Is The D7100 Good For Sports Photography

I’ve had my D7100 a few months and accept had fun shooting BMX and mount biking a few times. The starting time time I shot BMX I tried:

• AF-C, 3D tracking
• RAW + jpeg
• Aperture priority
• continuous loftier release mode
• I set up both the U1 & U2 modes, one for loftier shutter speeds (with high ISO), the other for panning with lower shutter speeds and low ISO

I was a chip dissappointed with the results, and institute that:

• the focus tracking wasn’t working so well
• the buffer filled very quickly and I missed a lot of shots
• the shutter speeds dropped every bit the light dropped and I had to fiddle with the ISO and aperture to get them back up again
• the U1 & U2 modes were a corking way to switch multiple settings very quickly during a race

The next time I tried:

• AF-C, 51 point area tracking
• jpeg only
• shutter priority
• motorcar ISO, with a max that I had to bump up a few times as the light faded

The results were much better:

• the autofocus worked incredibly well
• shooting jpeg just meant my bursts were much longer and I got many more than shots
• I could change the shutter speed very hands, using about one/40th for best panning results and about 1/g and up for freezing the motion. Non quite as quick as swapping betwixt U1 & U2, but you could hands prepare those up with two shutter speeds if you want to go that style.

Some other things I learned:

• When I was shooting side-on, the riders were often closer to the spectators backside them than I was to the riders. Even wide open (f3.5 on my kit lens) the background was just too sharp and the riders got lost. This was when the panning at 1/40th worked really well the bring the riders out.
• The panning was likewise great because of the style the riders moved. As they went over the smaller jumps their bikes and arms and legs were moving upward and down, merely their heads were steady. I liked the way this motion blur worked with the panning blur. It was especially swell when their eyes were dainty and sharp.
• I could shoot at higher shutter speeds when I was looking direct down the track with the riders coming at me, and there was no trouble with distracting background.
• Continuing on the inside of a corner I could get very close to the riders and use high or depression shutter speeds successfully.
• My kit lens (18−105) had all the reach I needed. I was able to become very close to the activity at many points on the track.
• I struggled to get practiced shots over the bigger jumps, equally the riders were moving up and down as well as across the frame, and there were likewise many distracting groundwork elements − trees, light towers, spectators, etc.

Manifestly every sport is different, and you’ll take a whole different set of challenges to bargain with. You’ll nigh certainly need a longer lens for field sports, the movement won’t be as predicatble, and your compositions will exist very different. Merely hopefully this gives y’all some things to remember about.

Let us know how you get on. I’m withal exploring the AF modes and would exist curious to hear what you find works best.

(You can see some of my BMX shots here .)