Panasonic G9 set up for sports

[Taurahe]

I picked up my G9 saturday night and was hoping yall could help me out. I dont generally do sports photography at all, and have never had a camera that has AFC that actually works, so i am new this aspect of photography. My god daughter has a gymnastics competition next weekend and i am wanting to photograph it. What are the specific settings i need to have to utilize full AFC , so it tracks a subject moving towards and away from me. I have been picking apart articles, but no one really explains their settings in detail.

Right now, this is what i have. I am saving settings to the c1 function for ease of setup. I am currently set up as follows:
Shutter priority / adjust as necessary
Auto ISO maxed at 12800 ( yes, this is high but i only have a 40-150 kit lens to work with and will need the high iso)
AFC in mechanical shutter ( 9FPS... my fast memory cards are not fast enough for the super fast stuff)
225 area AF point
AF custom setting is at 1

In this i have some questionsas well...
Am I able to select shutter speeds for the burst modes? I am running burst shot 1 at H, but it seems slower than 9 fps, not that my ears are calibrated.

Is there a better setting AF point setting to use? I have tried tracking but i find it very difficult to establish a lock quickly. I have not tried custom multi or single point, as several different articles found best success with 225- area, and i dont really have the means to properly test these before hand , so i am going with a general consensus.

Does the g9 update exposure info between shots in burst, like a d5 would? if so what settings do i need for this to happen? Do i want to this?

I apologize for the general new guy questions but my skills lie everywhere else other than sports photography. Thanks for the awesome help i know you expereinced sports guys will give me !!!

 

[Reflector]

Does the g9 update exposure info between shots in burst, like a d5 would? if so what settings do i need for this to happen? Do i want to this?

You want to use the FPS low setting rather than the high setting. This is true of all cameras, the high setting will lock the exposure and focus. The low setting will let it change per shot. Check your manual, it will mention that the high setting is AE/AF locked, whereas the low isn't. The specific frame rate for both should be adjustable.

Before you go shoot an important event - go find some other targets (cars, animals, people) and try out your settings to see if they work well enough.

 

[Taurahe]

i have dug through the menu and cannot find a means of changing the fps anywhere, it just says L,M,H,Pre sh1, pre Sh2, sh1 and sh2, with no indication of actual fps

 

[Taurahe]

You want to use the FPS low setting rather than the high setting. This is true of all cameras, the high setting will lock the exposure and focus. The low setting will let it change per shot. Check your manual, it will mention that the high setting is AE/AF locked, whereas the low isn't. The specific frame rate for both should be adjustable.

Before you go shoot an important event - go find some other targets (cars, animals, people) and try out your settings to see if they work well enough.

Found it. In AFC, exposure is adjusted between frames on all burst speeds EXCEPT for M and L. Also, the burst speeds are not adjustable within a setting but are controlled depending on shutter mechanism used. IE...shooting mechanical shutter on H in AFS yeilds a 12 fps rate, whereas shooting H in mechanical shutter with AFC yields a rate of 9fps, with exposure update between each frame. Electronic shutter yields the same results. Shooting Any of the SH modes requires electronic shutter, but yields faster FPS. Shooting SH2 in electronic shutter with AFS yields a 60FPS rate, whereas AFF/AFC slows this to 20FPS. However with the prescribed settings i am still chuggin along at like 5 fps

 

[Reflector]

Your shutter speed has to be high enough. So to achieve 60fps, you'd need at least 1/60s or faster.

 

[Taurahe]

Your shutter speed has to be high enough. So to achieve 60fps, you'd need at least 1/60s or faster.

Ss was set to 1/500.

 

[Reflector]

Is the G9 set to release priority? Do you have some setting regarding stabilization priority vs framerate priority for the IBIS/IS setting?
I'm an E-M1II shooter, I can only assume some of the menu options in the E-M1II are present in the G9.

 

[Taurahe]

Is the G9 set to release priority? Do you have some setting regarding stabilization priority vs framerate priority for the IBIS/IS setting?
I'm an E-M1II shooter, I can only assume some of the menu options in the E-M1II are present in the G9.

For AFC, I have priority set to balance... it splits the difference bewteen focus and release, and i also changed it to release priority, again to no effect. I have turned off all of the extras i could find , again to no avail. I did not turn of IS, but will have to try it, but i dont see how that would effect FPS in burst mode, but who knows. i have not seen priority settings thus far but i could be overlooking them as well. I appreciate all the questions, its all stuff i wouldnt know to look for, but this is quite frustrating which means it will be something silly when i figure it out

 

[Reflector]

For AFC, I have priority set to balance... it splits the difference bewteen focus and release, and i also changed it to release priority, again to no effect. I have turned off all of the extras i could find , again to no avail. I did not turn of IS, but will have to try it, but i dont see how that would effect FPS in burst mode, but who knows. i have not seen priority settings thus far but i could be overlooking them as well. I appreciate all the questions, its all stuff i wouldnt know to look for, but this is quite frustrating which means it will be something silly when i figure it out

On the E-M1II it lets the IBIS re-center between each shot so you have more stabilization but it causes the framerate to slow down. I don't know if something like that is on the G9 but it could cause your framerate to slow down. The G9 should be able to do 20 fps up until the buffer fills.

 

[Taurahe]

On the E-M1II it lets the IBIS re-center between each shot so you have more stabilization but it causes the framerate to slow down. I don't know if something like that is on the G9 but it could cause your framerate to slow down. The G9 should be able to do 20 fps up until the buffer fills.

20fps is in electronic shutter with AFS...and it sings like swiss sewing machine. I am only having the issue in mechanical shutter mode. If i switch to AFS, i get the 12 fps!!!! Im not a computer but i timed it with a stop watch and i am clocking 4 to 6 shots in 1 second...well off from 9. The G9 does ot have such a feature that i have found as of yet.

 

[Taurahe]

On the E-M1II it lets the IBIS re-center between each shot so you have more stabilization but it causes the framerate to slow down. I don't know if something like that is on the G9 but it could cause your framerate to slow down. The G9 should be able to do 20 fps up until the buffer fills.

you sir, are a genius. While not the recentering thing, it is caused by the IS. I turned it off completely and it is cranking em out like it should.on the burst mode indicator on the display screen, there was an LV inside the indicator, but i cannot figure out what it means. I tutned the IS off and it went away, and full burst works with the IS now too...so i am equally confused still, but it is working as prescribed so i will call it a win lol

 

[Reflector]

When you're shooting at very high shutter speeds, the shutter should freeze motion so you don't need as much stabilization or don't need it at all.

I'd stick with the electronic shutter unless you're expecting a lot of fast motion since you'll have to deal with rolling shutter. Play with the G9 on other subjects (fan blades is a good example) to see what you prefer more. You might also want to use some traffic to just get an idea of the AF system's settings.

 

[Taurahe]

When you're shooting at very high shutter speeds, the shutter should freeze motion so you don't need as much stabilization or don't need it at all.

I'd stick with the electronic shutter unless you're expecting a lot of fast motion since you'll have to deal with rolling shutter. Play with the G9 on other subjects (fan blades is a good example) to see what you prefer more. You might also want to use some traffic to just get an idea of the AF system's settings.

its indoor gynastics so i have no idea what to expect but i plan on running at least 1/300th so IS is really a moot point at that speed

 

[Ziggy]

E-shutter, ie anything over 9fps, will give you very noticeable rolling shutter effect, so if there are any verticals they'll be sloping.

In any AFC mode above M burst speed, the unit uses prediction, and it can slow the frame rate down for that and also as the buffer starts to fill.

In my limited testing , Balaced or Release priority gives you soft results. Focus priority is best.

Tracking is meant to work if there's enough time to select the subject - not always possible when it's moving fast. iA will track if there's a face within the AF points.

Generally select the fewest AF points you can keep on the subject to give the least control over to the camera.

 

[Ziggy]

And ...

I still run IBIS and lens IS even with my normal 1/1600s as it's much easier to see what's going on through the EVF esp with long lenses.

It's well worth investigating how to use the 6K Photo modes so you can extract 18 MP jpegs - that's a game changer in my book.

Overall the AFC on the G9 is generally very capable if you learn to work within its limitations, as with any system.

 

[apete]

In my limited testing , Balaced or Release priority gives you soft results. Focus priority is best.

This is interetesting and I need to check this out. Thanks for sharing that experience with us.

 

[Ziggy]

Pleasure.
Under either of those you may still get acceptable focus (being within DOF perhaps and since focus is a continuum) but in my discipline I can't leave it to chance.

 

[morphodone]

My daughter does gymnastics. She is only 8 years old and a level one. Your settings may depend a lot on what level your God Daughter is. If she is a beginner then you might be able to get away with 1/250 shutter speed. Also you might consider trying AFC without tracking. Most of the time the gymnasts are not running toward or away it depends on the event.
You can watch the other gymnasts that go before her to see what is going to happen.

For example, on the beam, there is only so far they can go and even AFS would be probably be fine. They move on the plane of the beam so just try to stay parallel to that.
On the bars they move really fast but again are not going to be moving very far in distance.
And for the vault you can prefocus at the point of the vault as opposed to photographing the runway.
And for the floor it's somewhat difficult because you don't know the routine and where the gymnast will go. This would be the best use of AFC with tracking.

Without having access to the floor and being able to wander around, your photo opportunities will be somewhat limited. I mostly just photograph down time and practice routines and video the actual event so my daughter can watch later to improve.

Hope that helps.

 

[Ziggy]

One of the things Panasonic trumpeted about the G9 in the press releases was its 'deep learning':

The camera’s high processing performance also allows it to incorporate Deep Learning technology (in addition to the conventional Face/Eye Recognition) – which detects the human body and is intended for action and sports photography.
Fast, skilful and sleek LUMIX G9: Delivering best-in class performance for the photo enthusiast – Panasonic Australia News

Might be worth investigating how to make this happen.

 

[apete]

One of the things Panasonic trumpeted about the G9 in the press releases was its 'deep learning':

The camera’s high processing performance also allows it to incorporate Deep Learning technology (in addition to the conventional Face/Eye Recognition) – which detects the human body and is intended for action and sports photography.

I wonder if Deep Learning works in Face/Eye Detection AF mode only? Upcoming weekend I may be shooting marathon event. Looks like Face/Eye/Body detection might be my primary autofocus mode that day.

According to this source: Why We’re So Excited About the Panasonic Lumix G9 | The Iris "the G9 offers Deep Learning technology which detects the human body, learns while you use it and, over time, improves your autofocus even more.". Would be nice... but is it that true?