Friday Night HS Football - ISO6400

After reading a lot about using flash for night football on here last week and planning to give it a shot on Friday night, the weather forcast for friday called for rain so I left the 580EXs in the car and just shot under the lights. These are all with the 1D Mark III, 400 f/2.8 II, and ISO6400. All were shot as large JPEG and had nothing done to them but size and mild USM. No noise reduction in or out of the camera. Here are a few, and a link to a few more...

Great looking shots, the noise is great for 6400, nice work

I'm jealous, those look great!

calicokat wrote in post #3947069
Great looking shots, the noise is great for 6400, nice work

Thanks... this was actually the first time I ever shot football... so I might as well start with the worst possible lighting conditions, right?

Nice - maybe next time try using (M) mode and dial in you exposure & shutter speed

# 2
Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Image Date: 2007:09:14 19:32:47
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 400.0mm
CCD Width: 3.85mm
Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO equiv: 6400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

#3
Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Image Date: 2007:09:14 20:19:26
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 400.0mm
CCD Width: 4.61mm
Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500)
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO equiv: 6400
White Balance: Manual
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

#5
Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Image Date: 2007:09:14 20:41:34
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 15.0mm
CCD Width: 5.79mm
Exposure Time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO equiv: 6400
White Balance: Manual
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

Palladium wrote in post #3947661
Nice - maybe next time try using (M) mode and dial in you exposure & shutter speed

I agree... I usually try to shoot M when ever I can. Having never shot football, and having never shot with the MIII "under the lights", I wanted to eliminate one variable to deal with... so I went with Av. About 2/3 of the way through the night, I made the same observation you did... that the exposure was fluctuating when the light wasn't necessarily changing. Next time I shoot at that location, I'll probably dial in at 1/500s, f/2.8, and ISO6400, as that seemed to work over most of the field. I'll just need to remember to tweak it on the ends where the exposure drops off to 1/250s. The reality is that with the quality of the MIII images, I could deal with that level of under exposure without a major problem.

Another thing I notices was that my initial Expodisc setting of WB didn't work well since the sun was still up when I took it. After a dozen or so frames, I shifted to AWB, and then after it got totally dark, I reset WB with the Expodisc again and it was pretty close to spot on for the rest of the night.

Can you explain how you used your ExpoDisc? I have heard many different ways of using...did you point at the lights? Go to center field and shoot out? Just trying to get various techniques...Thanks...

Nice!

May I say... very very nice. Congrats. The camera is paying off in spades.

frenchrl86 wrote in post #3957827
Can you explain how you used your ExpoDisc? I have heard many different ways of using...did you point at the lights? Go to center field and shoot out? Just trying to get various techniques...Thanks...

Sure... with an Expodisc, you want to aim it at the light source. One of the advantages of it over a grey card is that you don't have to go out and shoot it under the lights... which could be a problem if you wanted to do it in the middle of the field during the game. Usually if you have one light source (which we did here), then the Expodisc works very well. If its mixed, then it doesn't work was well. When the game first started, it was still a little light out and my Expodisc CWB stunk... so I shifted to AWB. Once it got totally dark, I redid the CWB and it was very good.

#4 looks like it would make a great stock shot

Wow that high-ISO looks good. I really like the wide shot, nice idea.

These are awesome Mike! I'm happy the MARK III worked out well for ya here. Well done!

tsaraleksi wrote in post #3961081
Wow that high-ISO looks good. I really like the wide shot, nice idea.

Thanks guys... that wide one is an example of what the Sigma 15mm Fisheye looks like on a 1.26 crop body.

May I add these are some of the first images that make a good case for the Mk III. The other previous post have been ok, but nothing that I don't think I couldn't captures with a Mk IIn. The good thing for me is most places I shoot have good lighting, so I get to keep my money a little while longer. But these do show there is a place where this camera excels. If I were to shoot HS football, I think it would be a must have.