EOS R6 Mark II AF area setting recommendations for sports

[C2C]

Hello!

I just purchased my R6 MKII (and am thrilled with it!).  Quick question:

When I am shooting a basketball, soccer, or football game (Manual Mode) which AF Area setting is recommended?  

I have AF Operation set to Servo, Subject to Detect set to People and Eye Detection set to Auto.  Whole area tracking Servi AF is set to On.

I'm a relatively new photographer...and primarily take sports and wildlife pictures.

Would appreciate any and all advice, recoomendations, coaching.

-- Dave

[March411]

Everyone likes their setup a little different and you will find that you refine yours as move forward. There is no best, it's what works best for you personally.

All my bodies have pretty much settled into the same place, there may be some small variations and the R3 has a couple extra button programed. This is my setup at a fairly high level.

Shoot Raw
Shutter electronic
AF Operation Servo
Single point focus
BBF.1 - AF-On button - Eye Auto full screen
BBF.2 - * button - Single point
Whole area tracking Servo AF is off – When using the AF-On focus back button this function becomes active.
C1 set for people/sports
C2 set for animals

Operate in manual mode 95% of the time. Within each C mode the baseline shutter speeds and aperture are set but changed based on what the conditions warrant. ISO normally set to Auto. And I do not use any video functions so I have the record button next to the shutter button set to One shot/Servo

[C2C]

Marc - thx so much for the help.

Quick follow-up:  I didn’t follow this…could you explain this a bit more? 
BBF.1 - AF-On button - Eye Auto full screen
BBF.2 - * button - Single point
Whole area tracking Servo AF is off – When using the AF-On focus back button this function becomes active.

[March411]

This video may help you visualize what I posted regarding my setup.While he walks you through wildlife many of the items he uses applies to sports too, where he uses animals you will select people.

This setup isn't exactly what I use but it gets you started down a good path. The important thing, once you have your camera customized save your setup to one of the C modes (C1-C3). Unless it's saved once you turn off the camera it will be lost. I use all three of mine and have them set up for sports, wildlife and street. Let me know if this helps, if it doesn't I'll be more then happy to give it another try but the video I think may help.

[C2C]

Marc - thanks so much….i’ll take a look and give it a try.

more to follow!  Thanks again - means so much to me.

My best - Dave

[C2C]

Hi Marc - thx again for suggesting this video.  Feeling much better now and understanding much more.

Silly question - while taking pictures do I need to keep my * button pressed to continue auto-focusing?  (I have my * button set to AF Start). Seems like I do...

My best - Dave

[March411 · Accepted solution]

Hey Dave, glad it's coming together!

If the image you are capturing is a still then you can focus, release and take the photograph. If there is movement, like a person driving to the basketball hoop you want to continue focusing through the point that you take the photograph. If you were to stop during movement you will lose focus and the image would most likely not be sharp.

This video is by the same creator, I like his stuff, he keeps things simple. Personally wildlife and sports are set up pretty much the same in my camera bodies. One tracks critters the other tracks humans and there is movement. Sports are somewhat easier (IMO) as you do not have as many variables as you do in the wild. This should answer you question perfectly.

[C2C]

OK - got it and makes sense.  I’ll practice today.  Again, thx so much for the help….very much appreciate it.  Really enjoying this camera while learning more and more!

Dave

[March411]

The R6 MkII is a great camera and will produce solid images for you. Glad we were around to help out.

Make sure to stop back by and show us some of your images.

[Tronhard]

I do not shoot US sports - living in NZ, but I have found these videos of use to some folks.  They offer a lot of info on sports photography from Brigham Young University and they explain their gear and techniques in some detail.

 and for basketball: