Sometimes, you just have to fall back on the basics....

[pinholecam]

Very often, I see on forums, folks that declare again and again, year after year, that Pentax does not do weddings, no sports, no kids.
Only the latest and greatest will do.


To me, familiarity of ones' gear, the subject matter is key.
I was at a Triathlon event and since I was with family and had the whole family's event stuff to handle, my longest lens was an "old screw mount FA50/1.4 without the bestest AF and AF motor."
What I lacked in wonderous gear, I had in an appreciation of the sport and the basics of what I needed to get the shot.......


20180513-IMGP5710 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180513-IMGP5725 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180513-IMGP5732 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180513-IMGP5747 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180513-IMGP5743 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180513-IMGP5742 by jenkwang, on Flickr


Yes, new gear is sexy, but having the basics to get shots is also sexy...

Before we question that we are too good for the gear, which is all too often the theme on forums, do think if we really pushed ourselves in using it.

 

[sunnycamera]

cool shots,

what is the hit rate for event shots?

 

[pinholecam]

cool shots,

what is the hit rate for event shots?

Hard to put an actual figure as the times I missed (not I used "I" , and not "camera"), I wasn't paying attention to the subject as I should have or that I decided to start focusing a bit too late and they would have come too near by the time I acquired focus.

I wasn't even machine gunning, just 1 shot mode.
If I was to put a "hit rate" on it, I'd say 70-80%, all in, including human error which imo accounts for a large part of it.

 

[pinholecam]

20180512-IMGP5612 by jenkwang, on Flickr


20180512-IMGP5601 by jenkwang, on Flickr


20180512-IMGP5605 by jenkwang, on Flickr


Some of the basics I fell back on.
I know that as DOF increases, so does the "zone" where the subject will be in focus. Especially so when they are moving towards me.
So f2.8-f4 would certainly increase my odds.

The old school method of pre-focus also works despite it being ... "old"...
The above shots, I just used pre-focus.
Focused on some feature on the ground and snapped as the subject fell within the zone of focus/DOF.



(will mention AF later).

 

[pinholecam]

20180512-IMGP5659 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180512-IMGP5648 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180512-IMGP5653 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20180512-IMGP5651 by jenkwang, on Flickr


I also used AF-C for a lot of the shots.
There are certainly limitations, but like I said, my role as a shooter (for my own photos) is to "make it happen" with whatever I have on hand.
So some points I found useful.

1. K1 AF-C is maybe better off at about f4, it does not predict ahead as fast, so that DOF helps. (there is some play in this of course since DOF will vary with focal length and focus distance, but personal experience so far is f4-f5.6 is better with a 300mm lens).
2. Starting the focus tracking a bit further away helps.
3. The K1 is 36mp, so I have no qualms about cropping for composition since I only have a 50mm with me.
4. Shutter speed is very important to get a overall sharp shot, in running and cycling, there can be minor vibrations that are faster than the travel speed of the subject and this can cause a blur on the subject that is mistaken for misfocus. I'd say probably around 1/500 if not more.

 

[unagi]

bravo ! amazing what you did with a trusty "old screw mount FA50/1.4 without the bestest AF and AF motor" !

 

[felixcat8888]

It's been said that the best equipment is the person behind the camera and not the camera itself.

 

[pinholecam]

bravo ! amazing what you did with a trusty "old screw mount FA50/1.4 without the bestest AF and AF motor" !

It's been said that the best equipment is the person behind the camera and not the camera itself.

Thanks guys.

Just sharing the tips that I found useful and also some food for thought that often nowadays we can get so lead away to think of the gear aspect of our hobby only.

 

[felixcat8888]

Thanks guys.

Just sharing the tips that I found useful and also some food for thought that often nowadays we can get so lead away to think of the gear aspect of our hobby only.

IT is very true. Nowadays, most think that the better the gear the better one's photos are.

 

[ALFRED SAMUEL]

Man! You just Nailed these Shots with that Bad-Ass "SMC FA 50mm f1.4 "
Stunning Image Quality I should call it
>> Pentax Gear on Steroids <<
I shoot most Portraits, Sometimes shoot Football Matches
Now I can put my Screw-Driven SMC F 50mm F1.7 to good use

 

[pinholecam]

Man! You just Nailed these Shots with that Bad-Ass "SMC FA 50mm f1.4 "
Stunning Image Quality I should call it
>> Pentax Gear on Steroids <<
I shoot most Portraits, Sometimes shoot Football Matches
Now I can put my Screw-Driven SMC F 50mm F1.7 to good use

If you have good access to football matches and get near enough, yeah, why not give the 50mm a try.
In fact, even w/o special access, you can try to think hard to see what type of shots you can get out of a situation with the lens as a personal challenge.

 

[ALFRED SAMUEL]

If you have good access to football matches and get near enough, yeah, why not give the 50mm a try.
In fact, even w/o special access, you can try to think hard to see what type of shots you can get out of a situation with the lens as a personal challenge.

Yes! I will give my 50mm a try!
Off course the Easy way out shoting football match is the 70-210mm lens > Ha Ha Ha!
Classic Learing Example is World Cup 1970 finals (Brazil vs Italy)
where old school Photographer shooting manual focus on film & they were so close to the action + risk getting hit by the ball.
It is so important to fall back to Basics