Canon 40D - Setting advice needed for nightime lacrosse game this week

mpm1965 · May 29, 2011

Hi -

I hope you can help me with settings for a nightime lacrosse game under stadium lights, using my Canon 40D and a Sigma lens 50-500 telephoto zoom, and no flash assistance.

I am sorry to say I have absolutely no clue as to what settings to use, normally relying on point and shoot mode for the day-time games with pretty decent results for an amateur / lacrosse aunt.

The last time it got dark during a game the results were awful, and the whole team is counting on me to capture the playoff memories - thanks in advance for your advice!

Overread · May 29, 2011

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson -- buy or borrow (library) a copy of this book and give it a good read. It details exposure and controlling the exposure and provided a good overview of the whole subject for the beginner.

You need to read that book and come to understand the exposure triangle of aperture - shutter speed and ISO in order to understand that the answer to your question is "it depends what your meter reads".

We can't give you perfect settings, because the lighting and situation at the time define what your settings should be and we can't predict what the light will be like to give you settings you can use. All I can say (as a simple answer, but read the book to understand it better) is:

Open your aperture up to its widest (smallest f number)
raise your ISO as high as needed so allow the shutter speed to be at least around 1/400sec if possible - slower can be done, but it will increase the chances of motion blur.

Of course you've also got to read the meter - if you're underexposing you'll get a lot of noise which will degrade your photos significantly.

mpm1965 · May 29, 2011

Thanks - I wish I had time to learn everything I needed to know, but the game is two days away.

I understand that I am opening myself up to ridicule when I admit that I don't know how to open my aperture up to its widest, or how to raise my ISO as high as needed, and as for advice to read the meter, forget about it.

I am sorry to waste anyone's time, but am hoping a good samaritan with an empathetic heart will take pity and respond in plain english.

Thanks again!

PeteS · May 29, 2011

Second the book, I read it last night if you have an iPad you can down load it on that

PeteS · May 29, 2011

Do you know where to find the aperture and ISO? Do you have settings on the dial like M,AV,TV?

Overread · May 29, 2011

If you don't know how to raise your ISO or change your aperture you need to read the camera manual - cover to cover - several times. The details of how to change settings are in there. If you've lost your manual canon, nikon and most other large companies have copies hosted on their websites for download.

gsgary · May 29, 2011

Sorry but you have no chance with that lens, for night games under lights you need F2.8 lenses

mpm1965 · May 30, 2011

PeteS said:
Do you know where to find the aperture and ISO? Do you have settings on the dial like M,AV,TV?

Hi Pete - thanks.
I do have P, Tv, Av, M, A-DEP, and C 1, 2 & 3
The menu setting options that follow once I select one of those are pretty overwhelming - clearly the technology is being wasted on me.

table1349 · May 30, 2011

To reiterate what Gary said, you really have no chance at getting any decent shots with the 40D and that lens combo. 3200 ISO is the highest option you have. f4.5 at 50mm is slow. f6.3 at 500mm in that light is still life speed, not action photography speed. Minimum shutter speed needs to be at least 1/320th of a second. Keep in mind, that is bare minimum. 1/500th or faster would be ideal. In bright sunshine you could achieve that with the 40D and that lens. I don't know of a professional stadium that has enough light to let you get shots at 5.6 at 3200 ISO at 1/320th and College facilities ar not lit as well as a pro facility.

My best suggestion would be to set your camera to AV, your ISO to 3200 and see if what kind of shutter speed you can get and achieve a proper exposure. At 50mm you might be able to get a few overall shots, but do not expect to get anywhere near the 500mm range. Use a singe center focus point on spot focusing using AI servo focus mode. You situation is exactly why I use a 1D MkIV and 1D MkIII with a 400mm f2.8 and generally a 70-200mm f2.8 respectively. Good luck.