You know, there are some that would say that "nice clean photos" and "night baseball games" are mutually exclusive terms ....
You don't say what equipment you're using - most specifically, what lens you're using .... so I'll give you a mostly generic answer assuming that you've got a fairly fast lens ....
Shoot in manual mode
ISO 1600 (lower if the lights will allow it - but I have my doubts!)
f2.8
Shutter speed 1/400
The final call on the "cleanliness" of those shots will, of course, be your's. My guess is that you will have some noise in them. The good news is that you can clean up some of that noise with NN or noiseware or whatever other noise reduction program of your choice.
I have the Digital rebel xti with the canon 70-300mm is lens. It is only 4.5-5.6. Is there any way to compensate by not having a 2.8 lens? ISO 1600 is as high as the camera allows. What would be the slowest shutterspeed allowing "in focus" shots?
Is there any way to compensate by not having a 2.8 lens?
For what you're asking to do - sorry, but the answer is "not really" .... I mean, do the math: even at f4.5, you're already a full stop slower than the recommended settings I mentioned above. And that's at the short end ... at the 300mm end you're at f5.6 - a full 2 stops slower than those recommended settings.
And in my personal experience, the IS will be of no help in trying to "freeze" action at slower speeds. There's just too much movement in the lens elements in using IS for that to happen fast enough for action shots ....
What would be the slowest shutterspeed allowing "in focus" shots?
The 1/400 recommendation I made earlier is, in my opinion, the slowest I would go for "action" shots. Now, if you're shooting things that aren't moving, then certainly you can drop that shutter speed to get a more "properly" exposed shot ....
Unfortunately, the bottom line is this: if you're trying to "freeze" action in baserunning or swinging or pitching - that lens is just too slow to do it under the lights .... now, having said that, the only way I know to get something that you might consider usable would be to pan with the runner or pitcher or whatever. If done properly, at least part of the shot would be "in focus" while everything else is blurred (as you would expect).
Also, with slower shutter speeds, you run into the problem of camera movement as the shutter is open, causing even more blur ....
I have the Digital rebel xti with the canon 70-300mm is lens. It is only 4.5-5.6. Is there any way to compensate by not having a 2.8 lens? ISO 1600 is as high as the camera allows. What would be the slowest shutterspeed allowing "in focus" shots?
I have not shot baseball, but I have shot youth ice hockey, which presents similar problems.
Shooting in manual is going to present a problem for you, because with your lens, the aperture will change as you zoom in and out, changing your exposure. I am also going to guess that the lighting around the field will be uneven, again making shooting in manual difficult. I would recommend trying to shoot in aperture priority, wide open, unless that results in unacceptably slow shutter speeds. If shooting in manual, you could lock in exposure at different areas of interest, let's say home plate, first base, etc., then spend the first inning or two just shooting play at the plate, the next couple innings first base, etc, using the manual settings you determined for those areas.
The shutter speed you will need to freeze action will vary also with the size, speed and distance of your subject. I am going to guess you will not have enough light to freeze the baseball, however the players should be acceptably sharp even down to 1/125 depending on what they are doing. Photos of a swing may have sharp catcher, ump and batter, but blurred ball and bat. The pitcher in delivery may be sharp, except for his hand.
I would recommend being there early and experiment during warm-ups to get it down. Also, remember that to a certain extent, underexposure can be bumped up in post-processing.
I have the Digital rebel xti with the canon 70-300mm is lens. It is only 4.5-5.6. Is there any way to compensate by not having a 2.8 lens? ISO 1600 is as high as the camera allows. What would be the slowest shutterspeed allowing "in focus" shots?
I have pretty much the same camera and lens. Here's a link to my gallery. If you hover over the shots, you can see the camera info. They're all taken with the 75-300 USM IS. All settings are at 1600 iso. Please disregard the framing and/or focus of some of the shots. Since I was in the game, I set up the camera then handed it off to my husband for the shots.
I agree with Cecil. I have also found 1/400 to be a good threshold of acceptable motion blur. Still not fast enough for bat/ball (where 1/1000 is more reliable).
In your case I would suggest one of three approaches:
1. Take cameo style shots where the subject is relatively still (from the other poster's gallery you can see these style of shots turned out muchb better than when they tried to freeze action)
2. Use an external flash (if allowed). Personally I hate using a flash but if it's allowed, it will enable you to get shots you won't be able to get without it.
Comments
You know, there are some that would say that "nice clean photos" and "night baseball games" are mutually exclusive terms ....
You don't say what equipment you're using - most specifically, what lens you're using .... so I'll give you a mostly generic answer assuming that you've got a fairly fast lens ....
Shoot in manual mode
ISO 1600 (lower if the lights will allow it - but I have my doubts!)
f2.8
Shutter speed 1/400
The final call on the "cleanliness" of those shots will, of course, be your's. My guess is that you will have some noise in them. The good news is that you can clean up some of that noise with NN or noiseware or whatever other noise reduction program of your choice.
Atlanta, Georgia
Photos at SportsShooter
For what you're asking to do - sorry, but the answer is "not really" .... I mean, do the math: even at f4.5, you're already a full stop slower than the recommended settings I mentioned above. And that's at the short end ... at the 300mm end you're at f5.6 - a full 2 stops slower than those recommended settings.
And in my personal experience, the IS will be of no help in trying to "freeze" action at slower speeds. There's just too much movement in the lens elements in using IS for that to happen fast enough for action shots ....
The 1/400 recommendation I made earlier is, in my opinion, the slowest I would go for "action" shots. Now, if you're shooting things that aren't moving, then certainly you can drop that shutter speed to get a more "properly" exposed shot ....
Unfortunately, the bottom line is this: if you're trying to "freeze" action in baserunning or swinging or pitching - that lens is just too slow to do it under the lights .... now, having said that, the only way I know to get something that you might consider usable would be to pan with the runner or pitcher or whatever. If done properly, at least part of the shot would be "in focus" while everything else is blurred (as you would expect).
Also, with slower shutter speeds, you run into the problem of camera movement as the shutter is open, causing even more blur ....
Atlanta, Georgia
Photos at SportsShooter
I have not shot baseball, but I have shot youth ice hockey, which presents similar problems.
Shooting in manual is going to present a problem for you, because with your lens, the aperture will change as you zoom in and out, changing your exposure. I am also going to guess that the lighting around the field will be uneven, again making shooting in manual difficult. I would recommend trying to shoot in aperture priority, wide open, unless that results in unacceptably slow shutter speeds. If shooting in manual, you could lock in exposure at different areas of interest, let's say home plate, first base, etc., then spend the first inning or two just shooting play at the plate, the next couple innings first base, etc, using the manual settings you determined for those areas.
The shutter speed you will need to freeze action will vary also with the size, speed and distance of your subject. I am going to guess you will not have enough light to freeze the baseball, however the players should be acceptably sharp even down to 1/125 depending on what they are doing. Photos of a swing may have sharp catcher, ump and batter, but blurred ball and bat. The pitcher in delivery may be sharp, except for his hand.
I would recommend being there early and experiment during warm-ups to get it down. Also, remember that to a certain extent, underexposure can be bumped up in post-processing.
Good luck!
I have pretty much the same camera and lens. Here's a link to my gallery. If you hover over the shots, you can see the camera info. They're all taken with the 75-300 USM IS. All settings are at 1600 iso. Please disregard the framing and/or focus of some of the shots. Since I was in the game, I set up the camera then handed it off to my husband for the shots.
http://pspphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/2546303/1/133876947
Here's a couple samples though... All with Canon Rebel xt w/ Canon 75-300 USM IS, shutter priority, 1/80, iso 1600
Prothero Sports Photography
http://pspphotos.net
In your case I would suggest one of three approaches:
1. Take cameo style shots where the subject is relatively still (from the other poster's gallery you can see these style of shots turned out muchb better than when they tried to freeze action)
2. Use an external flash (if allowed). Personally I hate using a flash but if it's allowed, it will enable you to get shots you won't be able to get without it.
3. Rent a faster lens.