Blurry football pictures under stadium lights

[LWW]

CONTINUOUS AF

MATRIX METERING

MANUAL MODE

F2.8 TO F4.0 APERTURE

1/500 TO 1/1000 SHUTTER SPEED

AUTO ISO

FIRE AWAY AT HIGH SPEED FRAMES PER SECOND

You might be overthinking it and, in an effort to get 'THE PERFECT' image you are missing entirely.

I have shot amateur and pro sports as a hobby and as a part time profession for years.

It is hard enough to get 'THE PERFECT' image in a studio or off a tripod.

Sports photography, IMHO, is actually best when a seat of the pants approach is taken.

I can pull up numerous very famous and handsomely rewarded sports photos from the past and not one of them is 'THE PERFECT' image.

Your D5500 should give decent results WELL past ISO 100. Even ISO 12.8K wouldn't scare me from using it. Try capping auto ISO at 12.8K and see if you are happy with the results. If not, lower it to ISO 6.4K. Still unhappy, lower it to ISO 3.2K. You have a whole lot of headroom above ISO 100.

Yes, at higher ISO you pick up more grain ... but you get 95% of 'THE PERFECT' image instead of 100%, and you will get it more consistently.

Also, shooting at a high frames per second rate you greatly increase the odds of getting 'THE PERFECT' image. A good photographer only shows you the keepers.

Play with the process and don't be afraid to use some extremes on the settings. It's not like film where every click had an associated cost.

 

[smoke665]

Hello-I am an AMATUER photographer. I am using a Nikonn D5500 with 70-200 mm F/2.8 lens, and I cannot seem to get my camera to focus for these types of action shots. I sit in the stands, use the viewfinder, my shutter speed is 1600 +, my ISO is 100, and my aperature is F/2.8. My focus is AF-C. I changed the settings multiple times, and I believe it is a focus problem. Thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks!

I'm going a different route here, you say you're sitting in the stands, then I'm assuming you're hand holding. With the lens/Camera combo you described, that would be hard to hand hold. Even with a shutter speed of 1/1600 at the distance involved, fractional movement on your end translates to motion blur on the field.

 

[flyingPhoto]

Sorry to hear that but loosing your grip explains why it might not work
for you. As for "those who peddle BBF as the supreme method is not
doing the craft any favors", this is not a mature nor wise judgement as
it is biased by your personal impairment.

and your condescendence that BBF IS critical to photography is also based upon YOUR personal impairments... just like you stated to that poor fellow.

Not every person NEEDS BBF.. yeah its a nifty function and can be wonderful, but the thing is unless you use an adequate depth of field,,, it isnt as nice as one thinks.

Its like the old vitomatic cameras, use the preset dots to set the camera up for short or medium distance photo with a preset aperture and spot on the range finder... it works well because they went with a relatively deep f8 or f16 aperture.