Pentax K-5 settings for sports photography

[RockvilleBob]

I am new to the K-5, changed from Sony alpha. I would appreciate your advice and suggestions for setting up the K-5 for sports photography. I use the Sigma 70-200 f 2.8 lens and have not figured out the right settings to capture in focus action of my grand kids.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[spyglass]

Tcom has used the K5 and had an opportunity to compare it against other brands in a sports shooting environment. He would probably be the best to offer some feedback. Perhaps if you have specific questions tailor them to make it easier to provide answers. If you do not have specific questions you could narrow the questions down as follows:

Camera settings
Lens Combinations
Shooting Technique
Environment concerns (indoor / outdoor, lighting)


Just a thought to help,

Spyglass

[blackcloudbrew]

Good point Spyglass - Tcom's done more of that lately than most of us.

I'm guessing though that the basics would be something like this:

White balance - AWB
Tv or TAv mode
Program line to action preference
Auto ISO range, hmmmm...I'd set it to 100-6,400 or so.
Focus mode, I'd go for spot mode myself
Metering mode, either spot or center weighted
SR - on of course
Oh, shutter on high speed multiple images, so I could - if necessary - pop off shots at 7 fps.
File format - if you shoot RAW shoot RAW, if not use the highest quality and largest resolution jpegs. Shooting jpegs with sports is recommended by some because it stores faster on the card.


If flash is allowed I'd have my external flash on and available if I needed it.

That would be my approach for settings for starters. I'd want to do some test shots early on and evaluate my results on the LCD by zooming out x4 until I felt I had the focus right and the histogram looked reasonable.

[RockvilleBob]

Thanks for the prompt helpful replies. I should have included more information  as suggested. It would have taken me quite awhile to get around to program line/action.

I am using a Sigma 70 200 f2.8 on a K-5. This is a big upgrade from my previous SOnay Alpha setup.

I try using a colorchecker for white balance. I shoot RAW in continuous high mode with spot focusing and 5 spot metering. Not sure if these are optimum so any suggestions here would help.
I shoot in TAv trying for a fast shutter 1/1000 and open aperture 2.8 or 4

The questions I have are:
When to use AC.S versus AF.C?
When would I use the AF button?
I have set custom menu 6 to 2, turning ON the LINK AE to AF Point. Is this a good thing to do?
Is there a need to set AE-L with AF Locked?
I set custom menu 25 Catch-in-focus to 2 , turning this on. Is this correct. I am totally confused between the AF button and this option.

[blackcloudbrew]

I'm hoping others jump in here but I can give it a try in response.

AF.S and AF.C - In theory action shots would be a good candidate for use of AF.C (continuous) focusing. You could also take the old range finder approach and just go with manual focus with enough depth of field to get the shot within a distance. My personal choice would be to start with AF.C for action stuff. I do find that mode difficult at times because the camera won't let you shot until it's in focus which it's trying to do a lot of. That's were you could use the AF button. In fact, you should be able to customize it so it won's focus when the shutter is depressed half way (assuming you are in AF.S mode) and only hit the AF button when you want to recompose. That may be something you want to give a try.

I think - remember I don't do a lot of this kind of shooting - that linking the AE to AF point is a logical move.

The catch-in focus is very useful for MF lenses I believe and perhaps may be at odds for this kind of shooting. It's like you set your lens for a critical focus, hold the trigger down, and when the subject is in focus the camera would take the picture. Use of the AF button then would seem counter productive here.

That's what I can respond to at this point. Perhaps others can further this.

[RockvilleBob]

Am I correct in thinking the the AF button only applies to static scenes or can you actually set the camera in AF.C and press the AF button and then follow say a football player while pressing the shutter? There are just so many options it is going to take awhile to learn how to set things up.

I really appreciate all the advice I've received on the forum - thans to all.

[blackcloudbrew]

I don't think so. My understanding of it is that you have two ways to tell the camera to AF. One is the half-way depress of the shutter button, the other is the AF button. If you are in AF.S either of those two when pressed will cause the AF system to activate - once. In AF.C I'm not so clear on it. It should be that the half-way depress would activate the continuous focus system until release, with the AF button, it should be the same but you don't hold it down (or so I think). Have to try that myself, I guess. 

[Frogfish]

Thanks for the prompt helpful replies. I should have included more information  as suggested. It would have taken me quite awhile to get around to program line/action.

I am using a Sigma 70 200 f2.8 on a K-5. This is a big upgrade from my previous SOnay Alpha setup.

I try using a colorchecker for white balance. I shoot RAW in continuous high mode with spot focusing and 5 spot metering. Not sure if these are optimum so any suggestions here would help.
I shoot in TAv trying for a fast shutter 1/1000 and open aperture 2.8 or 4

The questions I have are:
When to use AC.S versus AF.C?
When would I use the AF button?
I have set custom menu 6 to 2, turning ON the LINK AE to AF Point. Is this a good thing to do?
Is there a need to set AE-L with AF Locked?
I set custom menu 25 Catch-in-focus to 2 , turning this on. Is this correct. I am totally confused between the AF button and this option.

I occasionally back-up a pro-sports shooter here in Shanghai (X-Games, Asia Rugby 7s, HSBC Champions golf etc.) when he need it and have had some success with the following (i use 2 cameras 1xSigma 50-150/2.8 and 1xDA*300) :-

TAv - you set the DoF you want and the shutter speed (anywhere from 1/500 thru 1/1,500, unless you are shooting middle of the day in very bright conditions then at f2.8 or f4 you may need to go faster) that is going to give you the result you need so let the camera take care of the ISO (I usually set the max to 1,600 on the K5 - on the K7 no higher than 800 - though it rarely gets that high).
AWB and usually shoot Jpgs as there is no time to process RAW before sending the shots off to the respective sponsors/agencies.
AF.C (though I have also had some success with pre-focused MF e.g. take off or mid-air point on skateboarding jumps).
AF button not used. You can ignore this unless you assign AF to it (removing it from the shutter button).
95% of the time centre point focus only (big tip from the Pro was always shoot a little wider than you need and then you can quickly crop for the framing you want in PP).
If the action is fast and furious and you feel that AF.C is not keeping up then you can always assign Shutter Priority to the shutter button (rather than Focus Priority where the shutter won't fire until the camera says you are in focus). I don't use this though, keeper rate drops substantially and you will need to fire off high speed continuous drive framerate to get some keepers, pre-focusing and higher DoF helps.
CIF is only for Manual Lenses (actually it can be used with AF lenses) but I find that even with MF lenses it is not as accurate as your eye and isn't necessary except for fast moving action with MF).

These have worked for me but I'm sure there are other settings that will get you the results you want.

There are some shots on here but not that many as on some shoots all shots are the Copyright of the sponsor/contracting agency :
http://frogfish.smugmug.c...vens-2011/18775773_HmDSXC  and here
http://frogfish.smugmug.c...ames-2011/16877734_SxFKbh

[blackcloudbrew]

Note: as this thread really is becoming it's own thing, I've split it off the K5 review thread.

Earl da admin

[Ron Kruger]

I don't shoot sports, so only have questions.
Sports seems to me one of the exceptions where shooting JPEG makes sense because of the timeline, at least for shooting professionally, but maybe for personal use as well, because of the shorter write time.
However, I'm wondering if the spray-and-pray approach of burst is practical, because of the lower-quality small files. Plus, it would seem to me that while burst may help capture the best body language of a moment, an even better moment following may be missed because of write time.
I would think the most important things are intimate familiarity with the sport and concentrated anticipation: fewer exposures, but more keepers.
A lot of features, gadgets and gimics sound good in theory, such as AF-C and CIF, but fail in practical application, especially when one is aiming for the higher demands of print publications. I'd even question the loss of file size with cropping, despite the fact Frogfish's suggestion of shooting a little wider makes perfect sense. Even though I've found the K5 holds up pretty well under normal cropping, I'd have to admit that if I was doing it professionally, I'd opt for a FF format to retain a higher IQ when cropping. In fact, I'll have to admit, a bigger hammer would be my most important tool.

[tcom]

It is true that I did cover quite a few sport events with the K-5 and previous cameras. Fact is however, when needing a very fast and precise AF even in very low light, I do use a Nikon D3s instead (but I do cover the events as accredited or official photographer with press card).

It all very much depends on what kind of sports you do photograph and the light conditions you do get. Basically, when doing sports, I use AF-C with 1 AF point, the central AF point which is the fastest.

But now to your questions:

When to use AC.S versus AF.C?

Basically, if you are able to anticipate the game play, then prefocus to where you want to capture the action and use AF-S. Otherwise, use AF-C.

When would I use the AF button?

I do not know. I never used this button.

I have set custom menu 6 to 2, turning ON the LINK AE to AF Point. Is this a good thing to do?

If you choose to use another AF point than the central one, it can be a good idea to have the auto exposure linked to the AF point. However, depending on the speed of the action and the light conditions, I often switch to full manual exposure which works pretty well especially for indoor sports.

Is there a need to set AE-L with AF Locked?

The action is probably too fast to use AE-L and recomposing. If you switch to manual exposure, you do not need to take care of the AE anyway.

I set custom menu 25 Catch-in-focus to 2 , turning this on. Is this correct. I am totally confused between the AF button and this option.

This is a setting to use when having an AF lens without AF/MF switch. You set the camera to AF, turn on this Catch-in-focus, focus on where you want to capture the action. Then, when you press the shutter, the focusing distance of the lens will not move and the camera will take the photo as soon as the selected AF point is in focus.

[Frogfish]

I don't shoot sports, so only have questions.
Sports seems to me one of the exceptions where shooting JPEG makes sense because of the timeline, at least for shooting professionally, but maybe for personal use as well, because of the shorter write time.
However, I'm wondering if the spray-and-pray approach of burst is practical, because of the lower-quality small files.

Ron.  I use the 16MB 4 star JPG format, these are large files that do give a little leeway whilst still preserving the quality of the photograph. Crops from these are usually not heavy but more just trims to produce the best composition. Also whilst in heavy action I do use high speed burst I've yet to hit the buffer limit even once that I can remember .... usually the action is in bursts too (depends on the sport of course), or maybe I am just not generous enough with my use of SD card space

it would seem to me that while burst may help capture the best body language of a moment, an even better moment following may be missed because of write time.

See above. Haven't had that issue yet but knowing the sport and what can be expected to happen and when is your best insurance against missing something important.

I would think the most important things are intimate familiarity with the sport and concentrated anticipation: fewer exposures, but more keepers.

This is absolutely true. If I am shooting a sport I have little knowledge of (Fencing for example) then a lot more planning and recce work goes into the shoot. As I have played a lot of rugby and golf then these are far easier to anticipate what is going to happen and where I need to be.

A lot of features, gadgets and gimics sound good in theory, such as AF-C and CIF, but fail in practical application, especially when one is aiming for the higher demands of print publications. I'd even question the loss of file size with cropping, despite the fact Frogfish's suggestion of shooting a little wider makes perfect sense. Even though I've found the K5 holds up pretty well under normal cropping, I'd have to admit that if I was doing it professionally, I'd opt for a FF format to retain a higher IQ when cropping. In fact, I'll have to admit, a bigger hammer would be my most important tool.

As I mentioned above basically crops are usually not heavy but more just trims to produce the best composition.

[Ron Kruger]

Thanks for the great responses to my questions. The only thing that really surprises me is those about write time. I shoot RAW only and find that even with my K5, I have to wait a few seconds after firing off three or five consecutive exposures. This could be another practical reason for shooting JPEG only for sports.
As far as images fit for print is concerned, I have no problem cropping to standard sizes, which is going to be done by design artists anyway, and feeling confident plenty is left, but one doesn't have to drag a corner in very far beyond that to see the file size srink drastically. Given the variable distances of stadium sports, however, I would think the expanded ability to crop an FF format would be a real asset.

[Frogfish]

Thanks for the great responses to my questions. The only thing that really surprises me is those about write time. I shoot RAW only and find that even with my K5, I have to wait a few seconds after firing off three or five consecutive exposures. This could be another practical reason for shooting JPEG only for sports.

That doesn't sound right at all Ron.  Something is wrong there.  You should be getting 14-23 depending on the format. Have you updated your Firmware ?

This from Imaging Resource :

When the K-5 first hit the market, early firmware had a burst depth limit of just eight raw frames -- slightly over half the burst depth of its predecessor, and likewise bested by the mid-range Pentax K-r model. With firmware v1.01 installed, the K5 is now capable of as many as 20 frames in a single burst, restoring the rightful order of things inside the company's own APS-C lineup, with the K5 earning its flagship status by handily besting its siblings.

Perhaps more importantly, the updated firmware placed the K-5 ahead of a couple of important rivals from other manufacturers in terms of burst performance. In our own testing, we found the K-5 capable of 23 .DNG format, 14-bit Raw frames, 31 large/premium JPEGs, or 22 DNG+large/premium JPEG frames, at a rate of 6.5 frames per second. While that doesn't quite meet the advertised 7 frames per second rate, it bests Nikon's D7000 slightly in terms of burst speed, and significantly when considering burst depth.

[Ron Kruger]

Hmmmmm. I don't remember. How does one check the firmware at start-up?