Soccer Picture Settings Help Please

BamaGirl72 · Jul 28, 2011

Hi, I am fairly new at this, but I am really enjoying it! I am very confused by the settings though. My son has a soccer game this morning, and it is a fairly cloudy, rainy day. I have a Nikon D5000 camera. Is it possible for someone to help me by telling me what settings to use. There are so many and I don't know which to go to. Should I have the dial on A? I have the 55-200 VR lens on it. I have bought the Nikon D5000 book for dummies, however, I am short on time for this mornings game. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

Virtuosos · Jul 28, 2011

I'd suggest using the Sports setting (most camera's have a sports tab you can use which auto-sets everything) and having fun with the zoom yourself...you won't be able to learn and understand every setting to et the most of your camera in an hour's worth of time before the game :/

gsgary · Jul 28, 2011

You mean Football, set it to Aperture priority, aperture wide open (smallest number) start at ISO400 you want a shutter speed 1/500 or above if you cannot get it at ISO400 up it to ISO800 take a shot if the histogram is to the left use +ev if it is to the right -ev

Tomasko · Jul 28, 2011

Yes gsgary, but in US they call it a soccer. Term "football" in US stands for a different sport.

I'd agree with Virtuosos on this. If she doesn't have time to learn from a book, there's no real point writing it all here. OP, use some automatic/semi-automatic mode and just enjoy the game

There's no way to learn how to photograph in such a short time and there isn't anything like some universal settings. It depends on many factors.

NikonME · Jul 28, 2011

Soccer! Try using the sports mode, but keep an eye on the settings the camera is choosing. You can then manually use these settings and play with them a little to see what happens.

gsgary · Jul 28, 2011

Tomasko said:
Yes gsgary, but in US they call it a soccer. Term "football" in US stands for a different sport.

I'd agree with Virtuosos on this. If she doesn't have time to learn from a book, there's no real point writing it all here. OP, use some automatic/semi-automatic mode and just enjoy the game There's no way to learn how to photograph in such a short time and there isn't anything like some universal settings. It depends on many factors.

Soccer sounds crap, and we call it American football

gsgary · Jul 28, 2011

NikonME said:
Soccer! Try using the sports mode, but keep an eye on the settings the camera is choosing. You can then manually use these settings and play with them a little to see what happens.

That is a bit pointless because the settings the camera uses are usually rubbish because it does not use a shallow DOF and puts your iso up too high

Netskimmer · Jul 28, 2011

Tomasko said:
Yes gsgary, but in US they call it a soccer. Term "football" in US stands for a different sport.

I'd agree with Virtuosos on this. If she doesn't have time to learn from a book, there's no real point writing it all here. OP, use some automatic/semi-automatic mode and just enjoy the game There's no way to learn how to photograph in such a short time and there isn't anything like some universal settings. It depends on many factors.

While I am American and proud, I never got this. Why do we call our game football when only one or two people on the entire team are allowed to use their foot on the ball? Anyway, I agree with trying sports mode first, just use the auto settings this time THEN study up on sports photography for next time. Unless you find the auto mode does what you want and don't feel inclined to take it any farther. If sport mode doesn't work well you could try changing aperture, shutter speed and ISO as gsgary suggests.

Gaerek · Jul 28, 2011

Netskimmer said:
While I am American and proud, I never got this. Why do we call our game football when only one or two people on the entire team are allowed to use their foot on the ball?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_football

Basically, (American) Football evolved from Rugby and (anywhere but American) Football, and the name stuck.

Interestingly enough, I work with a man from Newcastle who isn't really a big fan of soccer, but loves American Football. He said he's a bit of a rarity.

NikonME · Jul 28, 2011

gsgary said:
That is a bit pointless because the settings the camera uses are usually rubbish because it does not use a shallow DOF and puts your iso up too high

It's not pointless. It gives her a place to start. From there she can learn to play with aperture, shutter and iso.

Netskimmer · Jul 28, 2011

Gaerek said:
History of American football

Basically, (American) Football evolved from Rugby and (anywhere but American) Football, and the name stuck.

Cool, thanks for the school'n.

milosmyth · Jul 28, 2011

Bamagirl Set your camera to shoot in RAW format
That way when you put them on your computer you will be able to do a lot of "easy" editing with help from the internet
As regards settings definately set your Nikon to sport (the running man) and learn how to change your white balance.
Also keep your ISO to 200

Hope this helps

AfroKen · Jul 28, 2011

I would suggest that she could bump up the ISO as low as possible, but if she needs to bump it up to as high as ISO800 to keep the shutter speed at 1/500 or above, I'd say do it. Sports Mode should work. If not, set it for Shutter Priority, set it to 1/500 of a second or above, and then adjust the ISO until you are able to take shots that are well-exposed at 1/500 or above. Milosmyth's suggestion of setting the camera in RAW is good so that she has more options for processing should she wish to do this. This includes the ability to change the white balance after the fact.

gsgary · Jul 28, 2011

Gaerek said:
Netskimmer said:

While I am American and proud, I never got this. Why do we call our game football when only one or two people on the entire team are allowed to use their foot on the ball?

Click to expand...

History of American football

Basically, (American) Football evolved from Rugby and (anywhere but American) Football, and the name stuck.

Interestingly enough, I work with a man from Newcastle who isn't really a big fan of soccer, but loves American Football. He said he's a bit of a rarity.

No he's not, i hate football but love rugby, in the 1980's we used to get American football every Sunday when Dan Marino was the big star, i never used to miss it
Talking of rugby i can't help but share one of my shots
This Rugby League, we have 2 rugby games, League and Union

Gaerek · Jul 28, 2011

gsgary said:
No he's not, i hate football but love rugby, in the 1980's we used to get American football every Sunday when Dan Marino was the big star, i never used to miss it
Talking of rugby i can't help but share one of my shots
This Rugby League, we have 2 rugby games, League and Union

Great shot! I like rugby too, when I can catch it, but it's rarely on in the states. It's good to know that there are more Brits who like American Football than I originally thought. You see anything in the movies or anything else in GB and it's all about Manchester United or just soccer in general.