This shot was taken on my trusty old Fuji X-Pro1 with the 23mm f/1.4 lens at f/2.5 using ISO 6400 and 1/500th second.
I was given three pieces of advice for sport photography when I was shooting alongside some top pros when I was at the BBC TV and here it is
• When shooting stills, get it still. 1/500th is a great place to start.
• Be in the right place to see the action against a relevant but non distracting background. • Get your timing spot on.
Great advice indeed! For the kick boxing shot above I pre focussed using momentary AF in manual focus mode and then panned with the action like it was a movie. I watched the action, not the LCD and chose when to shoot because the LCD on the X-Pro1 has quite a delay. The X-T1 is an altogether better camera for the job but it’s the shot that counts, not the camera.
That`s a great shot, how did you manage to get so close without getting in the way of the action and not to distract the fighters?
Hi Photodir, My fixer on our tour arranged for us to shoot some of the action from just outside the ring. I held the camera just off the canvas to get the shot. It was really great fun being that close to the action. Cheers, Damien.
Have an XT1, but was wondering if similar, to help with this type of photography.
Thanks for the help.
Hi Eric,
Absolutely use the X-T1 in the same way. After the firmware 3 update you can now make the momentary AF area as small as you like in manual focus mode. Cheers, Damien.
Exceptional work as always Damian. Always the photographer, never the tools though it does help in certain situations sometimes :).
Eric dependent on how you’ve set up your Xpro1, throw it into manual focus, guides in the viewfinder to set your stage/distance of where your subject is or will be. For mine, I’ve set the AEL/AFL button in the menu as an AF override to achieve proper focus during MF. My style of shooting has always been quicker going this path with the Xpro1, my XT1 different kettle of fish. Hope that helps :)
Thanks Refugee Phan. That’s kind of you to reply to Eric. Cheers, Damien.
Hi Damian,
Thanks for great site, videos and training.
As a new Fuji user, could you please explain what you meant with “using momentary AF in manual focus mode”please. Excuse my ignorance if it’s a simple answer.
Cheers, Eric
Hi Eric,
Switch the camera to manual focus mode using the switch on the front. Then using the AFL button on the back activate the AF. It will only activate while that button is depressed. Release the button when focus has been achieved and now it is locked there so you can shoot when the moment is right and not after the camera has found focus etc.
I hope this makes sense, Damien.