Night time soccer settings?

Well, I shot my first soccer game last night for our high school girls’ varsity team. For my first soccer game and it

being at night, I was proud of some of the images. I used a canon Rebel XTi on "P" mode with a 580EX 2 Flash and a

canon 80-200mm f/4.5 shot handheld. Although some images were ok MOST were blurry. I am going back again and

was wondering if yall could tell me what settings to put. I was guessing that since the conditions are tough (Night

time shooting) that instead of shooting in "P", I need to use manual and set the settings myself. The problem is, I

don't know anything about manual settings. I know a better lens would help, but I’m not willing to buy a new lens just

yet. Can yall help?

<p>One of the photos. I think its good, but I wish the legs and arms were sharper.</p>

<p>Lets try it this time....</p><div></div>

<p>Lets look at the relevant settings (from EXIF) first: 1600iso, f/5.6, 1/100sec, 135mm, flash-fired</p>

<p>If the flash would have been the main light source (which it wasn't), the 1/100sec would have been good enough (since the flash itself is shorter), but since ambient light was the main source of light, 1/100sec is too slow. You can tell that ambient light was the main lightsource, because the girl in the foreground and the girl in the background are exposed mainly the same.</p>

<p>So, how to get to shorter exposure times?.<br>

- You cannot open up the aperture more, because your lens is already wide open ... (I assume you have the cheap 80-200/4.5-5.6).<br>

- If your camera has 3200iso, you could use that.<br>

- If it hasn't got that, you could dial in an exposure compensation of -1 and correct the resulting underexposure in postprocessing. (Shot raw for this).<br>

- You could use the flash as the main light. Set the camera to manual, set f/5.6 and set 1/200sec, set 1600iso ... now play with flash-exposure-compensation (which is not the same as exposure-compensation) until the results look ok. The flash doesn't reach overly far, not even at 1600iso, and you'll also notice the typical lightfallof with the distance, but it will stop motion better). If the influence of ambient light is still too strong, stop down to f/8. (Don't use 1/400sec, because this would be wither faster than sync-speed, or would force the flash into HSS mode).<br>

...<br>

Best solution ... get a faster lens.</p>

 

<p>Thanks Rainer, I would love a faster lens, but just don't have the $$$ (Money). I can borrow a canon 100-400mm lens from a friend. Would that lens be any better?</p>

<p>Colton, getting a longer lens will not make any difference unless you can get a faster lens, ie f 2.8. I too use an xti. What Rainer said is all good. My first try at night football I used manual setting, iso 1600, f/5.6, and shutter speed of 1/200 sec with my 70-300 and shot and checked and shot and checked some more. You need to make sure the play is within the reach of the flash. Getting the play coming at you will mitigate some of the hand foot motion blur. Sample:<br>

<img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh102/gaelson/photnet/081107-TDHS-MHS-fb-0056copy.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>With the limitations of your lens there isn't going to be much you can do. You will be fitting every shot to get what you want. Night time and indoor sports really need to have a f2.8 at a min. IMO. But in the mean time ytou will have to play with your shots and continually adjust.</p>

<p>Rainer is right. You need to set your camera to an ISO of 3200. I would then work in AP mode and set your Apature to f4.5 and then exposre compensate as needed. Now you will only see the f4.5 when you are at 80mm and then you will see a jump to about f5.6 when you go out to 200mm. This is what I had to do when I shot with a Nikon D100 and 70-300 f4.5-5.6. I quickly got sick of the results and ponied up the money. It was well worth it.</p>

<p>Beyond that play with the settings. The nice thing about digital is that you can see the shot right after you took it and try to adjust.</p>

David and Rainer, the xti only goes to iso 1600. I wish I could set to 3200

<p>-- "I wish I could set to 3200"</p>

<p>Use an exposure compensation of -1 instead, and "push" the missing stop in postprocessing. As said, this is best done with raw images.</p>

<p>Unfortunately the only way to get decent photos of sports at night under high school stadium lights is with a faster lens (f/2.8) and high ISO settings. Check out this blog post that shows a few samples and has a few setup tips.<br>

Good luck.<br>

<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/RANDAL~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" /> <img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/RANDAL~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg" alt="" /><br>

http://www.spotmetersports.com/2008/10/night-time-soccerin-rain.html</p>

<p>As others have said, you really will need an f2.8 lens at a minimum. I use the 200mm f2.8L by canon, which is under $700, and takes extremely good pictures. Here is an example shot at a small high school, the 2.8 allows shutter speeds of 1/400 under fair lighting, which lets me stop the action. Sigma makes a 70-200mm 2.8 for under $800, but I've not used it. </p><div></div>

<p>Oh, and a 2.8 will allow you to leave the flash at home. Most of the time the action is too far away for a flash to do any good anyway.</p>

<p>Well if the XTI only goes to 1600 then you are really need to get the faster lens. And if 1600 is as high as it goes I really have to wonder about the noise levels in the image. Are images even usable to print? Anyway off topic sorry.</p>

<p>With out a faster lens you will have to max out your camera and lens and a take a lot of pictures. All this is my opinion though. I was in your situation a few months ago and I finally just bit the bullet and upgraded my camera body and lens. Now that I did I don't regret it.</p>

<p>[[Most of the time the action is too far away for a flash to do any good anyway.]]</p>

<p>One could always mount a Better Beamer to their flash head.</p>

<p> </p>

Thanks guys for all of yall tips. I will keep them in mind when at the games. I will also look into the 200 f/2.

<p><strong>One could always mount a Better Beamer to their flash head.</strong><br>

<strong></strong><br>

true, but won't that limit the shutter to 1/250? (I could be wrong on max shutter speed with flash) Needs to be 1/400 or higher. The sample I posted was about 100 ft away, maybe more. Either way, I'd still suggest the faster lens is worth it.</p>

<p>Nathan,<br>

There are ways to extend ones flash when the subject is a good distance away and the Better Beamer is one solution. That was the only issue I was addressing. I agree completely that a faster lens is required for shooting at night.</p>

<p>I don't think a generalized statement like "Needs to be 1/400" is particularly useful. Sometimes during a game your shutter speed should be above 1/400 and sometimes below. It all depends on your subject.</p>

<p>Speaking strictly about the OP's need to stop the action so the players aren't blurred. Sure, if you shoot fans or the coaches on the sidelines, you may have to use slower shutter speed due to less light in those areas. A 100mm 2.8 lens would help, but I don't think it will give enough reach. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>