# Shooting surfing with my new / used 7d mark ii ?



## TallDude (Jan 8, 2020)

I finally upgraded from my T2i to a 7d mark ii. I've been on a DSLR photo hiatus. Actually shooting and editing tons of video with my GoPros and other POV devices. I was shooting my son's basketball for years, but now he is in drum and bugle corps world and didn't really have the camera or lens to get the kind of photos I want. I'm also surfing more and have been wanting to take pictures of a bunch of my buddies. 
After a lot of research reviews and reviews I bought a new Sigma 100 - 400 mm 5.6. I figured with my crop the 150 - 600 mm equivalent I'd have the reach I needed. Most of the photos I'll be taking are in daylight so the 5.6 would be fine. I really know how to dial in the T2i from years of shooting in poorly lit gyms, so my first shots with the 100-400 mm on my T2i were pretty good. SOME were good... but getting the single focal point locked in at 400 mm was a little tricky. Plus the fps was slow. The subject surfer would change direction and I wouldn't get the transition. Big gaps on the continuous fast action. 
I found a 7d mark ii in good shape, well cared for, and about half shutter life for a fair price. Okay... this is a seriously better camera than I'm used to. A little intimidated, but not totally lost in shooting manual. My T2i didn't have 6 tracking sensitivity modes and so many AF options. 
Questions:
Shooting surfing will be mostly at 400 mm because it's a reef break that's way out. I use a mono pod.  With this set up what would be the best AF settings? ISO? Shutter Speed? Should I get a 1.4x or 2.0x  teleconverter? Do I really need a tripod? 
Here are a few sample shots. One at 100 mm and one a 400 mm.


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## TallDude (Jan 8, 2020)

Here is one with my T2i.


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## Derrel (Jan 8, 2020)

I think a zoom lens that goes up to 600 mm would serve your needs better. Keep the shutter speed fast, meaning 1/640 of a second or faster, and whatever ISO you are comfortable with.


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## TallDude (Jan 8, 2020)

I liked the 100 -400 mm range with an option of a teleconverter, I'll probably get one. At some point I'll get a 70 - 200 mm 2.8. I wanted a little more reach and didn't need that fast of a lens. I was looking at the 150 - 600 mm too, but felt the range was really too far out on a crop for my needs. I think figuring which of the AF options is my first step.


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## Derrel (Jan 8, 2020)

If you want a 1.4 X teleconverter on your 100 to 400 millimeter lens you would actually probably be better off with no teleconverter and the 150 to 600 mm Zoom. The telephoto converter will cost you one F stop in light Gathering Power and will no doubt degrade your images somewhat although for surfing where your main subject is fairly small and is usually well away from the corners there might not be much downside to the sharpness lost to the teleconverter.


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## weepete (Jan 9, 2020)

I'd use this as a starting point and tweek if needed:






It'll take a while to get dialed in the way you like it. The 150-600 is a great focal range, especially with surfers.


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## Jeff15 (Jan 9, 2020)

Yes, for this sort of photography you need a long lens, 600mm would be fine.......


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## stapo49 (Jan 9, 2020)

I have a Panasonic G9 which has a micro 4/3 sensor and have a Panasonic 100-300 lens which equates to 200-600 in full frame terms. I set the camera in shutter priority with everything thing else auto. Try to shoot at 1/1000 sec or faster if possible. I set the focus to auto focus continuous and shoot burst mode with the 225 auto focus points option.  Also shoot in RAW. There is also an option in the G9 to shoot in 4k/6k and choose an image/s from a series of images. Only in jpeg though.

I must do more surf photography as I am at the beach most of the time anyway.




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## TallDude (Jan 9, 2020)

Thanks for all the comments and tips. The AF is really extensive on the 7D. So many options. I usually have plenty of light so dropping a step is not a problem. When I shot basketball with my T2i and my 17-50 mm 2.8, I had to use single point. I'd catch the sleeve of a ref or defender and my subject would drop out of focus. I learned to track the ball. Fun times.... but my son quit playing  With surfing I'll catch the lip wave breaking in the foreground and again my subject drops out of focus. My T2i had a slow AF and only 9 points. Maybe the 7D's 65 AF points and faster processor will track and keep subject in focus even if a wave pops up in the foreground? I'll go out and play with it when the weather clears. 
BTW, I do shoot in RAW. I use the Canon DPP software because I'm comfortable using it, but I'm trying to learn Lightroom.


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## ronlane (Jan 9, 2020)

On the 7D mk II focusing. Per Professional Sports Photographer, Peter Read Miller, typically cases 1 and 4 are the ones to use.

Honestly for settings, since surfing is a daylight sport, I would use a shutter speed of over 1/1000 and use wide open apertures if possible with the ISO completing the exposure triangle. 

600mm effective on that lens should be pretty good as it is. I wouldn't get a 2x TC because the 2 stops of light you loose could very well cause issues with the auto focus. Now the 1.4x TC might be something to look at since it will then be a 1200mm f/8 lens. But honestly, I'd try it at 600 to see what that does for you for a while before paying the $300-400 for the TC.

One more note to that, if you get, be sure to get only the Canon 1.4x TC version III. The others aren't that good. (In all fairness, I don't know about the Sigma TC's)


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## Braineack (Jan 9, 2020)

don't knock the 150-600 until you try it.


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## Derrel (Jan 9, 2020)

I would really focus on learning to use the adjustment brush feature in Lightroom. It is quite amazing. Once you get a feel for how large a brush and how much Edge Feathering you should set, you will be amazed at the ability of the auto masking feature to differentiate your subject from the background and you will be extremely pleased with your ability to paint on whatever Corrections you need. Lightroom is amazing, but of course you do need to learn how to use it. Canon DPP software is quite simple by comparison and is a A-okay for doing basic Global edits and basic adjustments, but the adjustment brush feature that Lightroom has combined with automatic masking makes it a really useful tool. much easier and more intuitive than Photoshop once you get the basic idea down.


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## TallDude (Jan 9, 2020)

Braineack said:


> don't knock the 150-600 until you try it.


A pro photographer I know who has taken surfing pic's of me (I paid for them) has the 150 -600 on a 7D mark ii. I have lots of examples of how good it is, and he likes it. He shoots motocross with it mostly. I almost bought a 70 - 200 2.8. It's a great lens but it didn't quite have the reach I wanted. This 100 - 400 is a good range and I paid $7oo new. It's light enough to comfortably shoot handheld. The Sigma 150 - 600 is about $850 used and you really need a tripod with it.


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## ronlane (Jan 10, 2020)

Tripod? why not just get a good Monopod (it's cheaper and easier to carry around the beach.)?


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## weepete (Jan 10, 2020)

Most 150-600s are light enough to hand hold, though a little stabilisation can make things a bit easyier


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## Braineack (Jan 10, 2020)

weepete said:


> Most 150-600s are light enough to hand hold, though a little stabilisation can make things a bit easyier



I would put a monopod on mine, mainly for when i WASNT shooting, to carry the weight.  But when I was shooting I'd hand hold it for sure.   Unless youre using a gimbal head, i dont see a tripod or a monopod helping, as your axis is now locked.

this was hand-held panning with the old Tamron -- which is very inferior to the current models.




GTLM Porsche North America No. 912 by Braineack, on Flickr


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## TallDude (Jan 10, 2020)

I have a monopod, but I'm not use to it. When I shot basketball I'd handhold it in portrait orientation. Was able to get some really good shots in low light with my T2i, but... a lot of noise  I've been using the monopod on the surfing shots, but it's not comfortable for me yet. Letting the camera just hang off my fingers in portrait was always comfortable for me. I pretty much just shoot one handed sometimes. Holding a bigger lens in a landscape position is really new to me. With the monopod, all the camera weight is gone. So panning feels twitchy (loose) and I find myself leaning forward and back to compensate for the vertical. Surfing is not a linear sport. It's like following a fly sometimes. I'll try some hots without the monopod and play with the AF settings. 
Here's one of my old basketball photo's taken with the T2i and the Sigma 17 - 50 mm 2.8  This gym had just installed LED lights. So much nicer shooting in gyms these days.


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## Braineack (Jan 10, 2020)




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## stapo49 (Jan 10, 2020)

I shot these hand held with the G9 which has around 6 stops of image stabilization.  I found it easier to move around the beach and follow the surfers on the waves.







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## Derrel (Jan 10, 2020)

With a lens as long as a 100 to 400 or a 150 to 600, image stabilization is really a godsend. Yes with a monopod it takes some practice, and you have to tip yourself back or forward sometimes. I do not like to use a monopod with any type of head. the one time I did try it I was using a Cullman ball head from the 1980s and I got a severe blood blister/finger pinch. I have successfully used a Nikon 400 mm f 3.5 which weighed about 7 lb and a Nikon 300 2.8 and a Nikon 200 f/2. All three of these lenses weigh in at around 7 lb, and I have quite successfully used them with a monopod with no head. just screw the monopod directly into the tripod collar of the lens.

Even with an aps-c camera like the 7D-II,  I think a 150 to 600 would be a better option  for surfing shots than a 100 to 400. It's just simply longer.


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## TallDude (Jan 15, 2020)

I got a chance to practice a little more. Hand held, sun rising from the left side. I think I got the AF points worked out. Shooting at f8, 1/3200 and auto ISO.


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## Braineack (Jan 15, 2020)

Too far away. Fill the frame with one surfer.


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## stapo49 (Jan 15, 2020)

I guess you may be limited by the reach of your lens but as @Braineack mentioned try and fill the frame as much as possible with one surfer. Here is one I took a while ago to illustrate that. From memory I  cropped this one a bit as well.



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## TallDude (Jan 15, 2020)

I'll try to get in closer, which means I have to try harder to track my subject.....  I was only at 250 mm. I could have got closer. It was a higher tide which breaks closer to shore. That's when the foilers show up. If the tides to low, they risk slamming their $1,500. foils into the reef.


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## stapo49 (Jan 15, 2020)

Sorry I meant to mention on my previous post that the exception to this would be if you had a surfer/s on a 20 or 30 ft wave where you want to juxtapose the size of the wave to the size of the surfer/s.

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## TallDude (Jan 15, 2020)

20 TO 30' !  I'd put put my camera away and paddle out!   NOT!  On waves that size I'm sure I'd need a lens with a lot more reach.


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## stapo49 (Jan 15, 2020)

TallDude said:


> 20 TO 30' !  I'd put put my camera away and paddle out!   NOT!  On waves that size I'm sure I'd need a lens with a lot more reach.



No vacation to Nazare then?


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## Braineack (Jan 16, 2020)

TallDude said:


> I'll try to get in closer, which means I have to try harder to track my subject.



There is no try, there is only do.


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## RVT1K (Jan 16, 2020)

Braineack said:


> TallDude said:
> 
> 
> > I'll try to get in closer, which means I have to try harder to track my subject.
> ...



..or not do.


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## RVT1K (Jan 16, 2020)

Derrel said:


> With a lens as long as a 100 to 400 or a 150 to 600, image stabilization is really a godsend. Yes with a monopod it takes some practice, and you have to tip yourself back or forward sometimes. I do not like to use a monopod with any type of head. the one time I did try it I was using a Cullman ball head from the 1980s and I got a severe blood blister/finger pinch. I have successfully used a Nikon 400 mm f 3.5 which weighed about 7 lb and a Nikon 300 2.8 and a Nikon 200 f/2. All three of these lenses weigh in at around 7 lb, and I have quite successfully used them with a monopod with no head. just screw the monopod directly into the tripod collar of the lens.




This is how I use my monopod, you certainly don't need a ball-head to pan with it.


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## Braineack (Jan 16, 2020)

I wasn't suggesting using the gimbal head on a monopod, just the tripod.


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