7d Night Sports - Field Hockey

[gopack471]

First time out with the 7d for night sports (or any sports). I think it performed very well and noise wise has at least a stop on the 40d but these are far from scientific tests. The field here is pretty well lit, so I guess I'm lucky

All are ISO1600, 1/500, 2.8 except the last which is ISO3200, 1/1000. Some were boosted a little exposure-wise in post. All have NR at 25 in ACR, which really only had an effect on the 3200 shot.

I used back button focus and and AF point expansion on the center point which tracked very well. The amount of in focus keepers is so much higher than the 40d, and 18mp also means I can crop a ton and still have a decent image leftover. I forgot to undo ACR's conversion to adobe RGB so colors may be off

1.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0340.jpg
2.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0350.jpg
3.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0377.jpg
4.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0429.jpg
5.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0458.jpg
6.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0468.jpg
7.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0485.jpg
8.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0510.jpg

[joove]

These look very good. It's a pity about the shadows but I am sure a flash would have destroyed the concentration of the athletes.

Did you try non center AF points (with expansion) at all ?

[DHMN]

Yeah, they look a bit blue but you seem to have known that ahead of time!

[gopack471]

Thanks for the comments so far. I had the orientation linked AF point set so vertical would move to the top point but never used it. Anything that would have been a good vertical was too far away for my 70-200 (the first shot's a crop from a horizontal)

[KayakPhotos]

These look good for ISO 1600. Definitely keeper quality in my book. Nice for those times when you can't/don't want to use a flash.

[eigga]

I am sure a flash would have destroyed the concentration of the athletes

and how is that? Flash fills shadows, fixes color issues, lowers ISO and is not a distraction to any athlete I have ever known... well except golfers. Why is it that a 12 y/o kid can play his game with thousands of yelling fans but adults need quiet for golf...never will understand that... (ok off my soapbox)

[snyderman]

Boy, that looks like a hugely 'unpredictable' sport in terms of where the action is going. Nice job of keeping the action in frame.

The shots all look a bit green on my monitor. The focus is what can be expected shooting in low light. I get the same results with football at night. The cameras just aren't really good at tack sharp focus in really low light!

dave

[kayintveen]

Wouw great shots at iso 1600 with 1/500 nice. personally they can be a bit lighter for my taste but looks pretty good man!

[joove]

and how is that? Flash fills shadows, fixes color issues, lowers ISO and is not a distraction to any athlete I have ever known... well except golfers. Why is it that a 12 y/o kid can play his game with thousands of yelling fans but adults need quiet for golf...never will understand that... (ok off my soapbox)

Really! I have never shot professional athletes. If using flash in a restaurant offends people (who are doing nothing more skillful than eating in peace), I would have imagined that sudden bright lights (and with the inverse square law I would imagine one needs to be close enough for the flash to have any effect) would momentarily distract: leave alone blinding them. The cost of distraction can potentially be measured in millions I would imagine.

I am curious, how do you position your flash to not cause issues to the players and still be close enough for the flash to actually deliver some fill ? If this can be done, I would appreciate some details very much. No point being overly conservative if the reality is that this is indeed harmless. Any pointers ?

[gopack471]

Flash in night sports is something that has to be done perfectly IMO. A lot of other stuff you can get away with fudging a bit, but the majority of flashed night sports look really unnatural to me. I would much prefer to avoid flash and luckily the field here is bright enough that I can still get usable shutter speeds.

Thanks for the comments and yeah the color is off. Here's two to show the work I've done. Boosted the blue channel to get rid of that greenish look. These are gonna be printed in b&w anyway so it doesn't really matter.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0340-1.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0510_2.jpg

[eigga]

am curious, how do you position your flash to not cause issues to the players and still be close enough for the flash to actually deliver some fill ? If this can be done, I would appreciate some details very much. No point being overly conservative if the reality is that this is indeed harmless. Any pointers ?

Start here http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=564196

[silvex]

Flash in night sports is something that has to be done perfectly IMO. A lot of other stuff you can get away with fudging a bit, but the majority of flashed night sports look really unnatural to me. I would much prefer to avoid flash and luckily the field here is bright enough that I can still get usable shutter speeds.

Thanks for the comments and yeah the color is off. Here's two to show the work I've done. Boosted the blue channel to get rid of that greenish look. These are gonna be printed in b&w anyway so it doesn't really matter.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0340-1.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s44/tpodell140/IMG_0510_2.jpg

was this with AWB ? The 7d it is *suppose* to have the best color rendition of any EOS. Don;t need to boost blue channel to get a feel for it. If shooting RAW just click on the white areas on an athlete. Then use that color temp/tint for the rest.