Express Action Sports

My goals: freezing the action of live performers even if the lighting is not too bright.

Additional: What lens should I be using? I prefer a zoom lens so that I could frame the subjects better.

First and foremost you’ll need a camera that allows you full manual control.

Freezing action is a function of shutter speed. Shutter speed is a product of light, lens aperture (f-stop) and ISO. In concert situations where the light is usually dim you’ll have to "open up" your lens and increase your ISO. As you increase ISO, image quality begins to suffer. Noise Reduction circuitry helps but its no cure-all. As you "open up" your lens, its performance declines – most all lenses give their best results at between f5.6 and f11. A lens wide open, say at f2.0 or f2.8 will admit the most light but the edges won’t be as sharp and you’ll see some light fall-off from center to edge. As in all things there are no solutions only trade-offs.

Turning now to my trusty FotoSharp "Day & Night Exposure Guide" we find:
Indoor sports, circus – floodlit suggests:
f2.8 @ 1/125 @ ISO 800
f4.0 @ 1/60 @ ISO 800
f2.8 @ 1/250 @ ISO 1600
f4.0 @ 1/125 @ ISO 1600

School stage/auditorium suggests:
f2.8 @ 1/30 @ ISO 800
f4.0 @ 1/15 @ ISO 800
f2.8 @ 1/60 @ ISO 1600
f4.0 @ 1/30 @ ISO 1600

About all you can do is decide what image quality is going to be acceptable to you. To get a zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f2.8 is probably going to be expensive. Sigma offers a 50-150mm f2.8 zoom for around $700.00 and a 70-200mm f2.8 for around $900.00. A Canon 70-200mm f2.8 is around $1,150.00

The Sigma 50-150 is only for use with cameras using the APS-C sensor. Its image circle is too small for a film camera or a larger than APS-C sensor.

A good monopod might help you go to a slower shutter speed but then you might not be able to freeze action as you said you wanted to.

I am trying to cover an outdoor soccer game played at night in a lighted stadium. I have a Nikon D90 with an 18-200 mm lens that has worked for some previous photos.

I’m interested in upgrading to a very nice lens that captures (in high quality) a player/ball while blurring the background. What are the recommendations?

Also, when I shoot, I simply put the camera in the automatic focus mode (fast action shots), and manually press the button to capture images. Is there a better approach to capturing high quality images? Should I try to set the ISO or put the camera into infinite picture mode?

Tell me anything and everything you can! Thanks!
Thanks! Another amatuer-obvious question:
When discussing the f-stop, is that a manual setting, or does it solely describe the type of lens.

For example, if I purchased one of the lenses y’all suggested, I could attach it to my camera and take pictures without much further modification. Or, would I need to manually set something at a specific f-stop?

Also, do you know how to program your camera to put a copyright on all the photographs taken? I hear there may be a code/html/process for doing that.

Thanks!

The best lens for night sports is 70-200 f 2.8 vr and second best is the 80-200 f 2.8.

Set the ISO on your camera to 3200 or 6400 (H1) if you need to.

you can set your exposure mode to any of these three:

sports mode

aperture priority & f 2.8 or smaller

shutter priority & 1/250 or higher

basically, you want to keep shutter speed above 1/250 and f-stop within the 3 largest apertures increase ISO above 3200 only if necessary. A monopod is also nice to have but not essential

A friend of mine asked me to take a few pics of him playing football but I usually stick with landscape/nature photography so I’m not sure what film I should use or speed for my lens (I have a Nikon N75 and the AF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens).
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

If it’s a daytime game, you may be OK with ISO 400 film, but if it’s an evening one, get IS0 800 or higher.

Here’s a few pics I took during the afternoon and evening at a college game. I was using a Nikon D50 and started at ISO 400 at the begining of the game and later moved up to 800 and 1600 as it got darker. I was shooting with a Nikon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 wide open, allowing me to freeze the action as much as possible. Your lens is not as long, but you’ll probably be closer than I was.

http://tinyurl.com/2l7saa

Sports photography is very different from landscape/nature as the subject(s) are constantly moving. Try to anticipate the action as much as possible and try not to zoom in too tightly, as the players will often ‘run off the frame’. If you don’t zoom in too tightly, you have a better chance of captureing the full action and can crop later.

One strong suggestion – use a monopod as it gives you some stability, but is easier to move around than a tripod.

If possible, practice shooting one of the team’s practices first.

I hope this is helpful for you.

I’d like to take action photos as well as team photos for youth sports in my area. I will be purchasing a canon 7D in the near future and a letter board, but beyond that I don’t know what I’ll need. If anyone has advice I’m all ears. My budget is about $5000 after I buy the 7D. I want to make the most of my money without buying things I don’t need.

Thanks in advance,

For team photos, you would need a lens that is "normal". A standard zoom, in a range of like 24-70mm, works well. A prime lens, maybe a 35mm, also works well. Is it team and individual photos? In my area, these types of photos are usually taken indoors because weather in April is so iffy. If that is your case, too, you would need to invest in some lighting equipment as well.

For action shots. you’ll find that you can get the batter and the infield with a zoom that goes to 200mm. You’ll get the batter at full length with a 200mm. To get the outfield or to zoom to get more of a headshot of the batter, you’ll want a bit more. You need to be sure you get every player on a team when you do this (or you’ll hear about it!).

So if you really are OK spending $5000, the Canon 24-70 F2.8 is excellent, though you are probably get by with a less expensive lens if needed. It is around $1,200

The Canon 70-200 F2.8 is an excellent lens for sports. It is heavy, you’ll probably want to pick up a monopod. The F2.8 non-IS version is around $1,500 and the IS version is around $2000. There are good primes in the price range, too, look at the 300mm F4 (the 300mm F2.8 is a dream but $4,200). The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is a good alternative with good range, but if you are going to do any night games it might be limiting (though the 7D has pretty decent ISO performance)

The lenses can be found at http://www.bhphoto.com

Look at AlienBees for lighting. You’ll need a couple of lights, lightstands, umbrellas and wireless trigger/receiver. http://www.alienbees.com. If you want to use them outdoors, they also sell the vagabond battery.