Shooting in "Sports" mode

I have a 350D and a 400D. I sometime shoot fast moving action and use the

sports mode. The results from the 350D I am usually satified with but I have

not been too impressed with the 400D. Even when I have both camera's on hand to

shoot the same event and interchange the same lense between the two camera's

the results from the 400D are alway much darker--very underexposed. Any

thoughts?

 

Thanks, Gary

According to the <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos400d/page29.asp">DPreview</a> review of the 400D, the camera has a tendancy to underspose by about 1/3-2/3 of a stop, and I've seen many other people mention it on this forum in the past. Basically, you can counter it by raising exposure to around +1/3 (or +2/3).

Avoid "Sports" mode. You can set the camera up with more flexibility to achieve the goal as follows:

 

Set the camera to Av mode, and adjust to the widest aperture of your lens (lowest number) - this will ensure that the camera picks the fastest shutter speed it can. Set the focus mode to AI Servo, and for continuous shooting. You may need to adjust the ISO setting (the Sports mode does do this automatically, but only for the range 100-400 which is inadequate when light levels are low as in indoor or floodlit sport, when you may need to use even the 1600 ISO setting) to achieve a fast shutter speed to freeze the action (preferably at least 1/500th, but if you get a blinking 4000 in the viewfinder because the camera needs to use a speed faster than 1/4000th you would need to decrease the ISO). If you find the camera is still underexposing, you can adjust the exposure compensation by pressing the Av/+- button and turning the main dial so that the viewfinder pointer under the sequence -2..-1..0..1..2 moves to the right - you may need to experiment with how much compensation is needed, but try two clicks to start with (just before +1 for an extra 2/3rds stop of exposure). Detailed instructions on how to make the settings can be found in your manual.

Let me add that I primarily shoot baseball and shoot in manual but was really doing this to compare the two camera's. I was really surprise at the differences.

Gary:

I couldn't agree with Mark U. more !

http://www.rtstrikers.smugmug.com/

All shot in Av mode per Mark's instructions.

Gary: I don't argree 100% with Mark. Though what he says is valid.

 

Basically sports it all about action and I reccomend working out what shutter speed you need (either fast (500th or higher) for stopping the action, or slower (30th of a second of lower) to blur the action or pan). To this end ideally you should be in M mode and work out the exposure before hand - good if shooting in doors or somewhere where the light isn't changing. Tv mode is good if the light is changing.

 

Pre-focusing is a good idea - aim for the spot where the photo is going to be taken and either manual focus to this point and wait for the subject to come to you, or pre focus and keep in AI Servo if you are not sure where the action will be.

Actually Adam I agree with you that M mode is preferable for shooting sports, provided that you know what you are doing (and it also makes sense to master focus with the * button via CF 4 on many bodies). As the OP said he was shooting in "sports" PIC mode, I assumed that he would find it too much to keep an eye on correct exposure and the action anytime he was shooting is varying light. My response was designed for a "set and forget" setup. Perhaps the ideal for sports shooters would be an auto ISO mode where the camera varies the ISO for correct exposure with the shutter speed and aperture chosen by the user - although this isn't entirely problem free if you are shooting teams in light and dark strips.

 

I recommend using Av mode in preference to Tv mode for varying light shooting because you can easily have 4 stops variation between part of a pitch in full sunshine and another part in open shade. If you are shooting with a consumer zoom with f/4-5.6 maximum aperture that means that you would be setting ISO to use f/11 or f/16 at your chosen Tv shutter speed for the bright light exposure if you are not to have the camera refuse to take a picture with a blinking aperture in the shade. In general, there is no handicap to using a faster shutter speed, but the narrow aperture will give too great a DoF to isolate the action and will even head into diffraction territory. In low light, when you are struggling to get the maximum out of the camera, it becomes imperative to ensure that you are using the widest aperture of you lens, which can be done in Av or M mode, but not in Tv without careful adjustment and risk of blinking aperture. If you wish to show motion or panning blur then you probably need to be shooting in M mode with a quick ISO change if needed.