Good tripod for sports photography

[skydiver6]

I am just about to start taking high school sports photos for a local online paper. I feel like I need to get a tripod to help me get clear shots. I was looking online but I was overwhelmed with all the choices. I didn't even know there were different heads to choose from. I have read that you should only need to buy one tripod so you should choose wisely the first time so I would appreciate any help. If you use one that you love please let me know which one it is.

I have a Nikon D90 and one lens I will be using it with at the moment is the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8. This will mostly be used for soccer. (I know 200mm is a little short for that but it's all I have right now except for an old Quantaray tech-10 70-300mm f/4-5.6 which I might use on bright sunny days.) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Donna

[Chris350]

For action sports like football and soccer I would opt for a monopod over a tripod. Tripods are just too cumbersome in my experience allow one to change perspective, and location effectively. In reality I find a good quality lens, preferably Image Stabilized, an ISO at 400 to 600 with high shutter speeds, medium-large aperture gets me very good quality images. No 'pod allows rapid changes to my shooting location and angles. A tripod may tend to anchor you in one location, limiting your perspectives and available shooting options. This may lead to large numbers of images that look similar.

As to lens selection, the 70-200 lends itself more to mobile shooting from field level. I shoot a fair amount of field Lacrosse with an 80-200 2.8 with no difficulty.

To answer your original question, any pod you choose needs to be light enough to move around all night, yet durable enough to support your gear. In reality it might be more useful to visit a local shop and actually handle the options, as opposed to simply trying to pick one out of a line up online. I prefer a ball head for ease of motion. Manfrotto and Gitzo are brands worth looking at.

[skydiver6]

Thanks Chris. I had originally been thinking about a monopod because I have seen photographers using them at basketball games and I shoot a lot of basketball. I usually sit on the floor and use my 50mm f/1.8 and use my knee for stabilization for that but thought a monopod might help. But then I read a few articles about monopods vs tripod and they heavily favored tripods. I can't afford both right now. I'd be very interested to know if others also think I should go with a monopod. I was just worried about hand holding the 70-200mm f/2.8 because it's so heavy. I only got it in the spring and haven't had much chance to use it yet.

[SmartWombat]

I use a tripod for nature shots, generally at longer focal lengths, but very rarely for sports.
I haven't found a tripod any use except for night shots at 24h motor races.

Otherwise with medium lenses I've shot hand lend in sunlight, or with a monopod on cloudy days. Longer focal length, or slow shutter speeds, I'll use a monopod even in the sun.

I find 70-200 f/2.8 fine to hand hold, but the 300 f/2.8 right at my limit.
The 100-400 f/5.6 is easily manageable, it feels lighter than the 70-200.

If you're shooting near the ground, I'd recommend a 4-section monopod over 3-section. It is shorter collapsed enough shorter to make a difference, and make me wish I'd bought one when shooting under the bridge at Brands Hatch.

[DHMN69]

A tripod can get you in all sorts of trouble shooting sports.. you're not mobile enough with one to escape getting run over.. thus risking injuring the athletes you're shooting also and that can be a major problem if you get yourself sued.

[fidgety]

In addition, check your state high school athletic association web site as several states do not allow tripods for field events since they are difficult to pick up and move and can be unsafe to the athletes.

[skydiver6]

OK You guys have convinced me to go with a monopod. Any suggestions on which one or what to look for?

Thanks,
Donna

[Chris350]

If you're only just getting used to the camera lens combination, You might spend some time with it before you invest to heavily in camera support. As mentioned above, 70-200 is very manageable for hand shooting. I only consider my monopod when I'm shooting my heavier and slower 300 f/4 or anything bigger, and most times I can hand hold that beast too. I think you will find that with some practice that your current set up will be very manageable and the pod will get in the way. If you do go with support, again Manfrotto and Gitzo make good quality stuff. I agree that 4 retracting sections is superior to 3 sections. Be aware that most do not have a quick release setup, so you are going to be threading and unthreading from the camera or lens mount. For basketball I would think any sort of support is going to be a hinderance for courtside work. Potentially a hazard to the athletes as well.

At somepoint you're going to want to evaluate the high ISO performance of your camera body, since high school football fields and basketball gyms are notoriously poorly lit. Flash is frequently a no no in these venues as well. You ought to see the NCAA regs on strobes at the college level.

[skydiver6]

Thanks for the tips, Chris. For basketball I do usually set the ISO around 1600 and I have never used any flash. Before last spring I didn't have any flash except for the useless pop-up one on the camera. I do now have just the SB-600 but I didn't plan on using it since with a flash you can only get a shutter speed of 1/200 and I didn't know if that would be fast enough to freeze action?? The school yearbook photographer and many of the newspaper photographers do come in and take pictures using on camera flashes though.

I haven't used any support except my knee in the past but I took some photography classes last winter and the instructor kept telling me I should use a monopod. I tend to sit on the floor along the baseline sort of towards the corners. I had questioned him about the monopods being a hindrance there but he said no and then I went to watch some big state playoff games and saw quite a few photographers with them so I figured he must have been right?

I've just noticed this summer that when I've used my 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens to take some shots of a blue heron or some other bird at 300mm that even at 1/320 I still get some camera shake and that the pictures came out better if I used a table or arm of a chair or something to help stabilize it so I thought some kind of support would help with sports photography too. Am I wrong in thinking this and about to waste money on something I don't really need? I'm still pretty new at all of this!

[skydiver6]

Thanks for the tips, Chris. For basketball I do usually set the ISO around 1600 and I have never used any flash. Before last spring I didn't have any flash except for the useless pop-up one on the camera. I do now have just the SB-600 but I didn't plan on using it since with a flash you can only get a shutter speed of 1/200 and I didn't know if that would be fast enough to freeze action?? The school yearbook photographer and many of the newspaper photographers do come in and take pictures using on camera flashes though.

I haven't used any support except my knee in the past but I took some photography classes last winter and the instructor kept telling me I should use a monopod. I tend to sit on the floor along the baseline sort of towards the corners. I had questioned him about the monopods being a hindrance there but he said no and then I went to watch some big state playoff games and saw quite a few photographers with them so I figured he must have been right?

I've just noticed this summer that when I've used my 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens to take some shots of a blue heron or some other bird at 300mm that even at 1/320 I still get some camera shake and that the pictures came out better if I used a table or arm of a chair or something to help stabilize it so I thought some kind of support would help with sports photography too. Am I wrong in thinking this and about to waste money on something I don't really need? I'm still pretty new at all of this!

[Chris350]

Quick answer 1/320 is just at he edge of what used to be considered fast enough to hand hold. Briefly the old theory was shutter = 1/focal length to get a starting speed to hand hold a given lens. 1/200 is just barely fast enough to stop motion. It's a draw back of Nikon. Even at the top end sync is only 1/250 or 1/320. Ignore all the hype revolving around Auto FP mode, it's useless with the SB-600 as the flash isn't powerful enough to illuminate beyond about 12' on that mode.
I don't know that you'll be wasting money per say, I'm simply saying that you may be able to improve your technique to the point that the pod is extra. Again I shoot mostly outdoor sports, in good light. When it gets that dark inside or out, I'm not going to get high enough shutter speeds to get a descent motion capture, so I just watch the game.. I almost always use some form of support for wildlife since the distances involved are usually far greater, and the subjects smaller, than for sport.
I guess my bottom line is simple, don't go all out on the "best" monopod, if you think that your technique is going to improve to the point where it becomes an extra tool as opposed to a necessity. Mine is definitely a tool, but not mission critical, and my tripod spends an enormous amount of time under the back seat of the truck.

I really enjoy working HS level sports and watching all the parents with their top dollar setups, on the top of the line carbon mono (because they were told by a sales droid that they "needed it"), anchored to one location snapping away .....

[straightarm]

OK You guys have convinced me to go with a monopod. Any suggestions on which one or what to look for?

Thanks,
Donna

I like Manfrotto tripods and monopods. In particular, I like the catches to alter the length of the monopod, they are quick release catches that are easy to use with gloved hands.

Have a look at something like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Aluminum.html

[Old Timer]

I really can't imagine that a tri pod or a monopod would be of that much value if your max focal length is 200mm. I use a mono pod but not till i go to 300mm or greater. until then I think that good hand hold techniques are more valuable because with fast action sports shooting it gives you much more versatile and flexibility.

[fidgety]

I really can't imagine that a tri pod or a monopod would be of that much value if your max focal length is 200mm. I use a mono pod but not till i go to 300mm or greater. until then I think that good hand hold techniques are more valuable because with fast action sports shooting it gives you much more versatile and flexibility.

I agree. A 70-200 is light enough to handhold and I would think it would be difficult to swing it around a monopod to stay on top of the action.

[JETA]

When I came here quite a few years ago my first lesson was to lose the monopod while shooting sports. My biggest lens is a 70-200mm f/2.8 so there was zero need. Tripod I was told was even a bigger nono.

A few years ago I was wiped out on the football field and ended up with a bad concussion and broken leg. If there was a monopod in the mix I cannot imagine how much worse it would have been. I probably would have hurt someone else.

I do have a nice Gitzo carbon fiber tripod that I use for portraits and landscape stuff. I'm sure there are ones out there as nice for a cheaper price.

Good luck!

[fidgety]

A few years ago I was wiped out on the football field and ended up with a bad concussion and broken leg. If there was a monopod in the mix I cannot imagine how much worse it would have been. I probably would have hurt someone else.

Wow, I didn't know you got hit and hurt that bad, sorry to hear that. A couple of years ago I got smacked by a receiver and DB going over the boards in an arena football game and got a little bruised and cut up but nothing like a concussion and broken leg.

[JETA]

A few years ago I was wiped out on the football field and ended up with a bad concussion and broken leg. If there was a monopod in the mix I cannot imagine how much worse it would have been. I probably would have hurt someone else.

Wow, I didn't know you got hit and hurt that bad, sorry to hear that. A couple of years ago I got smacked by a receiver and DB going over the boards in an arena football game and got a little bruised and cut up but nothing like a concussion and broken leg.

Hi Chris,

I still can't believe it myself. It laid me up for a long time, but I was lucky. My knee was hit out of place and went back in on it's own. Then I walked on it for the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third. I had a tibial plateau fracture and I should have displaced the bone from all the walking I did on it and my knee should have been blown out after dislocation. The concussion came from our receiver flipping me because he thought I was the defender who tackled him. LOL Crazy stuff.

[JETA]

Forgot to add my main point.

All I could think of after I peeled myself up off the turf was what I learned here. Man up and lose the monopod. Thank God I listend.

[Frog]

You could try this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLlJl7TbXTA

[fidgety]

You could try this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLlJl7TbXTA

I can see using the string, screw and washer if the players on the field stood in one place the entire game but what happens when you have to raise or lower your camera or have to turn it to portrait mode?

[Frog]

They use or another site showing how to make them use that stretchy string which would help with the raising and lowering part.
I keep meaning to make one but never get around to it.
I suppose in portrait the string(stabilizer) would just be coming off what becomes the side of the camera when you turn it and would probably still help with stabilization.

I haven't done one yet but it sure would make getting out of the way and moving about easier than a tripod or monopod.

[Frog]

They use or another site showing how to make them use that stretchy string which would help with the raising and lowering part.
I keep meaning to make one but never get around to it.
I suppose in portrait the string(stabilizer) would just be coming off what becomes the side of the camera when you turn it and would probably still help with stabilization.

I haven't done one yet but it sure would make getting out of the way and moving about easier than a tripod or monopod.

[fidgety]

They use or another site showing how to make them use that stretchy string which would help with the raising and lowering part.
I keep meaning to make one but never get around to it.
I suppose in portrait the string(stabilizer) would just be coming off what becomes the side of the camera when you turn it and would probably still help with stabilization.

I haven't done one yet but it sure would make getting out of the way and moving about easier than a tripod or monopod.

To be honest, I think if I had a string attached to the bottom of my camera the other photographers and news videographers would laugh me off of the field. I still think it boils down to good technique when hand holding a 70-200 or similar lens.

[skydiver6]

Thank you everyone for all your replies. I have decided to hold off on the monopod. I shot my first game yesterday with my 70-200mm f/2.8 and did ok. It does get heavy for me but the shots came out pretty clear. My biggest problem seems to be adjusting the zoom quickly enough when the action is coming towards me and also switching from landscape to portrait quickly but I think that will all come eventually as I get used to this lens. It's just much bigger and heavier than the old 70-300mm f/4-5.6.

I'm also trying to figure out the best aperture to use to get enough of the players to be clear but the background blurry. Going through my pictures after I found too many background distractions.

So sorry to hear about your injury JETA. A few years back a dad that was helping with the measurements on the side got taken out and busted up his leg very badly. He broke it and tore his ACL and had to have ACL reconstruction. That is always in the back of my mind when shooting pictures.

[Old Timer]

Just food for thought, but I always shot action at f2.8 or at the lowest aperture the lens will allow. Track your peak action or player and make sure they are in focus, everything else is usually just distracting.