The motor-drive...

...sequences I shot at VHS Varsity Boys basketball v Cascade Christian on 12/18/09 seem to be coming out pretty well. I can see issues with consistent focusing within a series of shots: for some reason I shot with "AI Focus Auto-Focus" which is supposed to automatically switch from single-shot AF to AI Servo AF as needed.

Since the subjects in basketball are rarely stationary I have to wonder why I did it this way, but you gotta try stuff to see how stuff works.

Last night at VHS Varsity (both girls and boys) basketball v Charles Wright I shot entirely in "AI Servo ("for Moving Subjects") Auto-Focus" and very quick checks of shots while the game was underway seem to show more consistently accurate focusing through a sequence of shots, even when the subject was covering a big distance across the floor.

I'll know more when I get last night's photos burned onto DVD and get a look at them on the computer...

I shot...

...VHS Boys and Girls Varsity basketball v Cascade Christian last night with two major changes:

• I went back to AI Servo Auto-focus from AI Focus Auto-focus (which I don't usually use, and which I used exclusively for VHS Boys and Girls Basketball v Fife), and

(Actually as it turned out I didn't switch to AI Servo after all, but shot in AI Focus Auto-Focus...)

• I used motor-drive extensively, which I don't usually use, rather hoping to catch That One Moment(tm) simply by timing and luck

In the first case, the distinction between the two focusing modes is (supposedly) that AI Servo tracks moving subjects continually ("While you hold down the shutter button halfway, the subject will be focused continually.") and AI Focus switches between One Shot Auto-focus ("When you press the shutter button halfway, the camera will focus only once.") and AI Servo automatically, as soon as the subject starts moving.

I've found from working through the Fife basketball photos (AI Focus, not AI Servo) is that, in fact, none of them seem to be focused right-on: many of them are close, but none of them are really great.

In the second case, I've never been really impressed with motor drive because once you press the shutter it's just *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* and there's really no particular guarantee that any one of the *bang*'s (as it were) is going to be, again, That One Moment(tm).

So I've got to get last night's photos burned to DVD so I can move them over to a Window$ box and get a look at 'em.