EOS 80D focus recommendations for outdoor daytime sports

[Soccer_shoot]

Hi,

I was given an old EOS 30D and purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III lens to shoot my 20yr old sons soccer games. (Only have 3 seasons experience so far). Recently the 30D died so I bought a quality 2nd hand EOS 80D that I use with the same lens.

For this setup I understand that I am limited to outdoor day photography only however am hoping someone can provide advice on the best settings, in particular the best AF zone settings to use in this environment on the 80D. My biggest frustration is trying to limit the camera auto focusing on the signage (advertising) around the border of the playing field. 

Please help!

[Waddizzle]

What shooting mode setting in the top dial are you using?  What AF point selection are you using?  

What AF mode are you using?  Which drive mode, One Shot or Servo?

The camera will naturally want to focus on the closest thing to the camera.  It will do this when you select the Intelligent Auto shooting mode., Green [A+] or CA on the top dial. It will also do this when you enable all AF points. 

Focusing on the background suggests your AF point could be sliding off the players as they move around.  

[Soccer_shoot]

Thanks for the response Waddizzle.

Previously with the 30D i used Av mode, ai servo, high speed continuous burst, adjusting ISO 300 - 800 depending on sunlight. i find on 80D these settings result in a very dark image so now i use Tv mode, auto ISO, ai servo, high burst 

The focal point area selection is much more complicated on 80D so was hoping to find out which of the 4 templates of focal points to select and what areas to of the template to highlight.

For the photo uploaded i used the single focal point template aimed low to avoid the banners 

[stevet1]

Soccer_shoot,

There's an article in Photography Life that talks about setting up your 80D.

https://photographylife.com/recommended-canon-80d-settings

Around the middle of the page, there are several paragraphs under Custom Functions !! about setting up your Autofocus, especially using Tracking.

If you are using Tv mode and your pictures are coming out dark, try Auto ISO and use positive exposure compensation to brighten them up a little.

Steve Thomas

[justadude]

"I find on 80D these settings result in a very dark image so now i use Tv mode, auto ISO, ai servo, high burst"

I used the 80D for a few years as my backup body for sports photography jobs.  Great camera!  I honestly miss that DLSR more than any of the other Canon and Pentax DSLRs that I have owned.  Anyway, I always used Tv mode, AI Servo, whole area.  I never liked Auto ISO, so I would start out with it at 200, and adjust on the fly... rarely above 400.  

Personal taste, but I rarely used high burst.  I've been shooting these events for about 20 years now (so maybe 15 when I owned the 80D). I always had the best luck in single shot mode - catching more in focus photos (about 95% on average) with that method, where with high burst there were a lot less in perfect focus if I fired off a burst of shots when used on my 80D or 6D cameras.

[ebiggs1]

First off you need to understand all photographic gear has its limitations. There will be some circumstance where you can't get a decent shot. What you have is limited to what it can do and form the sample it looks like you are shooting from the stands. That also limits your ability.

Ok, let's start very first thing to do is d/l DPP4 form Canon it is free. DPP4 can adjust and make even poor images look better or even great. With out DPP4 you are really not interested in getting good shots so d/l it and learn how to use it. It is very simple to very complex depending on how deep you want to dive into it.

[wq9nsc]

I shoot sports with Canon 1DX III bodies which have an excellent and very capable AF system but I almost always keep it in either single point or single point AF with expansion to surrounding points.  

You want to closely follow the action and single point or a very limited set of focus points helps reinforce that behavior AND avoids having the AF system grab something you don't want!  So set you AF to either use the center point or center with expansion to four more points as your starting point.  Set the AF to AI servo since you want the camera to stay in servo AF to follow action.

Later Canon cameras have AF "cases" for different sports environments but the EOS 80D instead gives you two settings under AF custom functions which change tracking sensitivity and sensitivity to subjects that suddenly accelerate and decelerate.  You will need to experiment with these to see what works best for you but start with settings towards the responsive end of the scale because you want the camera to grab focus quickly when players pass the ball during the match and where it will also follow the "fast erratic" motion typical on the pitch.

Otherwise, I always shoot sports in manual mode with the aperture set to wide open, shutter speed fixed (1/800 minimum for soccer and 1/1,000 or better is preferred when light permits), with ISO set to auto to allow it to complete the exposure triangle.  With any sport, location is critical so the closer you are to the pitch the better and then you just want to avoid angles where you are likely to be blocked by a side judge, ball "person", or others.

Don't rely too much on high speed burst because it will make you "lazy" and ultimately rewards you with a lot of garbage shots.  My 1DX III bodies shoot 16 FPS and I leave them in high speed drive BUT the majority of my sports shots are singles with a few bursts of 3 to 5 (typically in football for a catch or interception).  It is critical that you stay fully engaged with what you are shooting and using technology as a crutch detracts from that mindset.  Use the camera tools wisely.

There is a definite learning curve to shooting sports but it is a FUN learning curve 🙂

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

I basically advise people to not use Ai-servo mode(s) until they are more advanced and knowledgeable how AF works. I can almost guarantee you will miss focus more than you get correct. I also prefer AV mode over TV.

[ebiggs1]

My suggested settings without seeing your soccer field would be, Auto ISO with limits set to about 800 to 3200. Use Av mode and set it to the widest open aperture of your lens. WB can be daylight but you should be using raw file format so WB isn't a major concern since you will set it where you like it in DPP4. As a matter of fact you can choose several settings in DPP4 which make them less important in-camera.

I would also choose One shot AF and only the center focus point. Lastly see if it is possible to be on field in favor of shooting from the stands. Good luck and good shooting.

[Waddizzle]

“ You want to closely follow the action and single point or a very limited set of focus points helps reinforce that behavior AND avoids having the AF system grab something you don't want! “

It’s all about location, too.  It’s difficult to use a single point when you’re shooting from a distance.  I n those scenarios I would enable all AF points and take advantage of the camera’s default behavior to focus on the closest thing within the field of view.