Newbie with Lens

[Sillysoft]

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-H2. I was going to take it back and get a better camera but I was unable to return it. So Im stuck with this camera for the time being. My question is, is there a lens that I can purchase for this camera to help take better pictures at night time sporting events?

Im still very new to the whole lens things so please excuse me if I have no clue what Im talking about.

Thanks
Silly

 

[Big Mike]

You camera has a maximum aperture of F2.8-3.7...so that's pretty good. You will probably need to crank up the ISO to help get faster shutter speeds though. You will get more noise as you turn up the ISO...but that's the trade off for a faster shutter speed.

The lens of your camera is built-in...so you can only add filters or adapter lenses...which will only block light as degrade the image.

Maybe a tripod or a mono pod would help...but that won't really help for fast moving subjects.

 

[Sillysoft]

Well I would put the ISO all the way to 1000 and it gets a TON of noise, especially with the flash, extremely grainy. I even tried it at 800, but anything less its to dark. Im learning that you have to get real close for the shot when using flash and then Im having to use Photoshop to adjust the contrast and curves because with the flash it looks all yellowish. For example:

The flash cant reach all the way in the back, with photoshop I can fix that somewhat but as you can see the image looks very crappy. Night time pictures is tough with this camera. Or maybe its me, dont know really.

Silly

 

[Big Mike]

Part of the problem is your camera...the sensor is so small that shooting at high ISO is practically unacceptable.

Using flash, especially on-camera flash won't work for that type of shot. Light fall off is at an inverse square to the distance. That means that if subject A is 5 feet, subject B at 10 feet (twice the distance)...will get 1/4 of the light that subject gets. Therefore, you can't expect to get even lighting on subjects that are at different distances from you (and your flash).

I think you are just in a bad situation...trying to get photos when it's so dark...is not an easy thing to do. If you must do this...keep the ISO low, use flash but keep your subjects at the same distance away from you.

 

[Sillysoft]

Would having a different camera resolve my issue? If so which would you recommend then that would allow for me to take pictures at night and during the day? Maybe I just bite the bullet and go buy another one and give this one to my wife. At some point I would like to take this from just messing around to a hobby then to possible a side thing. Taking photos has really interested me, just going to take time to learn I guess.

Silly

 

[Big Mike]

Having a different camera might help somewhat....but picking a better time to shoot would help much more.

Maybe you could find a way to use flash more effectively. If you could find some way to get one or several flashes, place them in appropriate locations and fire them remotely...that might work...but probably wouldn't be practical for a foot ball field.

Why do you need/want to shoot football at night? It just seems that you are fighting a loosing battle. You might be able to set up some shots with better lighting...but trying to shoot while they practice...I don't know.

As for better equipment...you could try a digital SLR...which will have larger sensor than your camera...and have much less noise at higher ISO. My 20D can be set as high as ISO 3200...although ISO 1600 is about as high as I would want to go. Then you would need a fast lens. Something like F1.8 or even faster like F1.4....then maybe you could get some shots that might work...but that's a lot of money to spend...just for taking shots of night-time football practice.

 

[Sillysoft]

Well I help run a semi-pro football team and currently we practice during the night, 6pm to 8pm. We have lights on but as you mentioned prior it isnt as bright as it would be during the day. But I must take pictures of the practices for marketing/recruiting purposes. Right now it isnt heavily required so Im learning, but the bottom line is we practice at night and theres nothing I can do about that.

I plan to take pictures at the games as well but the majority games are during the day. I saw another post with a similiar situation. As you can see his pictures seem to have more color and lighting. Is it because of the camera/lens he is using?

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62391http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62391

Silly

 

[Big Mike]

Those pictures look better because the light is much better. There are obviously some bright field lights and the light seems to be pretty even. Despite the better light...they still had problems getting a fast shutter speed. I'm not sure what lens they used...but it may have been the 70-200 F2.8...which would be an ideal lens for that...but quite expensive. They also used a DSLR, so they had the option to use a higher ISO.

If you must shoot at night...I think you need to be a little more creative. You won't be able to get the type of shot that you have shown us here...where you have a whole group of people spread out...and have it look much different from what you have. Get in close, get them to stand under a light...try to get one or two players at a time etc.

 

[Sillysoft]

Seems like I have no other choice. I need quantity shots though to show guys showing up to practice. I will just have to make due. Just get in close with the flash and use photoshop to adjust the levels and curves I guess.

Silly