Night sport shots

[chambero]

Night sport shots
First of all I am a new member and also kind of new to photography in general. I just bought a Nikon D80 and have taken some night football shots. Most of them came out lousy. These are the 2 lenses I have. 1. Nikon 70-300mm f4-5.6 G and a Quantary 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. During daytime action shots they do the job, it is the nighttime shots that I need some advice. The football field is well lighted during the night games.
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Sgt. Roy

[JSPhoto]

I did notice you have no f2.8 lens, thats most of your night shooting problem. Also, are you using flash? You need a good flash, guide #90 or better to really get good enough light. An f3.5 can be used but won't get near the results without a really good flash.
Football or any fields lighting may look good to the eye but it's completely different for the camera and lenses. The AF will search a lot more at night as well.

JS

[chambero]

I don't use a flash at this time, I have been advised not to because it is distracking to the players. I do have a Nikon SB-600 that I have not tried. What is a good 2.8 that I don't have to go into debt for that would satisfy my need?

[specradio]

I don't use a flash at this time, I have been advised not to because it is distracking to the players. I do have a Nikon SB-600 that I have not tried. What is a good 2.8 that I don't have to go into debt for that would satisfy my need?

Sigma has a nice one. 70-200mm f2.8 I believe, It's around $800.

[chambero]

Thanks I will check it out.

[JSPhoto]

I don't use a flash at this time, I have been advised not to because it is distracking to the players. I do have a Nikon SB-600 that I have not tried. What is a good 2.8 that I don't have to go into debt for that would satisfy my need?

Uh? Since when has flash been distracting to football players? They better get used to it now or they will be outta luck if they get to college! Gymnastics, yeah, then it could be a problem, but thats really the only sport it should affect.
In Indiana we have some really dumb rules about flash at IHSAA events, but football is one sport they know we MUST use flash. By the time the kids are on the JV team they are used to it There are very few schools that don't have lights, but very few of them have GOOD lights. One of the few with good lights I still use a flash just to get rid of the shadows, but the coaches and players don't mind the flash because they like seeing those nice clear pictures in the paper.
Look at some of the threads from this seasons football, and the difference between flash and no flash.One thread with flash was "Friday night action" from 2 weeks ago. The paper got these shots and ran them without having to make adjustments, just cropped and put em in. Without flash they would have required a lot of post processing before they could have used them. They also make much better prints, not to mention you can see the players faces clearly, without the shadows.
As quick as todays flashes are they shouldn't affect football players at all.

There are several threads on the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens, do a search and you should get all the info you need for it. And if you shop around you should find it for $600-$650.

JS

[chambero]

Thanks for the advice. If I purchase the f2.8 will my Nikon SB600 flash be sufficient for the football night shots. I really would like to get this right. If it works I'll post a few of the best shots for any suggestions.

Thanks again

[JSPhoto]

I don't about the flash or it's specs since I don't use Nikon gear. I had hoped OT would drop in and lend a hand but he hasn't of yet. He should know the limits of the flash you have. If it has a guide # of 90 you should be Ok, but only trying it will tell. I don't know either if Nikon has anything like the ETT II or fill flash , although I have heard Nikon flashes are pretty good.
An f2.8 lens will definately help though, the f4.5 just doesn't get enough light to the sensor.
You may want to rent a lens for a couple days before and for the game(s) so you can decide, it's cheaper than buying a lens and then not liking it or the results. But then again I don't know if Nikon has more than one 70-200 like Canon does, with and without IS.
I didn't decide to buy a 70-200 until I had tried one, and I loved it, but financially I couldn't do it asnd wound up getting the Sigma. The Sigma was a very good lens but didn't AF as fast as it should in low light, ultimately I got the Canon with IS and it is a world of difference.

JS

[specradio]

Well with the D80 with SB600 on ISO 200, you'll get around ~130 ft out with a max of I think 1/250 flash sync, if you put it on a higher ISO, you'll get farther out.

I hit a fence clearly a full football field away with the flash, even though it wasn't max power of the flash, it still lit up clearly and showed detail. It should be good enough under the lights (We have really good lights) for me.

[mknopp1]

I shoot with a D-70, an SB-800 and an 20-210 5.6 D for night football. The field lighting is barely acceptable. I set the camera to iso 500, shutter priority and synch to 400th of a sec. The results are pretty good to about 60 feet out with the ocassional instince of over or under exposure for some odd reason. I'm hesitent about rasing the iso due to reprints. What do you guys use as a set up? Any suggestions other then buying a 2.8 as I can't afford to right now?

I just rented the 70-200 2.8 G VR lens for a week as the local football team is playing in the championship round at the Carrier Dome. On a sunny day the conditions for shooting there are dicey and they aren't calling for a sunny day. It's a semi-translucent dome which filters out a good chunk of the light. Last year I was shooting up around 1600 iso with the 5.6 D and still getting blurry shots. Any tips on handeling the VR?

As for flash and sporting events the only times I've been told not to use them is in cases where light-based timing sensors are used like swim meets. A flash at the wrong time can mess up the start. There is also one volleyball coach who requests me not to use it but every other coach in every other sporting event don't mind it at all. I've had basketball players tell me that they don't even notice it as they go up for shots as their eyes are looking up, not down at me under the backboard.

Just my 2 cents worth

[chambero]

Thanks for all the advice. I did buy a Sigma 70-200 2.8 with a macro capabilities. It's their newest lens. I will be trying it out the next couple of weeks and let you know how it worked out.