40D hockey settings

[pastanley]

What is everyones preferred settings using a 40D. I am using a Sigma 70-200 2.8 lens. What about white balance settings?

[RobNYC]

You probably haven't seen any responses to this because your question is pretty general. It depends on the rink, lighting, where your shooting from, etc.

If lighting at the rink is consistent, you should go with Manual. When I shoot NY Ranger games (not a pro, no press credential) I'm usually at ISO 1600, 1/500, 2.8 or 3.2 with the 70-200 2.8L IS on AI Focus of course. I've still got plenty to learn.

But that doesn't mean those settings will work for you. Obviously lighting is different everywhere. But I definitely don't recommend using Program mode.

You could try Tv mode, so you can set your shutter for 1/400 - 500 in order to freeze the action. But the lighting in the given rink still may not be good enough. If you use safety shift, you may find it lowering the shutter on you to compensate. M is still better also because of the high level of contrast between the players and the ice... it tends to put off the camera's light meter.


If you shoot the same rink all the time, if you adjust the WB in PP, you may find the optimal kelvin temp. You should be able to simply set that temp. for that rink most of the time.
Most people recommend that you use the ice for a custom WB, but that you take it from used ice. Alot of kids games dont have much of a warm-up, and the ice doesn't get thay chopped up so it may not be used fairly well before the start of the game.

[pwrmac]

I have the same lens. nice lens.
I regularly shoot my step son's hockey at some poorly lit arena's.

I use Manual mode
Speed= no less then 1/250 but the faster the better, try to use 1/800 and up.
Aperture= 2.8, lets in the most light
ISO= as high as needed to get proper exposure with fast shutter speeds. I'll use 1600 and sometimes 3200 depending on the arena.
WB = If I'm shooting RAW, I'll just leave it on Auto, but with jpeg, I'll usually use a custom white balance or Tungsten as a last resort.

If you are just shooting at your local rink, don't be afraid to use a little fill flash to help the photo pop. I'll set my flash to a slightly higher exposure then the ambient when aimed at the goal area as that where most of the great action occurs. If you at a pro rink, you probably won't get close enough that on-camera flash will help at all and will have to rely on ambient light.

[sadler21]

Few setttings will change between cameras... hint: try doing a search. They work wonders, thats what I did ;)

[nicksan]

If the lighting is consistent, then I would stick with Manual mode. Take a reading, make sure you are using fast enough shutter speeds and start shooting. Chimp once in a while and adjust settings as required. This way your camera isn't fooled by the jersey colors, etc. and you don't have to worry about dialing in EC in Av/Tv modes...