X-T1 and Sports: What settings get the best results?

[Mike B]

I think I need some help.

 

I have shots sports for many years with my Canon gear (1 body &5d body) and have got accustomed to servo mode and AF with my thumb.  I have tried my X-T1 several times and have not yet been able to get good tracking of moving subjects (soccer/basketball/volleyball). I have seen posts from folks that have good results on a moving subject yet my results seem to have way to much OOF shots. It continues to want to get the background or begin to hunt.  Has anyone successfully migrated from Canon or Nikon sports and if so what setting for focus and focus assist have you used to get consistent results? 

 

Mike

[GilBarib]

Hi Mike !

I gave a look at your web site, nice !!!

What lenses are you using on your X-T1 ?

Here is a copy/paste of my X-T1 settings for sports from a previous post:
High Performance Mode is On,
Pre AF is On,
AF-Mode mostly on Zone, 5x3 grid or 3x3, and only the central PDAF points are used, I'll use Single Point if the subject is a busy pack of athletes to keep the AF from jumping from one to the other, it really depends on de type of sport. I dont use Wide, since it uses the slower CDAF points
Release/Focus Priority is set to Focus (both for Af-S and Af-C)
Face detection = Off
Eye detection = Off
Shutter on MS only.
AF is on Continuous and the Drive Mode is on CH (8fps),
My EVF is set to Normal, not Full
LMO is On (even if I'm shooting RAW only)
OIS at Off most of the time since I'm shooting with SS usually above 1/500 of a second, OIS at On (mode 1) would give me a stabilized view in the EVF, but I find it induce a little lag when trying to quickly center the subject in the af zone (that little white cross in the middle of your Zone or the Single point square)

I'm shooting RAW only with a 300mb/sec 64gb SD UHS II, no problems with the buffer.

I always aim and follow the subject, half-pressing the shutter while tracking it, keeping the white cross in the middle of the Zone on target, I'll then fire a short burst when the subject is close to the optimum distance/spot/framing.

The hard part is aiming during the black out, practice and anticipation is the key! 

Here is a important trick to get the best possible results: dont let the lens "wonder around"[

I got PRE-AF at on, so the X-T1 and XF50-140 are always trying to focus, if I take my eyes off the EVF and let the camera point to the ground it is going to focus there.
When I'll lift it to my eyes to quickly take a shot it is going to have to focus from somewhere like one or two meters to 10 meters (where my subject is), same goes with far-away backgrounds, dont let it go there!

Make sure it's always around the right focus distance, aim at something close to your optimum spot or the place were you'll start your burst, the ground, something on the side of the tracks.

By doing this, acquisition time will be faster and in my experience once the X-T1 gets tracking on a subject it won't let go too easily.

 

So for race type sports like MTB or Skiing I always aim at where the subject is going to come into the frame, a curve / bump/ feature by the path the subject should follow.

For more random sports like soccer or football it is better to follow the action in the EVS while half-pressing the shutter.

The AF system on the Fuji likes to have a subject with good contrast too, I've shot enough speed skaters to notice a

slight difference of performance depending on the patterns and color of the bodysuit (all black suits being the worst).

With the Single Point AF make sure the AF box size is: as big as possible but cover only the subject.

 

One last thing I kind of feel that the XF50-140 is a big part of the equation too...makes a difference, I did not try it but the XF90mm with it's quad Linear Motors seems good from the result I've seen.

 

The Flickr Fuji-X Sport and Action Group: https://flic.kr/g/quLzW

My Album of AFC Tracking examples on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjVwSDVD

 

Good luck (and good light ! ) too you

Gilles

[Mike B]

Hi Gilles,

 

Thank you for taking a look at some of my images and for the nice comment. I appreciate it.

 

And thank you for the response and suggestions. I have a soccer tourney this weekend to try again with the X-T1.  I have the XF50-140 and is what I would be using the most. XF56, 35, 18-135, 18-55,   I'm looking at the getting 100-400 at some point. 

 

Looked at the links you provided. Sure work sure is impressive! And.......Lets me know it' is me having the problem and not the gear.  That's a good thing as I believe I should be able to get this Fuji producing some great results. I do always shoot in raw and process in Lightroom. 

 

One a note, I don't recognize what you are referring to for "LMO is On (even if I'm shooting RAW only)" can't think of what LMO is.

 

Again, Gilles, I appreciate you sharing the settings and I'm looking forward to applying and getting some results.

 

I wish you Good light as well.

 

Mike 

[GilBarib]

Hi Mike

 

Sorry about the LMO:: Lens Modulation Optimiser, page 3 in the camera menu, put it at On, it suppose to help.

 

Good shooting at your soccer Tourney and please feel free to post some in the Fuj-X Sport and Action Group on Flickr if you get any keepers you want to share.

 

Thanks

Gilles

[Mike B]

Oh Yeah. Should have known that. Thanks