5D3 for sports/action?

[Bosman]

I'll be testing out the 5D Mark III to its fullest this Friday.  I have a tennis match to shoot at 3pm and will likely be shooting mainly with the 5D3 due to silent shutter and how close I'll be.

Use the right AF case and 4 point surround. Too many surround points often will mean the focus will end up behind them. I found that to be true with bikes so i went back to 4 from 8. I usually only shoot one focus point but i am exploring the benefits of branching out from what i usually do.

[bdunbar79]

Well, it definitely was inferior to the 1D X I have.  The silent shutter was nice, but I'm probably going to take my 300 f/2.8 next time and shoot with the 1D X. 

[Michael_pfh]

I'm looking for experience with shooting sports/action using a 5D Mk III, especially compared to the 7D.

I've had a 50D for almost 4 years now and I've been generally underwhelmed by the AF system, so I'm considering my options.

Right now I see four options: 7D (possibly used), 5D3, 1DX, or wait for a "7D2". I'm an amateur, the cost/value ratio of an 1DX would rather low regardless that I could find the money to buy it. 5D3 is kinda borderline. As for 7D, I'm hesitant since it is 3 years old and the sensor seems just as noisy as my 50D. I believe that a 7D2 will not show up until next year (at least).

I want a body at least at the level of the 50D (AFMA, size/metal body, UI), so the 60D or lower is not an option. Nor is defection to Nikon an option.

Knowing discussion boards, I anticipate that some will jump down my throat saying that I don't know how to use the camera. Thank you, I do believe I know how to operate the camera
So for information, I generally shoot in Manual, with either Spot AF or AI Servo, with only the center point selected. My lenses (17-40, 24-70, 70-200/2.8 IS I) are micro-adjusted to the body. I often have problems if the area that I'm focusing on is relatively small, but still larger than the AF box. Before the warranty expired, I had the camera checked at the Canon service center and they did not find any AF problems.

I love my 1D4 for sports. You can probably get a used one on eBay or CL.

[swampler]

Well, it definitely was inferior to the 1D X I have.  The silent shutter was nice, but I'm probably going to take my 300 f/2.8 next time and shoot with the 1D X.

In what way is it inferior? AF? High ISO noise? Etc.? I can see the difference in build, grip, etc. Interested in functional differences.

[bdunbar79]

Well, it definitely was inferior to the 1D X I have.  The silent shutter was nice, but I'm probably going to take my 300 f/2.8 next time and shoot with the 1D X.

In what way is it inferior? AF? High ISO noise? Etc.? I can see the difference in build, grip, etc. Interested in functional differences.

It missed more often and wasn't as fast.  I probably just got spoiled though.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Well, it definitely was inferior to the 1D X I have.  The silent shutter was nice, but I'm probably going to take my 300 f/2.8 next time and shoot with the 1D X.

i tried some tennis with it yesterday 5D3, seems like a LOT of misses at tennis (which seemed like it should be remarkably easier for the AF system, than soccer or football)

some might have been heat haze though, brutal heat and shooting from in stands (very close though) so that meant a different surface between me and the court, and some was definitely just me, but something seemed a little weird, kept wanting to jump back 2-4' behind a player at times (and focus on nothing, stuff behind player was more than 2-4' back) and even when they were just walking towards stands, at times it didn't seem to keep f/2.8 DOF dead on player, need to look into it more to see what the story it, i'm sure i probbaly didn't have the ideal settings and in other cases it was def stuff I didn wrong, but

I've had amazing one shot mode success with 5D3 so far (easily most accurate and precise of the bodies I've ever used for that) and it's done better than 7D under same conditions (I actually find 7D does worse than 5D2 for AI Servo more often than it does better for soccer). Oddly, not sure it's done better for AI Servo than my 5D2 yet. But I haven't really figured the system all out yet or shot more than a very little so it's hard to say. And some of the errors were my own.

[bdunbar79]

Yeah it was very odd.  I was using a 70-200L II IS lens so that could have been part of the problem, considering the 300 f/2.8L I IS focuses much faster than that.  I'd like to give it another try on Sunday morning.  I didn't like my shots from Friday afternoon, so I'm going to shoot again Sunday at another home match with the 300 and 1DX and maybe for a few games put the 5D3 on it, and see how it goes.  If well, I'll post my photos.  Anyways, I have another night football game tonight at 7, and won't be shooting with anything but 1D X.

[Bosman]

Well, it definitely was inferior to the 1D X I have.  The silent shutter was nice, but I'm probably going to take my 300 f/2.8 next time and shoot with the 1D X.

In what way is it inferior? AF? High ISO noise? Etc.? I can see the difference in build, grip, etc. Interested in functional differences.

It missed more often and wasn't as fast.  I probably just got spoiled though.

Brett, I didn't mean to sound like i knew more than you about the camera, its just i have been shooting with it all summer and found the bike case with 4pt to be very good. The silent shutter would def affect performance too. With the 5dm3 Af cases and settings make all the diff to success. It will never be a 1dx but for those who don't have that option it does quite well with a monopod and steady panning.

[Bosman]

Well, it definitely was inferior to the 1D X I have.  The silent shutter was nice, but I'm probably going to take my 300 f/2.8 next time and shoot with the 1D X.

i tried some tennis with it yesterday 5D3, seems like a LOT of misses at tennis (which seemed like it should be remarkably easier for the AF system, than soccer or football)

some might have been heat haze though, brutal heat and shooting from in stands (very close though) so that meant a different surface between me and the court, and some was definitely just me, but something seemed a little weird, kept wanting to jump back 2-4' behind a player at times (and focus on nothing, stuff behind player was more than 2-4' back) and even when they were just walking towards stands, at times it didn't seem to keep f/2.8 DOF dead on player, need to look into it more to see what the story it, i'm sure i probbaly didn't have the ideal settings and in other cases it was def stuff I didn wrong, but

I've had amazing one shot mode success with 5D3 so far (easily most accurate and precise of the bodies I've ever used for that) and it's done better than 7D under same conditions (I actually find 7D does worse than 5D2 for AI Servo more often than it does better for soccer). Oddly, not sure it's done better for AI Servo than my 5D2 yet. But I haven't really figured the system all out yet or shot more than a very little so it's hard to say. And some of the errors were my own.

What af case did you use and also what shot priority? I found when i had shot priority focus for 1st shot and for second set to be infocus before taking the shot meant more failure too.