Shooting Hockey

I've just been asked to shoot my schools inter-mural hockey game. Of the lenses I have, I am going between the 100mm 2.8 and the 24-105 f4 IS. It seems like the 24-105 would be the better choice and I'll just have to up the ISO to get faster shutter speeds.

Would there be any use for bringing a flash?

I could use all the tips you can give me as I've never shot sports before so the more advice the better.

- If you're allowed to use it and can shoot from a position that's not behind the glass, flash can help.
- Use center point focus, AI Servo.
- Take both lenses and take test shots. If the light stinks, you may be limited to the 100mm. If your test shots are OK at f/4, use the zoom.

I guess I could take the 50 too.

I have a cactus trigger set so I could hold the flash up above the glass even if I have to shoot through it.

Should I just plan on ISO 800 or something? I'm a bit worried about noise at 1600 though I did just buy noiseware.

You shouldn't worry about shooting 1600 with your 50D. As long as you're properly exposing the frames you won't have much noise to worry about. Find an exposure that works for you then flip the camera to manual and lock it in. "Set it and forget it", as Mr. Popeil would say.

Standard disclaimers of checking your histograms from time to time apply, of course. =)

With a 50D, ISO1600 shouldn't be a problem.

What am I looking for on shutter speeds? is 1/1000 good enough for hockey? If I can get that in f/4 and ISO 800 I think I'd prefer it, but at least I know I could go to 1600 if necessary to get the shutter speed I need.

hypertech wrote in post #7306994
What am I looking for on shutter speeds? is 1/1000 good enough for hockey? If I can get that in f/4 and ISO 800 I think I'd prefer it, but at least I know I could go to 1600 if necessary to get the shutter speed I need.

You won't get 1/1000 f/4 ISO800 even in an NHL arena. Be prepared for 1/500 f/2.8 ISO3200, and consider yourself lucky if you get better light than that.

so 1/500 is good enough? if I need to, I could use the 50 1.4 and crop it. I doubt any of these will be printed larger than 4x6 so I have lots more pixels than I need.

1/500 should be just fine. I manage 1/500 at f/4, ISO 1600 in one of the local youth rinks. As has been mentioned, it's all going to depend on your venue. Some are caves, some are not.

Most of the amateur rinks that I shoot at, I am lucky if I can get 1/250, f2.8 at ISO 1600. I have shot my 40D at ISO 3200 in a few cases. In fact, this picture:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Byte size: ZERO

what level of play is the team you're covering?

for most hockey, 1/500 will stop everything pretty well except flying pucks, and shooting sticks (hope that made sense, it's kind of late). If you want a sharp stick in mid-slapshot, you'll need faster.

alduin wrote in post #7307141
1/500 should be just fine. I manage 1/500 at f/4, ISO 1600 in one of the local youth rinks. As has been mentioned, it's all going to depend on your venue. Some are caves, some are not.

Thats an INSANE amount of light. The only place I've ever had light like that was in the Verizon Center (NHL). Definitely not the norm.

Its the law school team vs. the business school team. I've never seen them play, so it could either be very good or very bad.

I don't know where the location will be. It could be in a pretty large college arena but I don't have the location yet from the team captain. It got moved so he has to email it to me when he learns the new location.

Here is what I would do.

1. Use the 100mm lens. You will need 2.8 to to get the extra light and to isolate the subject. The ideal lens for hockey is a 70-200mm f2.8

2. Set your camera to focus using the center focus point. YOU want to select the focus point and not the camera! The camera has no idea who has the puck! Ideally you should learn to focus using the * button.

3. Set your ISO to 1600 unless you are shooting in a pro rink. You should be OK using Auto White Balance unless there are a lot of windows in the rink and there is a mix of daylight and rink light.

4. The white ice will confuse your light meter. So set your camera to M and then 1/250 and f2.8. Take a picture during the warm up. Look at your histogram. If the ice is blown out a little, that is OK as long as the exposure of the players is OK. If the too much of the photo is blown out, go to the next higher shutterspeed. If at all possible, you don't want any gaps between the end of the histogram and the right side. These gaps will only contribute noise later when you correct the exposure.

5. Take A LOT of pictures. You probably will wind up deleting between 50-75% of them especially your first time out. Take pictures only when the action is on your half of the ice. Shooting all the way down the ice with a 100mm lens just won't work.

6. Take a LOT of pictures and use burst mode. Don't shoot until you see a face in your viewfinder. Back of the head shots can be OK in some cases but most people like shots where it shows a face better.

I know that the 70-200 would be perfect but I don't have one

I need to read up on the * button - I haven't really used it. I do like the autofocus select using the joystick though.

I'll also make a note to use high speed burst mode.

A few comments...

mdruziak wrote in post #7309510
2. ...Ideally you should learn to focus using the * button.

the * button is good, but if you've never used it before, don't start at this game. It takes some getting used to for most people, and it'll probably just frustrate you. Shoot with what you're used to for this game.

Getting 1600 would be nice, but don't depend on it. Use 3200 if you need it.

AWB probably wont cut it. Go for a custom white balance.

Yes, definitely shoot M. No, I don't think you should shoot 1/250. Thats not fast enough to freeze motion.

If I had to choose between ISO1600 1/400s or ISO3200 1/800s, I'd go for the 1/800s.