Night time ball game

mudthirsty · Aug 26, 2008

First time taking pics of a sporting event at night. I had a tough time getting a sharp clear bright image. Whats the best way to capture the light from the ball diamond and fast moving players? Please C&C on my pics below.

http://shanemacaulay.smugmug.com/gallery/5799602_xK2si#P-1-16

tirediron · Aug 26, 2008

I can't see the images on your website, however in general, the key to any lowlight photography, and especially sports photography is big, fast, EXPENSIVE glass. Hence the reason you see the pros at games toting those huge white Canon 'L' lenses.

table1349 · Aug 26, 2008

In checking the EXIF data from you photos you are headed in the right direction. You ISO was at 1600. The problem was probably you lens selection. Your max aperture was f5.6. Way too slow for night time sports.

You want your shutter speed in the 1/250th range at least. To do that you need faster glass in the f2.8 or faster range. As tirediron suggested you need fast, generally expensive, glass. Two lenses to look at that will serve the average sport shooter well.

Canon's 70-200 f2.8.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/91680-USA/Canon_2569A004_70_200mm_f_2_8L_USM_Autofocus.html
If you want to spend extra for the IS here is the link.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/234444-USA/Canon_7042A002_70_200mm_f_2_8L_IS_USM.html
I have the non-IS as IS really has little use in sports photography and I don't have situations were I need the IS for slow shutter speeds.

An alternative to the Canon that is cheaper.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...Q=&sku=533555&addedTroughType=replacementLink
This is the new model. I shot the previous version and thought it was a fine lens. A couple of the guys I shoot sports with use it and have good results.

There may be other lenses out there in the same range from Tamron, Tokina etc, but I have not shot them, so I can't give advise or obersvations on them. Good luck.

brileyphotog · Aug 27, 2008

gryphonslair99 said:
In checking the EXIF data from you photos you are headed in the right direction. You ISO was at 1600. The problem was probably you lens selection. Your max aperture was f5.6. Way too slow for night time sports.

Yeah, you are going to need a 2.8 lens to get any good sports shots at night. 1/250 of a second may be enough to freeze a person, but I've found 1/800 of a second to be the bare minimum for getting really sharp sports shots. And you want to shoot the lowest ISO you can get away with to keep the noise to a controllable level.

I have the Sigma 70-200 HSM and it is quite a good lens...word on the street is the Tamron's autofocus is too slow for sports but it does have better optical quality.

table1349 · Aug 27, 2008

brileyphotog said:
Yeah, you are going to need a 2.8 lens to get any good sports shots at night. 1/250 of a second may be enough to freeze a person, but I've found 1/800 of a second to be the bare minimum for getting really sharp sports shots. And you want to shoot the lowest ISO you can get away with to keep the noise to a controllable level.

I have the Sigma 70-200 HSM and it is quite a good lens...word on the street is the Tamron's autofocus is too slow for sports but it does have better optical quality.

I have never found a high school stadium that will let you get a 1/800 shutter speed under the lights, even at 3200 ISO. I guess I am going to have to come to Michigan to see some of the high school stadiums there.

In fact I haven't found a collage stadium that will let me get that. Arrowhead Stadium up in Kansas City is pretty well lit, but I'm not sure that you could even get it there.

I have no trouble getting really sharp football or soccer shots at 1/250th night or day. When I'm shooting drag racing or NASCAR my minimum is 1/500th, but field sports should not be a problem at 1/250th.

I was impressed with the Sigma when I shot it. The one I tested ended up going to a high school sports shooter here. He has been very happy with it. I think the Canon has a bit faster focus speed than the Sigma, but the difference would be small. Too small to matter in my book.

brileyphotog · Aug 28, 2008

gryphonslair99 said:
I have never found a high school stadium that will let you get a 1/800 shutter speed under the lights, even at 3200 ISO. I guess I am going to have to come to Michigan to see some of the high school stadiums there.

Yeah that came out wrong...under the lights you've gotta do what you've gotta do!

I just meant that if at all possible, keep those shutter speeds up near 1/1000 of a second to avoid motion blur with running feet and balls, etc. That can be pretty hard even at dusk with a 5.6.

rlcphotos · Aug 29, 2008

I have just recently bought this Sigma 70/200 HSM lens and love it. Its a lil heavy but that part helps me to control it better. Im going to do my first football game tonite and Im not sure how its going to turn out as yet but time will tell. The photos I have done with it so far are great, not sorry I bought it

mudthirsty · Sep 2, 2008

Thanks everyone. Glad to hear it is my lense, and not my ability to shoot. Im still learning. I was using a 80-200mm lense. Not sure what the f stop is. But Im sure its not what was needed. Infact, I found the lense that came with the camera was taking better pics. Anytime I zoomed in with the 'zoom lense', it would narrow out the light that was available, and the pics would turn out blurry. Thanks for the feedback. Im getting closer to better pics, thanks to all.

Shane
in Oshawa, ON, Canada