Setting up the HD1 for kids sports

[Alan Kenworthy]

Okay, I've had the HD-1 for 4 days now and have been experimenting with shooting outdoor kids baseball games.
There is a big tourney this next weekend, and I want to capture it in HD! :)

It seems that what I read about the basic HD mode is true. It's 30 frames per second make it look choppy when catching all the action.

I've fooled around with "sports" mode and it almost looks like a strobe effect. It's not choppy, but it's like you can see a sticatto of frames. Maybe it's just me... I'm one of the "few" who see rainbows on DLP TV sets... all the time!

What I liked the most is 100 frames per second. Seems smoother, with fewer "viewed" frames in a swing of the bat (for example).

So, next I'm looking at focus...

With Manual mode on and 1/100, I think I have to do the following... (this is the question)
I read that I should zoom all the way to 10X and auto focus on a typical subject...
then I go to manual focus mode and I should be able to pull the zoom back out and see the entire baseball field still in focus...
Is that really true? I need to test this... something about depth of field?


I've also noticed that I need to reduce my shooting angle so I'm panning around the field less... all that movement will make ya dizzy.

Bottomline... I get some great images when I'm relatively still on the subject and things go to heck trying to pan around too much too fast. This is not the HD-1's fault, as I had this problem on my older gear.

I have a long way to go, but it's an interesting start!

Any pet settings from the audience for this type of shooting?

Thank you,
Alan

[Tom Roper]

It's not the 30 fps that makes it choppy. It's the default fast shutter speeds (1/100-1/250 etc.) Go to shutter priority, and set it to 1/60th second. You'll lose the choppiness, but if it's bright daylight outdoors, you'll get overexposed at 1/60th because the CCD has too much speed even at f/22.

So you need to use a 4x (.6) neutral density filter in combination with 1/60th shutter speed. A polarizer in combination is a good idea too. It's also good to avoid f/16-22 to avoid diffraction effects from tiny apertures.

After you set the shutter speed, you can toggle the S/A button quickly to see what the f-stop is for that speed.

[Yiannis Kall]

Does the 4x neutral density filter blur the background?

[Steve Crisdale]

Originally Posted by Yiannis Kall

Does the 4x neutral density filter blur the background?

No.

Neutral density filters and polarizers have no effect on the optics of a lens (or they shouldn't...) If you get a really cheap and shoddy ND or polarizer, then poor manufacturing standards may cause some image alterations.

So, as long as you buy reasonable quality ND filters - I'd also suggest a Polarizer - you should be fine. Try getting them from a good photography store. Hoya brand are good and reasonably priced.

[Tom Roper]

Ditto what Steve said. All I can add, is that there ARE differences in the quality of filters. Don't go cheap there...even the best won't break the bank at 52mm. (Hoya's are good, so are Sunpak, Quantaray)

[Alan Kenworthy]

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

It's not the 30 fps that makes it choppy. It's the default fast shutter speeds (1/100-1/250 etc.) Go to shutter priority, and set it to 1/60th second. You'll lose the choppiness, but if it's bright daylight outdoors, you'll get overexposed at 1/60th because the CCD has too much speed even at f/22.

So you need to use a 4x (.6) neutral density filter in combination with 1/60th shutter speed. A polarizer in combination is a good idea too. It's also good to avoid f/16-22 to avoid diffraction effects from tiny apertures.

After you set the shutter speed, you can toggle the S/A button quickly to see what the f-stop is for that speed.

Tom, great info. Thank you!
I'll see what I can learn about all this before the weekend.
By the way, just shot some footage of a school play. The HD1 did a great job! Looks great on the JVC D-ILA

Alan