Sports shooting questions

FSpeyer · February 15, 2011

I got a Canon EOS 40D body and the Canon EF 70-200mm 1:28 L IS USM Ultrasonic Zoom Lens. I took a photography course in college in 1979. That's pretty much the end of my picture-taking knowledge other than taking some lacrosse pictures in straight sports mode. I am going to Cheersport this weekend with my daughter and I'd like to take pictures, but have no idea where to begin. Her gym had a competition at a local college gym earlier this year and all the lights were up so I shot in sports mode. The exposure was great, but the focus was on the spectators in the stands with the cheerleaders blurred in the front. I also tried to take pictures at a Cheersport competition in Birmingham, AL, but my pictures weren't very good. I shot ISO 3200, Exposure 1/200 sec, Aperture 2.8, Focal Length 70mm, but I don't know in what mode or how those settings were done. Cheersport in the Georgia Dome is also stage lighting. Really bright in places and really dark in others. The stage is up high and we are on the floor, so the angle with the lighting is awkward. I don't have a flash or a monopole. What should I my settings be? I've been reading the forum and what I've gathered, I don't have enough memory to shoot RAW. So, how do I figure out whether to shoot in A-Dep, M, AV, TV or P? And after that, how do I decide how to set my Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focal length, etc.? I vaguely remember learning about f-stop in college, but that's about it. And as far as the zoom goes, do I want the stabilizer on or off? And if on, do I want it on 1 or 2? I keep my camera on Auto Focus, but do I set the zoom on AF or MF? I guess the Distance scale window should be set according to how far I end up from the stage. And since the cheerleaders come pretty close, I should set the focusing distance range limiter switch to 1.4m instead of 2.5m. I would appreciate any input from anyone willing to share their knowledge and experience. Thanks!

rainbow · February 17, 2011

FSpeyer wrote: »

I got a Canon EOS 40D body and the Canon EF 70-200mm 1:28 L IS USM Ultrasonic Zoom Lens. I took a photography course in college in 1979. That's pretty much the end of my picture-taking knowledge other than taking some lacrosse pictures in straight sports mode. I am going to Cheersport this weekend with my daughter and I'd like to take pictures, but have no idea where to begin. Her gym had a competition at a local college gym earlier this year and all the lights were up so I shot in sports mode. The exposure was great, but the focus was on the spectators in the stands with the cheerleaders blurred in the front. I also tried to take pictures at a Cheersport competition in Birmingham, AL, but my pictures weren't very good. I shot ISO 3200, Exposure 1/200 sec, Aperture 2.8, Focal Length 70mm, but I don't know in what mode or how those settings were done. Cheersport in the Georgia Dome is also stage lighting. Really bright in places and really dark in others. The stage is up high and we are on the floor, so the angle with the lighting is awkward. I don't have a flash or a monopole. What should I my settings be? I've been reading the forum and what I've gathered, I don't have enough memory to shoot RAW. So, how do I figure out whether to shoot in A-Dep, M, AV, TV or P? And after that, how do I decide how to set my Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focal length, etc.? I vaguely remember learning about f-stop in college, but that's about it. And as far as the zoom goes, do I want the stabilizer on or off? And if on, do I want it on 1 or 2? I keep my camera on Auto Focus, but do I set the zoom on AF or MF? I guess the Distance scale window should be set according to how far I end up from the stage. And since the cheerleaders come pretty close, I should set the focusing distance range limiter switch to 1.4m instead of 2.5m. I would appreciate any input from anyone willing to share their knowledge and experience. Thanks!

Not a cheer shooter, but I own a 40D and shoot basketball...

I suggest AV mode and set the f-stop at 2.8. Then the camera will shoot at the fastest shutter speed that it is metering at the time. Your depth of field will be shallow (which I like in my sports shots). Choose the center focus point only. Probably best to be on "one shot" focus. Second choice would be "AI Servo". If you can still get a fast enough shutter speed, drop the ISO to 1600 (800 is even better if the lighting is good) in order to decrease the noise (which messes with the picture quality -- kind of like grain on film without any redeeming qualities). Check the shots on the LCD -- if too dark or light, use the Exposure Compensation (EC) to adjust accordingly - "+" will slow the shutter down to let in more light and "-" will do the opposite.

Good luck! And buy an 8GB card so you can shoot RAW (over 450 RAW shots on the 40D)!

Shulvy · February 17, 2011

So, how do I figure out whether to shoot in A-Dep, M, AV, TV or P? And after that, how do I decide how to set my Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focal length, etc.?

I'd be shooting this in manual since it sounds like it's taking place in an indoor situation where the lighting will not be changing. I too would go with f/2.8 and keep the ISO under 1600 for the 40D. Then you'll simply be dialing in the shutter speed to get your proper exposure. If the lighting situation were changing I might switch to Av aperture wide open. For focal length, well that all depends on how you want the photo composed

And as far as the zoom goes, do I want the stabilizer on or off? And if on, do I want it on 1 or 2?

Hand holding - keep the IS on and in mode 1. On a tri-pod turn IS off.

I keep my camera on Auto Focus, but do I set the zoom on AF or MF?

I'm pretty sure you'll want your lens on auto focus

As suggested above, you may want to try the Ai Servo mode to enable camera's focus to track.

If you are going to be shooting jpg, then you'll want to make sure that you set a custom white balance too.

chrisjohnson · February 18, 2011

Shulvy wrote: »

I'd be shooting this in manual since it sounds like it's taking place in an indoor situation where the lighting will not be changing. I too would go with f/2.8 and keep the ISO under 1600 for the 40D. Then you'll simply be dialing in the shutter speed to get your proper exposure. If the lighting situation were changing I might switch to Av aperture wide open. For focal length, well that all depends on how you want the photo composed

Hand holding - keep the IS on and in mode 1. On a tri-pod turn IS off.

I'm pretty sure you'll want your lens on auto focus As suggested above, you may want to try the Ai Servo mode to enable camera's focus to track.

If you are going to be shooting jpg, then you'll want to make sure that you set a custom white balance too.

You'll find the sport mode of the 40d brings you close to what the other guys advise. The shutter speed will be high to freeze action and the aperture will be set wide. Focus is servo and you'll be in the multi-shot mode, firing shots at a rapid rate. The system will pick ISO 400 which is a good quality on a 40D (I would not use the 3200 or even 1600).

When you go the automatic route, remember the 40d will shoot Jpeg only so you cannot adjust white balance afterwards. Check it before you start shooting if you like but I find the AWB setting works 9 times out of ten even indoors.

Memory is not likely to be a problem but you can always take a spare card for safety.

VitaminV · March 3, 2011

I would not shoot JPEGs indoors. You have a kick-butt rig, spend $50 and get an 8GB card and you'll fit 600 RAW shots on it. Keep your smaller card for emergency back-up. Do Not Trust AWB especially indoors and with mixed lighting. Besides the white balance advantage of shooting RAW, you can take advantage of Canon's DPP noise reduction tool. It's not the greatest, but it is good. This will let you shoot at 1600 and noise correct with good results. So, i'd go Av, ISO 1600, Center Point Focus, Cheerleaders fly around so I'd go with AI Servo. Oh, and don't forget to shoot a white card (honestly, a white piece of paper works fine) under the same lights as the action. Then, here's the beauty of RAW, when you post process, adjust the white balance for the white card, copy the recipe to the clipboard and then paste it to all the shots at once. Bingo, all of your shots are white balanced with like 4 clicks.

If you have any questions on AI Servo let me know, or ask someone on the Sports forum.

Good Luck!!

MikeV-

Sports shooting questions

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