shooting sports at night

[jess1e]

I have a d10 and was trying to shoot my daughters softball game (under the lights) and to say the least i couldn't make it happen. I didn't or couldn't use flash any hints would be helpful, also i new at my d10 how do i change my aperture settings on it when i am in manuel i can change the asa but not the aperture, thank you

[blinking8s]

10d ? ;)

softball/baseball at night is VERY hard...lighting on non-professional grade fields is usually pretty darn bad. I photographed a NCAA baseball game this one time, expecting it to be some awesome lights on the field...iso 1600 @ 125th and white balance was different ALL OVER the field. Pretty much hopeless for me in the end, so I shot mostly "still action" i guess you would call it.

in manual, you are able to change all settings for the camera. the dial near the shutter should change your aperture if im not mistaken

[IndyJeff]

Considering most youth sporting facilties lighting is less than great, you need really fast glass. At least a 2.8 and a shutter speed of no lower than 1/250 is what you need and even then you will get some blurring on fast action.

If you have a 50 1.8/1.4 you can get some good shots from behind the plate.

As for WB, use the auto setting because like blinking8s said, the WB is different all over the field. Shoot as high a ISO as your camera will allow and run it thur a noise program and you should have some decent shots.

Face it, your not going to be able to get good results from everything that happens on the field so, pick your spot where you can get the best light, action and vantage point and shoot from there and make the best of a bad situation.

[QUASIPHOTO]

If I may........here are a couple pics I took with my 20D, ISO 1600 lens wide open at f2.8 (canon 70-200m f2.8 L IS USM) handheld, Av priority, taken about 10:30 ish at night. This is not saying these are anywhere correct or right, but this is how they turned out. Plus I shot them in the B & W mode of the camera.

[pcasciola]

No doubt shooting at night is tough, and without the right equipment it's downright impossible. I had pretty good success this year with my 20D at ISO 3200 and the 70-200/2.8L IS, but your 10D will be quite a bit noisier at that ISO so you might want to try ISO 1600 first. With an f/2.8 or faster lens, you should still be able to get 1/250 at most fields.

If I had a bigger budget, I'd be using the now discontinued Canon 200/1.8L for night baseball.

Here are a couple using the 20D, 70-200/2.8L IS, ISO 3200, f/2.8:

http://www.casciola.com/pics/baseball_9697.jpg

http://www.casciola.com/pics/baseball_9781.jpg

[jess1e]

thanks to all sounds like i need a little faster lense, also i just got my 10d a little over a yr ago and now the 20d is out. please advise on either if you can, thanks again

[pcasciola]

I'd recommend the faster lens before upgrading the body. You might be satisfied enough with the results, but you will definitely see more noise at high ISOs with the 10D. Depending on your budget, you might want to look at the Sigma 70-200/2.8, Canon 70-200/2.8L (IS and non-IS versions), which range from about $800-1600. Or, for a little less you could pick up a 200/2.8L prime which would also work for baseball/softball.