unclear pictures

[djmeigs55]

I have a 80D and take a lot of sports pictures.  Using a 2.8 70-200MM lens (Tamron), I use the manual mode with a shutter speed of 600, 800 and 1000 (depending on lighting in gym for instance), Fstop 2.8 and iso on auto.  1 of 15-20 are clear but others are slightly blurry to very blurry.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  I did send my camera to Canon for cleaning and they did some repairs however, I still have the same issue.  Has anyone experienced this or is it the lens?

[rs-eos]

Are your subjects moving after focus is acquired?  Are you moving?  Are you locking on focus on something else other than what you want in focus?

Can you post an example?  Preferably showing where the focus points were.

[rwr1987]

Hi I have seen this problem in a couple of the third party lenses. You may need to adjust/trim the autofocus in camera, for that you need a graduated (angled) and a flat auto focus target or auto focus alignment tool. Its just a plastic target and an angled target with some very small and accurate marks on it like a ruler or tape measure. I can't remember if there is an autofocus alignment adjustment menu on the 80D.  Look for it in the cameras menu, and here is a short video describing the alignment tool and process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad8_hFDvcPc

[Waddizzle]

Could you post a sample photo of the issue?  It would help the community to help you.

What AF mode are you using, One Shot or Ai Servo?  Which AF point(s) are you using?

BTW, you must have pretty good indoor lighting to be able to shoot at 1/1000 shutter speed.

[djmeigs55]

Al Servo....I change up the AF tracking just to see if I can get clearer pictures.  I use continuous mode.  The 1st pic is slightly out of focus.  The 2nd pic is pretty sharp

[ebiggs1]

" I use the manual mode with a shutter speed of 600, 800 and 1000 (depending on lighting in gym for instance), Fstop 2.8 and iso on auto."

OK let's examine this procedure. I would use Av mode and set the aperture to f4. At f4 you will still get a decent amount of light but you have a slightly better DOF than you do at f2.8. At f2.8 you must have focus spot on or you will get blurry pictures. Not much difference between a SS of 1/800 and 1/1000 but using Av mode the camera will select the fastest SS it can for proper exposure. IMHO, I would not use auto ISO either. Fix the ISO around 1600 or even 3200 if you have too. Lastly shoot Raw format and get a good post editor. Canon offers you DPP4 for free and it does a good job for a free editor. With Raw you can adjust exposure, in DPP4, sometime by 2 ro even 3 stops. Certainly the difference between a trash bin shot and a recoverable photo.

" I use the manual mode ..."

A lot of the time the camera is smarter than you think it is. So give Av a try. Last point. Where you shoot from is paramount if you shoot from the bleachers you are at a huge disadvantage. Try to shoot from the sidelines or at least as close to the action as possible. Very last point, know the sport. Knowing what is going to happen and where it is going to happen is even more paramount!

[ebiggs1]

"Has anyone experienced this or is it the lens?"

Any camera/lens combo can shoot blurry pictures. Most of the time it is the shooter! Cameras tend to do exactly what we tell them to. But all camera gear has its limit. Keep shooting!

[ebiggs1]

"The 2nd pic is pretty sharp"  And can be made a little sharper in post with DPP4.

[Swafford01254]

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@djmeigs55 wrote:

I have a 80D and take a lot of sports pictures.  Using a 2.8 70-200MM lens (Tamron), I use the manual mode with a shutter speed of 600, 800 and 1000 (depending on lighting in gym for instance), Fstop 2.8 and iso on auto.  1 of 15-20 are clear but others are slightly blurry to very blurry.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  I did send my camera to Canon for cleaning and they did some repairs however, I still have the same issue.  Has anyone experienced this or is it the lens?

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Its just a plastic target and an angled target with some very small and accurate marks on it like a ruler or tape measure. I can't remember if there is an autofocus alignment adjustment menu on the 80D.