Al servo good or bad

[Cathus]

because generally, if you are on landscape mode & are photographing an individual or maybe 2 or 3 people close together you'll get a smaller image of them with lots of wasted space either side.

with portrait mode you close in on the action & fill the frame with the layers. If you want several people in the shot then sure, landscape may be more appropriate but for most shots like this I only want the central target player & I want as much of them in the frame as possible.

with my American football, 90% of the shots are portrait mode. With soccer it is less as you often have several players in the shot, especially if you include the goal.

Doh! I just realised you think I meant portrait mode as in one of the in-camera effect modes. I meant, portrait orientation!

(I never think in terms of these in-camera art modes or whatever they're called, as my cameras don't have them)

[Cutter]

sorry garry, so do you shoot in manual ?

[Cathus]

I shoot in manual for my team sports stuff. Shooting in AE or TV gives too many over & under exposures.

[KeithT]

AI focus setting will track a perviously sellected subject if it moves slightly, or moves towards or away from you. This is an ideal setting for sports photography, or wildlife where the subject you have locked onto moves suddenly. There is one downside in that if the focus is constantly tracking the subject it can put a lot of pressure on the battery and even on the focus motor.

[Cathus]

re the above Mark, it's nothing to worry about with the 1D MkIV, I shoot for 3 hours on constant AI servo every weekend. I've shot for 6 - 7 hours at an airshow. I have two batteries for the 1D MkIV & I have NEVER had to use the second battery. It just doesn't run out.

[Cutter]

Originally Posted by Cathus

re the above Mark, it's nothing to worry about with the 1D MkIV, I shoot for 3 hours on constant AI servo every weekend. I've shot for 6 - 7 hours at an airshow. I have two batteries for the 1D MkIV & I have NEVER had to use the second battery. It just doesn't run out.

thats great news garry I was thinking i may be out of battery life with only having the one at the moment. I think it will be my flash batteries i have to worry about

Oh by the way i have done some practice shots using 1000 iso and 2000iso on my 50d and they dont look too good at all, they look soft. Hope the mk4 performs better

[Cathus]

I'm sure it will Mark.

I invested in about a dozen sets of rechargables for the flash guns.

(Advice at Strobist & Syl Arena - keep the batteries as sets & together, don't mix & match)

[wavemachine]

I have only tried AI servo a few times, seemed to work better when shooting objects moving horizontally for me, I did try it a few times a few weeks ago with my dog running towards me but with little success but that may have been down to shutter speed more than anything and possibly due to the fact our dogs a nutter

So I take it you have a 1D Mk1v on its way do you very nice if thats the case and I am sure you will put it to good use