70-300VR combo. I'm not sure why people are down on this lens. It's been an excellent performer for me at all focal lengths.