best camera/lens for fast focusing

[BadFish1]

Hello Everyone,

Fairly new to photography but steadily learning over the past few years. My question now is what would be a good combination of camera body and lens for fast focusing for sports and a 2 year old toddler running around?

I currently use a Canon 70D with a Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 and I also have a Sony Rx100IV that we always carry around. Both are good cameras and pictures have been fine but I seem to miss shots and still have out of focus ones. I mainly use the camera for action shots of my daughter, park, beach, ect and then on the boat for fishing. I feel like there may be better options out there than what I am using and would like to get some feedback. I am using the fastest action shooting available and RAW images on both cameras.

Thanks for the info!


Thanks,

Joe

 

[astroNikon]

Maybe provide some photos of the not so good ones.
It might be your technique that needs polishing that would help no matter if you upgraded or not to a new camera.

 

[BadFish1]

Maybe provide some photos of the not so good ones.
It might be your technique that needs polishing that would help no matter if you upgraded or not to a new camera.

Thanks for the reply and understand where you are coming from. It is not so much as just a blurry photo but more feeling like with the cameras I have now, I am sometimes waiting for them to focus and then miss a shot. Maybe it is a focus setting(certainly open to which would be the best/better) but typically I am using the tracking AI servo setting when using the Canon. No real issues when doing a portrait just more so with the fast action.


Thanks,

Joe

 

[astroNikon]

Canon 1dx mark II should resolve most issues.
Your Tamron lens should be effective with it. Or the 70-200/2.8 for further away action.

 

[weepete]

Or a 7Dmkii if you want a bit cheaper.

 

[BadFish1]

Canon 1dx mark II should resolve most issues.
Your Tamron lens should be effective with it. Or the 70-200/2.8 for further away action.

Or a 7Dmkii if you want a bit cheaper.

Thanks! Will check these out and compare.

 

[jcdeboever]

Totally two different cameras. Get whatever camera @coastalconn has if you want fast focus. .

 

[astroNikon]

Totally two different cameras. Get whatever camera @coastalconn has if you want fast focus. .

CoastalConn shots Nikon now (d500, D600). He had a 1dx & 7d mark II, 500mm lens when he was on Canon. And a d800 and 7100 when he was on Nikon before that.
OP didn't mention budget so 1dx mark II it is ...

 

[BadFish1]

Totally two different cameras. Get whatever camera @coastalconn has if you want fast focus. .

CoastalConn shots Nikon now (d500, D600). He had a 1dx & 7d mark II, 500mm lens when he was on Canon. And a d800 and 7100 when he was on Nikon before that.
OP didn't mention budget so 1dx mark II it is ...

Sorry, I should have mentioned that...$5k is a bit out of my range. Like to stay in the $1,500-3k range.

 

[astroNikon]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that...$5k is a bit out of my range. Like to stay in the $1,500-3k range.

7d mark II then which has super fast focusing and frames per second
if you want something that focuses better in lower light then a 6d or mark 5d mark iii, which are full frame cameras.

 

[coastalconn]

If you want to stick with Canon, the logical choice would be the 7dm2 if you are happy with the ISO performance of the 70D. If you go that route, make sure You buy from a retailer with a good return policy since it is a flawed camera and it might take a few bodies to get a good one. You could also look at the 1d4 which sells for around 12-1500 used. Great pro build, but a little outdated now. But solid performance, very responsive and also 10 FPS. The 5d4 will be announced in the coming weeks and will have a very good sensor (in theory) and good AF performance but only 7 FPS..

 

[zombiesniper]

I second the 7dm2.
I've had a great time and pretty good success with mine.

 

[BadFish1]

Thanks for the replies Everyone! Will look into a few of these but that 7D Mark II looks like it could work.

 

[fmw]

If a DSLR and lens with an internal focusing motor doesn't do the job, I would recommend learning how to focus manually. Photographers have been capturing motion with manual focus for decades.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hello Everyone,

Fairly new to photography but steadily learning over the past few years. My question now is what would be a good combination of camera body and lens for fast focusing for sports and a 2 year old toddler running around?

I currently use a Canon 70D with a Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 and I also have a Sony Rx100IV that we always carry around. Both are good cameras and pictures have been fine but I seem to miss shots and still have out of focus ones. I mainly use the camera for action shots of my daughter, park, beach, ect and then on the boat for fishing. I feel like there may be better options out there than what I am using and would like to get some feedback. I am using the fastest action shooting available and RAW images on both cameras.

Thanks for the info!


Thanks,

Joe

First if you haven't already switch to AI servo mode and reduce your number of autofocus points. On my Nikon I usually use 1 focus point for most things, if I'm dealing with something that is moving very fast and hard to track I'll increase that to 9.

If your dealing with something really fast and erratic like a small bird, you might want to increase to more focus points.

However by reducing the number of focus points you make it far less likely the camera will choose a focus point you did not intend. This will give you a lot more shots that are focused on the intended target.

The only time I usually exceed 9 focus points is if I'm shooting at birds in flight, and even then only if the background is something uncluttered like an open sky.

As others have mentioned a camera body with a better AF system will also help improve accuracy, however you might want to try this first on your 70d if your not using this method already.