question for sport/soccer photographers.

[urvtecs2slo]

i just recently acquired a job as our local semi-pro soccer team's photographer. my daytime shots are nice and crisp. but as the day progresses, however, i run in to some issues. what do you guys recommend for getting the best results when shooting moving sports at night time.


camera is a canon 300d. lens is a quantaray 70-300mm. thanks in advance. oh, and feel free to IM me at xylo6321 with suggestions. my screen name is always online.

[tim]

You need a faster shutter speed or more light. Your choices are:
- Raise your ISO
- Increase your aperture
- Use a faster lens - eg the 70-200 F2.8 L, or even the 85m F1.8 or similar.
- Get the ground lights turned on, I doubt a camera mounted flash will have enough light, but it might be worth a try.

[urvtecs2slo]

i tried the flash a few times, and they came out better. im also waiting on my sigma super 500 flash to come in the mail...ill give that a shot. i dont have the money for a new lens right now, unless i can find a telephoto IS for cheaper than normal. im gonna give it another shot next saturday. check the sports forum for a couple shots from tonight game tomorrow.

[primoz]

With football (sorry we call it football over here :) ) flash won't help much. Action is too far away for flash. Another thing is that in most cases you need times from 1/500 or shorter, which will be really hard to get with f5.6 lens. Especially when there's night match (for day match you shouldn't have problem). At night even fields with TV lights aren't so bright as they look on TV. My pretty much only gear for shooting football is 300/2.8 and iso 800.
PS: IS is pretty much useless for sport. In most cases times are so short that you don't get shaked photos even without IS.

[byso]

imo flash is no good for sport. I use the sports mode on the 350D and I use a 55-200 usm II lense which goes well. I haven't done a night game yet...that'll be fun!

For night time sit behind the the goal line and get players running toward you. Along the sideline would be tough.

[Horse]

I think 1/500th is about minimum for freezing football (soccer) action.
Fields are rarely evenly lit. Try to find the bright areas and stick to them.
Partial metering works better than evaluative for me.
You might be better off with a fast prime lens than a slower zoom.
Shoot under exposed and adjust later with an image editor.
Use the highest ISO and fix up the graininess with something like Neat Image.
I'm using a 20D at ISO 3200 and f2.8 and they look like rubbish before editing.
Night football has a great atmosphere with the black distance and lit spectators stands in the background.

http://mwfaction.fotopic.net/

[cmM]

I think you should invest in a better lense, especially since you're the team's photographer. You could go for a 300 f/4 (non IS)... they sell pretty cheap, the used ones, and I've seen outstanding results.
If you can't invest in a new lens, then you're pretty much stuck with the only option being raising the ISO, especially since you're limited by such a small aperture.

[Andy_T]

In other words ... this is where it gets really expensive.

Other options include the Sigma 70-200/2.8 (700$), Sigma 120-300/2.8 (2000$) or the Canon 135/2.0 with 1.4 extender (1000$) or 200/2.8 (900$).

Prices are ballpark figures from my memory.

Best regards,
Andy