Night Sports pictures

[kenurb]

I have a problem taking pictures with my Canon Rebel. Having a difficult taking pictures of my Gransons football games in the evening. The stadium lighting is poor. What do I have to do to get good pictures. I am using a 75 to 300mm lens from my film rebel. What setting do I need to use to get pictures?

[Scottes]

Set for Av mode at the widest aperture and then bump your ISO up until you're getting about 1/500 second shutter at 300mm, or 1/125 at 75mm. (And adjust for zoom lengths in between of course.)

You may get noisy shots, but you'll get the shots. The noise isn't always so noticable, and Noiseware will do a great job of removing it for free.

[formula4speed]

The OP is using a film camera, no bumping of the ISO in camera but using high speed film (800) will help. The real problem is your lens, consumer 75-300mm lenses have a max aperature of 5.6 on the long end which is no good for low light situations, not to mention questionable sharpness after 200mm. When shooting in low light you want an aperature of 2.8 or larger (lower number). How close are you able to get to the game? Long lenses with large aperature get expensive but if you can get close there are some affordable options out there.

[Curtis N]

Set for Av mode at the widest aperture and then bump your ISO up until you're getting about 1/500 second shutter at 300mm, or 1/125 at 75mm.Even at 1600 ISO (film or digital) I'm betting kenurb will never get anywhere close to 1/500 with that lens (f/5.6 at 300mm) at a nighttime football game.

This is one of those situations where it will be quite difficult to get anything usable without a fast lens.

[kenurb]

I have offten wondered why lenses with f2.8 where so expensive. Now I know got to save my pennies to buy a new lense. Thanks for the Advce.

[Scottes]

I have offten wondered why lenses with f2.8 where so expensive. Now I know got to save my pennies to buy a new lense. Thanks for the Advce.
You poor soul. It's going to cost you an arm and a leg.

Welcome to the world of L. You've just been initiated, then there's a long period while the bank account grows slowly, then you become an Official Member. Though it's not the worst thing in the world, it's certainly not the cheapest.
:-)

[PhotosGuy]

Don't forget, you do have the option of using a strobe at fill some light. I used an old Vivitar 283 with a focusing filter & it gave me f/4 at about 135'.

[IndyJeff]

I have a problem taking pictures with my Canon Rebel. Having a difficult taking pictures of my Gransons football games in the evening. The stadium lighting is poor. What do I have to do to get good pictures. I am using a 75 to 300mm lens from my film rebel. What setting do I need to use to get pictures?


If your shooting from the stands, give up and watch the game. Your not going to get anything worth looking at with your current equipment. You might be able to shoot with the sun behind you during the first quarter and get some shots.

You need some faster glass, at least a f4.0, and must be able to shoot at nothing slower than ISO 800 and that is with a strobe. If your not on the sidelines, then give up with the strobe because it won't light even to the hash marks.

[Danny Boy]

Close to this subject.... I recently purchased a 70-200 f/2.8 IS to shoot figure skating. This is similar to a hockey environment. Set on Av at 2.8 and upped the ISO (to 800 and sometimes 1600) so I can get a decent shutter speed (1/500). I had to crop in post processing and the pics are really noisy (and I mean REALLY noisy). I'm doing this again this weekend and will try to eliminate the cropping and am looking into noise elimination software. Any other suggestions?

[PhotosGuy]

Any other suggestions?
Noise reduction software. I like the noise options in RSE if you shoot RAW, which can save you in crappy environments like that. ;)