Foot ball games at night

[Corey Jenkins]

Do you guys have any tips or technique for shooting night games? I'm thinking about shooting games for my high school. I was thinking I might be able to use a flash if they got close enough. I don't have a fast lens yet, 70-300 4/5.6. I was thinking about the Nikon 70-200 2.8. I have a 50mm 1.8, I was thinking that I might be able to use that if I was right on the sideline and the player was close. Does any body have any tips, I'm just starting out.

Thanks,
Corey

[Old Timer]

Cory you are in for an adventure shooting night football at a high school facility. My first suggestion is to do a search of PR's sports forum threads this is subject that has been discussed a lot and you will find a lot of information on it. Second thing that I will say is that a fast f2.8 lens is a must. The f4/5.6 just will not cut it on 99% high school fields. The 50mm while fast will just not get you close enough to the action on the field to fill the frame. As for flash most of us have resorted to using some sort of flash to enhance our images of night football. Check out the other threads and if you have specific question then get back to us. Good luck and be sure and post some of your results.

[specradio]

I use the 70-300 F4-5.6. It's hard, but is usable. The background is almost always blackened out like you're in a studio.

Here's one from it:

[Corey Jenkins]

Alright, I will do a search. That picture looks pretty good specradio.

[SmartWombat]

What flash were you using there, and how far were you from the action?

There appears to be quite a bit of colour noise in the background, I gues you used a high ISO like I have to for night racing?
But there's no ISO data in the image, PS CS2 has wiped it.

I like the 1/500 flash sync, something I wish my 20D & 580EX had without losing flash power in FP mode.

[JETA]

Night football is how and why I ended up at this board. I'm just a hobbiest, but do shoot a lot during the season.

I don't use a flash. I shoot at a high iso and use a 70-200 f2.8. Without this lens I wouldn't have a chance in heck of getting 1% of the shots I get with that lens. It's a must for what I do and I'm sure most everyone else here.

This year I also upgraded to the Mark III specifically because of the low noise on the higher iso's. So far my test shots have been very promising. I'm quite excited about it.

Also if you do searches on this board with my ID "JETA" you'll find a lot of good info. I asked every beginner question about shooting night football a couple years ago. Heck, I still ask beginner questions non-stop.

Welcome to PR! I'm happy you found us!

[JSPhoto]

For night games use the 80-200 f2.8, forget the 70-300 f4/5.6 and the 50mm f1.8 the latter two just can't keep up with 80-200.
Also a really good flash is a must for most football fields and night games. Of the 4 schools I shoot at regularly 1 has lighting that will allow me to shoot with no flash at all but I still use it as a fill to get rid of shadows.

As OT said, do a search of the football threads as we have a bunch of them explaing everything you need to know, and if not just ask.... Welcome to the forum too.

JS

[specradio]

For night games use the 80-200 f2.8, forget the 70-300 f4/5.6 and the 50mm f1.8 the latter two just can't keep up with 80-200.
Also a really good flash is a must for most football fields and night games. Of the 4 schools I shoot at regularly 1 has lighting that will allow me to shoot with no flash at all but I still use it as a fill to get rid of shadows.

As OT said, do a search of the football threads as we have a bunch of them explaing everything you need to know, and if not just ask.... Welcome to the forum too.

JS

Actually, the F2.8's only allow for maybe 1/60 max under lights. I don't know why you'd tell somebody it blows the 70-300 out of the water. They're both a lose-lose situation

[specradio]

What flash were you using there, and how far were you from the action?

There appears to be quite a bit of colour noise in the background, I gues you used a high ISO like I have to for night racing?
But there's no ISO data in the image, PS CS2 has wiped it.

I like the 1/500 flash sync, something I wish my 20D & 580EX had without losing flash power in FP mode.

Yeah that's probably ISO1600. Max on the D50. I didn't use RAW though. If I did, it probably would've been monochromic noise or not even visible.

Shooting RAW on this cam removes a lot of noise.

[JETA]

Actually, the F2.8's only allow for maybe 1/60 max under lights. I don't know why you'd tell somebody it blows the 70-300 out of the water. They're both a lose-lose situation

My experience with a 70-300 f4/5.6 on night football was less then successful. They were garbage. A complete turnaround happened for me when I got my 70-200 f2.8. It made all of the difference in the world from almost no shots to many good shots. If my 70-200 f2.8 was taken from me I wouldn't shoot night football with the old lens. Mind you I do not use a flash. So maybe that's the difference.

[Corey Jenkins]

Well, I'm going to be a freshman, and school starts in a few weeks. I'm going to need to earn some money, or trying to talk to the parents. I might shoot a few games at first and see how I do until I can earn enough money. Would this lens also be good for Baseball and Basketball? I'm thinking it would be. Here are a few pictures I took of a baseball game with the 70-300 4-5.6.







This was shot in the middle of the day though, with plenty of light. I was shooting around 1/1000, lowest f/s I could, and iso 200 I think.

[JSPhoto]

That lens is fine for nice sunny days, but not for gyms or night football. No matter what some may claim the f4 and up lenses just cannot do the job. They focus slow so you would have to prefocus, and you would need a good flash that talks to your camera properly so you can get a t least close to a good exposure. Your best chance with your present lens with REAL good lighting at the field will give you a 1/160 shutter maximum at 1600 ISO and the lens opened all the way to 4.0. Shoot in manual mode not the preset modes. You'll need a good noise program like NeatImage or NoiseNija to clean up the photos. With the 70-200 you can get at least 200 shutter, but normally 250 at 800 to 1250 ISO, and depending on the camera body it will focus much faster meaning you don't have to prefocus but you can follow the play and keep the player in focus. If you look through the threads you will see the difference between the 70-300 the 70-200 and also the 28-300 f3.5 - 5.6.

Shooting in gyms is another story, many sports do not allow flash such as volleyball unless your using mounted strobes, and they don't always allow them either. An f4 lens won't cut it in a gym, however one trick that will get you at least one step up is to shoot down getting some light that reflects off the floor to help you out.

JS

[Corey Jenkins]

Alright, well I guess I'll look into a new lens, 1/200 iso 800 sounds a ton better than 1/60 iso 1600 haha. I think I will try and look for a used one. Would buying a Sigma 70-200 2.8 be much diffrent than the Nikon one? I know the Nikon one is a lot better, but it cost a lot more and I don't have to much to spend at the moment. But Nikkor lens's last a lot longer and there quality is better from what I have herd. Should I invest some more money in the Nikon one, or just go for the Sigma?

[JSPhoto]

I used the Canon version of the Sigma 70-200 and it's a very good lens, the glass is very good, and the it's just a fraction of a second slower focusing than the Canon 70-200, but an excellent lens for the $$.... good luck finding one used! I did notice a difference though between the two once I got the Canon lens. The weight was one big difference, as was the focusing time and tracking.

Just for your own curiosity try shooting a night game yourself with the 70-300 and then use the 70-200 and you will see how different they are. I sold my Canon 75-300 the day I first used the Sigma.... it was night and day...literally.\

JS

[JSPhoto]

A couple of examples from a Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS USM.

#1: 1/250 @ f3.2 ISO 800 (shot at 7:06pm)
#2: 1/200 @ f3.2 ISO 800 (shot at 8:34pm) (even at f3.2 it's over 1/60 )
#3: 1/250 @ f2.8 ISO 1600 in one of the average lit gyms
#4: 1/125 @ f2.8 ISO 1250 at a poorly lit field no flash
#5: 1/250 @ f2.8 ISO 1250 same field as above, no flash

As you can see you can get more than 1/60 out of an f2.8 lens and you don't always need to go to higher ISO's, and with the right camera body the high ISO noise isn't an issue. These were all shot with the Canon 70-200 and 1D MKII N body except the volleyball which was with the Sigma 70-200 and the ID MKII N.

JS

[Corey Jenkins]

Thanks for posting those pictures, They look good. I think I will just keep searching around for a good deal. Thanks for all the help guys, I'll keep you posted once the season starts.