Aperture Mode setting on D700 for sports photography?

[tomj52]

I need to shoot a high school football game using my D700 with a 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens. Am I better off shooting in Aperture or Shutter priority mode? Game time is at 7:05pm and sunset will be at around 7:36pm. Should be a clear sky as well.

 

[Big Mike]

Either of the priority modes are basically the same, you pick two of the variables (aperture/shutter and ISO) and the camera gives you the third variable. So it doesn't really matter which mode you choose, as long as you are watching both numbers.

If you ask 100 photographers which one they prefer, I'd guess that 85% would say aperture priority. Mainly because the aperture range is rather limited, and when the camera hits the limit, it just flashes the aperture value at you. But if you choose the aperture yourself, the camera has a wider range of shutter speeds to choose from, you just have to watch it to make sure it's fast enough.

So in your situation, knowing that you will want a fast shutter speed, the logical choice would be to use aperture priority and choose the largest aperture...because that will give you the fastest shutter speed. Of course, it's up to you to recognize if that shutter speed is fast enough for your needs...and if not, you need to turn up the ISO.

I'm guessing that you may have some troubles. Even though the field will have lights, they usually aren't very bright, not in terms of photography anyway. And you lens isn't ideal because it's maximum aperture is only F5.6 (at 300mm). The pros use lenses with a maximum aperture of F2.8, which would allow them to get a shutter speed that is 4 times faster than what they would get at F5.6. So your only option will be to crank up the ISO. That will, of course, introduce more digital noise into the photos, but that's the price we pay for faster shutter speeds in lower light situations.

If you are up to it, I'd recommend shooting in manual mode. That won't necessarily get you better exposures (the mode doesn't matter if the settings end up being the same), but in manual mode, you can figure out what settings work and lock them in, so that you at least get consistent exposures from shot to shot. Just keep in mind that you'll have to adjust as the sun goes down.

 

[Derrel]

Oh man...shoot a LOT EARLY, before the sun goes down!!! Every minute the game goes on, the light is going to grow dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. Keep the lens at the shorter end of the zoom range, and set the ISO HIGH!!!!! I would suggest using AUTO ISO, and setting the Aperture to f/4, and shooting at the SHORT END of the zoom range, so the aperture will stay at f/4....as you zoom the lens to longer focal lengths, the aperture will of course, start to go higher in number...f/4.5, f/4.5, f/5, f/5.6,etc, meaning less and less LIGHT comes in...

I would say, as Big Mike mentioned, shooting in MANUAL mode on the mode dial, lens aperture set to f/4, with AUTO ISO enabled, and a shutter speed of 1/250 or so, and the AUTO ISO set to as high a maximum as it will go!!! Once the sun goes down....ehhhh...at "most" high school fields, you're going to have to be at ISO 6,400, with the lens at the widest aperture range, to get a decent shutter speed. I am basing my comments on estimating your skill set and knowledge. I can tell you this: an f/4~5.6 variable maximum aperture zoom lens is NOT WHAT I WOULD PICK to shoot night high school football. The best light will be the first half of the first quarter of the game, so shoot the DAYLIGHTS out of that part of the game.

Now, you COULD also try using some flash as fill-in lighting, with the flash set to Minus 2.5 stops....a tiny bit of flash as FILL-in lighting is an old, well-known technique that "some" shooters have used for decades on night HS football. When done well, it looks nice. You are not trying to shoot the exposures based entirely on flash--no, the exact opposite...you are using an elevated ISO setting, like 1600, at around 1/180 or 1/200 shutter speed, and FLASH, set with the flash power deliberately dialed wayyyyyyy down, to MINUS 2.5 or Minus 2.7 f/stops (also known as Minus 2.7 EV or Exposure Value(s) ).

The thing is this: you have a d-slr that develops the pictures right there, on the spot. As a beginner, you'll need to use the tools you have, not the great gear some of "us" have. And, you have little experience to draw upon. The best thing you could do is to ASK FOR HELP from another shooter who is on the sidelines, and who knows what he/she is actually doing. You might need to LOOK carefully at your captures during the game to see if yuo are getting usable shots, or garbage.

 

[MLeeK]

I need to shoot a high school football game using my D700 with a 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens. Am I better off shooting in Aperture or Shutter priority mode? Game time is at 7:05pm and sunset will be at around 7:36pm. Should be a clear sky as well.

You need a shutter of 1/500. If you can watch it and make sure it's not dropping below there, then aperture priority is fine. If you are afraid you won't be able to watch it then shutter priority. No matter which if your settings are blinking at you then you aren't getting exposue and you have to raise your ISO. You'll be under the lights so you will be maxing out your ISO and using f/5.6 (you'll be using the zoom to it's fullest) so I'd say that shutter priority is the way to go in this situation.
Shoot raw because the lights will give you nightmares with the colors they throw in your images. You'll have some images that are orange, green, hot pink and blue. Nothing you can do besides fix in post.
Pray. I know on most fields I can't use f/5.6 even with my ISO maxed. I am at 3.5 on some fields and I even have a couple that I have no choice but to shoot at f/2.8. You may have to drop your shutter as low as 1/320 and pray it's fast enough.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

I need to shoot a high school football game using my D700 with a 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens. Am I better off shooting in Aperture or Shutter priority mode? Game time is at 7:05pm and sunset will be at around 7:36pm. Should be a clear sky as well.

This is a situation where using auto ISO and setting your minimum shutter speed to something 1/400 or faster is a good idea. Set the ISO to max at whatever you're happy with. On your D700, you can get really clean shots at 1600 and if there not too much blank dark space, 3200.

You want to minimize the number of variables you're juggling when everything moves as fast as a football game.

Good luck!