Need help with a canon 40d

[burnet44]

Here is the deal
I have a canon 40D and a canon 70-200 2.8 ISM II lens
I cant seem to get pro quality pics
maybe its not a pro camera
maybe I'm a DA

Im looking for some settings maybe you have used to get good sharp shots

On the 7D thread the lady from Houston posted some great info
thats the kind of stuff I need

not just iso ss f numbers

here is my web site
its ok to laugh
I know they suck

PhotoReflect - First Down Photos

I use picasa
its free
and Im too much of a DA to use PS
:mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

email burnet44@hot.rr.com

thanks to all
and if you look at my pics
you can be brutal
I coached football for 35 years
It wont bother me
phone number is on my site if you wanna call

thanks again

[burnet44]

here is the kind of stuff I need
here is her post
its for the 7D
I couldnt find them on my 40D :mad2:

Here are mine and they work very well:

Picture Style - Standard (but sharpness upped to 4)

C.Fn III: Autofocus Drive
1 - AI Servo tracking Sensitivity: Set to -1
2 - AI Servo 1st/2nd img priority - Set to 0 - AF priority/Tracking Priority
3 - AI Servo Tracking Method - Set to 0 - Main Focus point priority (that way the camera focuses on what you want, not what it wants)
4 - Lens Drive when AF impossible - Set to 0
5 - AF Microadjustment - Set to 0 (Most people have said this is ineffective. Even the manual says it needs to be done on location where you are shooting to do any good.)
6 - AF area select mode - I have single point w/expansion selected and single point. Been shooting mostly on single point w/expansion for sports.
7 - AF Manual pt. selection pattern - Set to 1 (Continuous)
8 - VF display illumination - set to 1 (Enable)
9 - Display all AF points - Set to 0
10 - Focus Display in AI Servo/MF - Set to 0
11 - AF-assist beam firing - set to 2 (Enable to external flash only)
12 - Orientation linked AF point - Set to 0
13 - Mirror lockup - Set to 0 (Disable)

C.FN IV: Operations/Others

Shutter button is set to Meter only
AF-ON button is turned OFF (too easy to hit accidentally)
AE lock button (*) is set for metering and AF Start

That is how mine is set up up right now and seems to work great. If any of you find a setting on anything that works better, let us all know!




:mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

[wfooshee]

Being a Nikon guy I can't tell you anything specifically about your camera, but looking at your site, the thing that first hits me is that the pictures are noisy. You see tiny color "grains" in a solid-color area rather than the pure color, and that's usually a result of high ISO. But maybe you need the high ISO for the light you have available and to get the shutter speed you need in order to freeze the action.

Also, sometimes white balance isn't very good. If your camera has a manual WB ability, take a sheet of bright printer paper and use it to set WB under the light you'll be shooting in. (Don't forget to repeat the exercise at the next shoot, or at least go back to auto-WB.)

I can't really criticize your shooting other than the noise and white balance. I don't know what you mean by "professional looking" unless you're disappointed in the light levels. Low light like you find at high school events will give you pictures that may looked washed out compared to images shot under lights meant for TV, and may force you to high ISO settings, which results in noise.

You said you use Picasa. Are you letting Picasa make any adjustments to your pictures? Again, something I don't use so I can't give you specifics, but if you are brightening them up because they're dark, that will produce noise, too.

For myself, I would shoot in shutter-priority automatic, nothing slower than 1/250th, and use the minimum ISO that won't show your exposure as too dark.

As for the 7D post, none of that has anything to do with exposure, really, just how the camera is working to set auto-focus operation. Nothing I saw on your site's pictures indicated any focus problems, so throw that sheet away. You don't need it.

[mjs1973]

Like wfooshee said, it looks like noise it the main issue that I'm seeing. As a 40D user myself, I have found the same problems when shooting HS BB. In order to get a shutter speed fast enough to stop the action, I set the ISO to 1600.

I hate the noise the 40D produces at that ISO, but I have learned to live with since my sports photos are just for my own practice and enjoyment and to share online so my nephew and his friends can share them on FB. I have found that ISO 800 is about the limits of usability for me on the 40D, but that just isn't fast enough for indoor sports.

You can try using a noise reduction software to clean up the photos to see if that helps, or adjust the noise reduction setting on your camera.

The 7D should handle the noise at higher ISO's much better than the 40D so that would be my guess as to why the 7D images look more "professional", whatever that means.

[burnet44]

Yeah I know they are noisy
I hate shooting at 3200
but they are so dark other wise
and I still think they are soft
or maybe thats the noise
:mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

I agree mjs
"I have found that ISO 800 is about the limits of usability for me on the 40D, but that just isn't fast enough for indoor sports"
I thought the 2.8 lens would be fast enough
maybe not IDK

and yes basketball gyms differ a lot
most are dungens and caves

I was hoping maybe I had the camera set wrong
Ive tried a bunch of different settings
maybe its my free software
maybe if I got lightroom that would help


It just seems everyone I shoot with and they get a lot better pics than me
some are Nikon and some are Canon shooters
and no I dont see a lot if any 40D shooters
mainly Mark 3's ect which I cant afford

Maybe I expect too much from this camera
But Ive been all over the net and people say its a wonderful camera
some say they are different by serial numbers IDK
maybe it wasnt the right one to get

but it was all I could afford at the time

ok so if this isnt fixable
camera or me or software

what would you guys get to go with my 70-200 2.8 ISM II lens?

I might can swing a 7D if momma lets me
but Ive read some people think is noisier than a 40D
who knows

thanks for your responses
I appreciate your time

if anyone has a fix let me know
If I do get another camera
Id like to keep this as a second if I can get it to take good pics

its wearing me out
Id like to be good at this
thanks again
I know your time is valuable

:mad2::mad2:

[mattb]

Are you shooting raw or jpeg?
Lightroom might help, especially if you shoot raw. From what I understand Picasa takes raw files and creates jpegs automatically with no input from you. Then when you make adjustments you are tweaking a jpeg file, not adjusting how the jpeg gets created from raw. In Lightroom you get a lot more control over the raw>jpeg conversion which can help a lot for bringing details back into shadows or highlights. It also helps with white balance when you shoot raw and use Lightroom because you can change the WB after the shot was taken unlike jpeg which sticks you with trying to adjust the WB the image was shot with.

[wfooshee]

Oooh, 3200. Explains a lot.

I don't know where the 40D fits in Canon's line, so I may be talking out the wrong part of my self, but this is pretty much a camera issue, not a photographer issue. Some sensors are better than others, and don't produce as much noise at high ISO.

Some cameras have full-size sensors, while others have the smaller "standard" sensor, where you have to convert your focal length to a "film-equivalent." If your 200mm lens is film-equivalent to a 300, then you have the smaller sensor. Generally, full-size sensors do better with noise. Guess what? They cost more!

The RAW vs JPEG point is a good one. If you're shooting JPEG to conserve memory card space, reconsider. Once a JPEG is recorded, that's all of the image information you'll ever have to work with. If a white area is blown out, or a dark area solidified to black, you'll NEVER get the detail back. A RAW file contains so much more information about what the camera saw at that moment. I still remember the "HOLY COW!" moment I had the first time I loaded up RAW files on a friend's PC with Photoshop. If you've not worked RAW files in good software, then trying to describe it is like trying to describe the difference between red and green to someone who's never had eyesight.

Your pictures are fine, shooting-wise. You frame the players well, you're focused well, you've got the action stopped well enough. The issue is noise, and that may be the camera, it may be your software. I'll repeat what I said earlier about the software. If it's brightening the pictures, then you have another noise source, so be careful of that.

I know you don't want to lose pictures, but try ISO 1600, and even 800 for a little bit, and even if they don't look very good on the camera screen, wait until you get them uploaded to make a judgment about them.

[burnet44]

Im shooting in RAW
maybe Im not usig picasa right
Ill shoot tonight at 800 or 1600
prob at 2.8 Ill try 1/400

Thanks to all for your help and time
I know its valuable

Ill post some pics
again be brutal

it will only make me better

[burnet44]

is this better?
PhotoReflect - First Down Photos

[wfooshee]

Those are a lot cleaner! Dark areas still show some noise, like bleachers in the background, but player uniforms and skin tones are much nicer in this new set.

[burnet44]

thanks
I shot at 2.8 on 1/320 and 1/400 at 1600 iso
others here shoot at 1/500+ and f4+ and 3200+
and get way better pics than mine
Wish I could do that
I ran those through the photoreflect software on my site
Im still pretty much cluless about it
I kinda go with what looks best on the screen
my technical knowledge is squat
not like you experts here

but I know sports
only advantage I have

a tip on basketball
if you cant get on the baseline
shoot from the right side of the court
with that team coming at you
most teams are very right handed
I get more face shots and keepers that way

I shot some of these from the corner of the stands
as high up as I can get

hope that might help people



probably operator error
thanks wfooshee

also I ran these through the photoreflect software
it takes me forever
3 hours for 72 pics

is there a better way?

as always any help is appreciated

[burnet44]

PhotoReflect - First Down Photos

any better
1000 iso
2.8 and some at 3.2
1/250 some at 1/320

ran them rhrough the photoreflect software instead of the picassa stuff

any comments welcome
be brutal
it makes me better

thanks

[wfooshee]

Those are some good-looking pictures, far better noise-wise than the earlier stuff we were looking at.

It looks like you are right at the edge of usable shutter speed now, though, just getting a bit of motion blur.

Also, some gyms have better light than others, as I'm sure you're finding. I remember trying to shoot my daughter's volleyball games, and they had very few lights even turned on, and were using the windows in the upper walls for light. There was enough light to see, but I never got anything I could use in the pictures, and eventually gave up. She's graduated now, so I can't try with my new camera and see if i can do any better. Also, I was limited to f/5.6 on my kit zoom, 2 full slower than your 2.8 lens, which certainly didn't help!

[burnet44]

thanks
maybe my 40d isnt so bad
Im still an idiot
Ill try 1/320 nest time
i would love to shoot at
800 iso or below
f 4
and 1/500 or more
I dont know how some people shoot that high
those might be some good settings
if I could ever get them:mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

[burnet44]

better
check out the soccer pics

insert head banging smiley

PhotoReflect - First Down Photos