Night HS Football Pix & Questions

[santabarbarapix]

I went out tonight to shoot a local high school football game. Prior, I carefully reviewed all the previous posts here about flash/no flash, and decided on no flash. I rented a 300 2.8 IS for my 30D. ISO was 1600, 2.8, and 1/250 or 1/400 was the best I could achieve.

Questions:

1. Should I up the shutter speed and then PP in PS later?

2. Should I bite the bullet and up the ISO to 3200?

3. I had the IS turned off. Would you suggest otherwise?

C&C and or suggestions welcomed as I will be shooting more night HS football as the season progresses.

[dmwierz]

First of all, don't use the IS. It's not designed for moving subjects (other than mode 2 for panning, but that's a different topic entirely) and it will slow down your AF. Focusing in low light is hard enough with adding IS to the mix.

1. Should I up the shutter speed and then PP in PS later?

2. Should I bite the bullet and up the ISO to 3200?

You can only shoot what the available light allows you to shoot. Your first shot is soft, and under-exposed. The second one is better, but it's also taken at an instant when players aren't moving too quickly.

If you steadfastly refuse to use flash (why, may I ask?), then your only alternative for getting faster shutter speeds is to go up to ISO 3200. That's it. End of conversation. You can't change Physics.

Are you shooting Manual? Do you have a light meter to measure ambient light?

[santabarbarapix]

1. IS was turned off the entire game.

2. I don't love the results I've seen with flash.

3. Shooting on M.

4. No light meter.

Thanks!

[S.Horton]

1. Should I up the shutter speed and then PP in PS later?
If you mean deliberately underexpose to get more shutter speed, that's going to result in unacceptable ISO noise.... so.......

2. Should I bite the bullet and up the ISO to 3200?
Yes. Check your histogram as you go, expose properly, you'll be fine. Take what you can get in shutter speed. HS lights may not really be adequate to get you above 1/250; I know, you want more, but the light is the limit

3. I had the IS turned off. Would you suggest otherwise?
Mode 2, use a monopod

[dmwierz]

Mode 2, use a monopod

No, sorry, but I strongly and respectfully disagree. Mode 2 only stabilizes in the horizontal direction, which is going to create some odd focusing issues if you are moving your rig in all directions.

Secondly, and more appropriate, IS is intended to correct for camera shake and movement, not subject movement, and the shutter speeds you should be using for sports far exceed those where IS would have a positive impact (1/(focal length), anyway.

It will noticeably slow down AF, and if you use it on a tripod or monopod, the sensing system internal to the lens takes up to a second of holding down the AF button to recognize that the lens is mounted to a 'pod every time you shoot, and who holds down their AF button for a second before taking a sports shot?

Plus, do you really want little gyros and motors moving your glass around inside your lens while you're swinging your lens around, trying to catch a 95 mph fastball, or a running back diving for a ball at 1/6400s, or a hockey puck flying into a goalie's glove captured at 1/2000s? I know I don't.

Whenever I have slow focusing issues with my 400 IS, I can guarantee that somehow the IS has gotten turned on, and this has become the first place for me to look to correct an AF issue.

IS is primarily for low light images where the subject is relatively stationary (wildlife, for one) and Mode 2's only action/sports application is for horizontal panning as in motorsports.

But, don't believe me. Here is the definitive source:

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/lens/index.html

2. I don't love the results I've seen with flash.


I understand, when done poorly, flash images can look odd. However, if you learn to use it correctly, I can guarantee you that your shots will look MUCH better than anything you can get shooting ambient - and this holds true even with a MkIII. You just can't get adequate color saturation, proper face exposure, etc., or even white balance, shooting ambient.

With flash, I can stop action at 1/800s (flash duration at full power), get light under helmets to expose the faces properly, get colors that pop, whites that are white (and not brown or yellow), etc.

But, it's not easy to learn how to shoot night football with flash, especially compared to just going out to the field, dialing up the ISO, opening your lens all the way, and firing away.