CAMERA SETTINGS for sports ??

What is your settings when shooting for sport?

WHITE BALACE?
METER MODE?
FOCUS MODE?
(do you use CF4 =1?)
etc. . .
etc. . .

are you shooting in a bright indoor arena. high school gym, out doors, what sports, day or night. it very for every event, but you need to be more specific to what your shooting in order to get any decent answer.

'when shooting for sport?' - is a very generic question.

hmmm. . . good point. . .
Well then lets shoot for which ever time YOU shoot sports? night or day AND we'll take it one more step. . . and go with the more common sport that people have issues with. . . football (US)

For night Varsity FB games I've been shooting at 1/500, f/1.8 and ISO-1600, generically speaking. I think I have a harder time during the day with FB. I never know if I should try to isolate one athlete or keep a bit more in focus because there might be some really good action going on around the focal point. I'd love to hear what other do during the day.

gherrry,

I'm really at a loss for what you are trying to accomplish here. Sports shooting can have a lot of different settings; especially when considering every venue or situation is different.

You mention American football, are you asking about day or night, indoor or outdoor?

Or are you trying looking for just a list of settings in general; which I actually think would only be useful as a very loose baseline because what might work for one set of equipment in a certain set of conditions isn't going to work at another venue.

I think you might get a better response if you convey exactly what you're looking for better.

There are few basic things and there are few things which depends on particular sport. For me basic things are always same... this means manual metering, ai servo, cfn4-3. Af point selection depends on composition and sport, so does white balance settings.
What else? Oh yeah one thing... Custom functions and personal functions are there with reason... to set camera so as it suits your work best. Not to set it so as I have it, but so that you will get the most out of camera. So try and find out what suits you best. That "famous" page with SI settings is just "beginers guide" and definitely not rule how to set camera. Some of settings are same as I have, but some are such that they just doesn't fit the way I work. And beauty of custom and personal functions is exactly in this, that they allow you to get camera optimized for your way of working.
PS: Same thing goes for all other basics and not so basic stuff about which I wrote on begining. You have to find what suits you best. Maybe for your sport or your style of shooting you need completely different af or mettering settings then I do. So only you can tell what works best for you.

^^These guys have a good point - you must find what works best for you - your conditions, your style, your equipment, etc.

That being said,
I shoot M if the lighting is constant (clear sunny day, indoor gym) or AV if the lighting is changing (cloudy day with the sun coming in and out, sunset, etc...).
For sports, focus is always AI Servo.
If the light will be consistent, I'll shoot a white piece of paper and set the custom white balance off that. If I can't, no worries, I'll just correct it in PP since I always shoot RAW.
Usually center point AF.
Minimum/preferred shutter speed of 1/500 sec. To achieve that, I set the aperture wide open (unless the lens I'm using is drastically better, say, 2/3 stop from wide open), and then up the ISO.


So, for the two sports I shoot....
Volleyball - 85mm f/1.8, "M" mode, custom WB, center AF, f/2.2 ISO 1600 1/500sec (these work well in our home gym).

Football - during the day, ISO 200 or 400, open up the aperture to somewhere around max to get a shutter speed of 1/1250-1/2000 on a nice sunny day. AV if the light's changing. For night, a 2.8 lens will barely do, usually on ISO 1600 f/2.8 and speeds around 1/320-1/500 (AV)

MazerRakhm wrote in post #2036359
gherrry,

I'm really at a loss for what you are trying to accomplish here. Sports shooting can have a lot of different settings; especially when considering every venue or situation is different.

You mention American football, are you asking about day or night, indoor or outdoor?

Or are you trying looking for just a list of settings in general; which I actually think would only be useful as a very loose baseline because what might work for one set of equipment in a certain set of conditions isn't going to work at another venue.

I think you might get a better response if you convey exactly what you're looking for better.

I'm really just trying to get a baseline of what others are using. As for US Football (like High School), i use this sport because it is fast paced and there is a lot of users who are always asking about lenses and so forth, i have not found a thread yet that delves into what settings they are using on their camera. So if to change the question then it would be like this -

SITUATION =
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL (note which you shoot NIGHT or DAY?)
OUTDOORS (usually how most HS football is played)
WHITE BALANCE = ?
METERING = ?
FOCAL POINT = ?
CUSTOM FUNC = ?
SHOOTING MODE = ?
etc... etc. .

davidmigl wrote in post #2037469
So, for the two sports I shoot....
Volleyball - 85mm f/1.8, "M" mode, custom WB, center AF, f/2.2 ISO 1600 1/500sec (these work well in our home gym).

Wow, I'd love to be able to set my shutter speed to 1/500. In the gyms I shoot in I only seem to be able to set my shutter speed to 1/250 max which sucks. I usually use the 85mm f/1.8. I leave the aperature wide open at f/1.8 and set the ISO to either 1600 or H and still only seem to be able to set my shutter speed to 1/250. Anything more and images are underexposed. although Cecilc has opened my eyes and made me realize that an underexposed shot that is sharpley focused isn't as bad as a properly exposed shot that is blurred.

Sterling30D wrote in post #2039778
Wow, I'd love to be able to set my shutter speed to 1/500. In the gyms I shoot in I only seem to be able to set my shutter speed to 1/250 max which sucks. I usually use the 85mm f/1.8. I leave the aperature wide open at f/1.8 and set the ISO to either 1600 or H and still only seem to be able to set my shutter speed to 1/250. Anything more and images are underexposed. although Cecilc has opened my eyes and made me realize that an underexposed shot that is sharpley focused isn't as bad as a properly exposed shot that is blurred.

it could be that there is more light in the gym she shoots in.

gherrry wrote in post #2039817
it could be that there is more light in the gym she shoots in.

Yeah, it must be nice. LOL.

Sterling30D wrote in post #2039778
... an underexposed shot that is sharpley focused isn't as bad as a properly exposed shot that is blurred.

I also added that you would have to do some post-processing on that underexposed image .... I wouldn't leave it in it's underexposed state ......

cecilc wrote in post #2039870
I also added that you would have to do some post-processing on that underexposed image .... I wouldn't leave it in it's underexposed state ......

I guess I did forget to mention that . I just figured everyone would assume that post processing would be needed. BTW Cecil, thank you for all the good advise.

I always shoot RAW, use CF4-3, AI servo, center focus, and AWB.

The high school gyms I've been in have all been the same - I use the 50 or 85mm and shoot manual at ISO 3200, f/2.2, and 1/500s. If I found a darker gym, I wouldn't hesitate going to f/1.8 in order to keep the shutter speed up. Getting the exposure right helps Neat Image do a better job in PP.

For field sports I use the 400mm f/2.8 on a 5D and a 70-200mm f/2.8 on a 1D Mk IIN. I have both set the same; when I change one I change the other one, too.

The lighting at night has been the same at every field. I shoot manual at ISO 3200, f/2.8 and 1/500s.

For daytime I'm using Av mode and f/3.2 with enough ISO to give me a 1/1000s speed. If the sun is setting or heavy clouds are rolling in I'll use a faster speed and when I notice it's getting around 1/640s, I'll boost the ISO. That way I try to keep ahead of the changing light. Once I hit ISO 3200 I start thinking about going to manual mode. The only problem with going full-time manual mode is that I'm easily distracted and can shoot a series of shots with the wrong exposure.

I've been experimenting with exposure compensation. I have a soccer field with dark foliage all around. If I have bright uniforms there, I'm decrease the EC. On the other hand if I have dark clouds overhead and a bright horizon, I'll increase the EC. I'm still working out the amounts to use. As long as I'm close enough that I don't blow out any highlights in the uniforms I can correct in PP.