1DX & 500mm f/4L IS II Varsity Football

[Richard Lane]

Richard,

I have a football game Saturday the 8th, at night of course (damn it!) but I will take my 400 f/2.8 and see if that works much better, with less cropping. The thing I noticed about the 1DX is that I didn't need to give much AF time. I could just point the lens and shoot the shot, without a half-press sometimes and bang, it nailed the focus anyways. I suppose that would have more to do with the lens though too. My 1D4 was not doing that however, even with the same lens, and I cannot recall any DSLR that I've used that could do that. Cool camera!

Yes, it's very impressive, not only is the AF very fast but it's very accurate too! The 400mm is a good call for that game. You'll just need to be prepared to back up more and stay ahead of of the drives. You could still shoot a little loose, but now when you crop it will just be for perfect composition instead of mainly removing dead space.

 

[Richard Lane]

Here's a few shots from yesterdays Varsity Scrimmage shot with the 1DX and 500mm f/4L IS II:

How is the AF compared to an f/2.8 lens such as the 400 f/2.8?

-PW

I don't own the 400mm f/2.8 but I have demoed it, however I do have a 300mm f/2.8L IS version one. The AF on the 500mm f/4II feels equally as fast as the 300mm f/2.8 during the day. I haven't tried the 500mm f/4II at night yet. The AF of the 500mm f/4II is extremely fast and feels instantaneous, whether in AI Servo or One shot. When I press the shutter button in One Shot the AF confirmation beep occurs simultaneously with the shutter press. There is no lag whatsoever, as a matter of fact it does feel "a little" faster than the 300mm f/2.8 and I can't believe I just wrote that (all bets are off for night games). When I press the shutter button in One Shot with the 300mm f/2.8I, the sensation is shutter-press then an instant beep, with the 500mmII it feels as though the shutter-press is actually causing the beep without any lag.

Now, with the 500mm II in AI Servo when tracking the player, if you loose the player for a second and then have to reacquire him, there is a longer delay with the 500mm f/4L as the glass moves forward and backward to reacquire focus (I have focus search off which is recommended for super-telephotos in order to prevent extreme de-focusing, for extreme de-focusing I reacquire with the Manual Focus ring). I don't view this as a concern with it's AF ability, as I feel it has more to do with the longer focal range, just taking a little longer to re-lock onto the target. In other words the de-focused 300mm f/2.8I will move back and forth faster so it re-acquires faster and of course it's also easier to track your subject with a wider FOV angle.

Rich