Ice Hockey - 7D + 70-200

Hey guys, got a chance to get out there and shoot again, so I thought I would share the results.

I tried bumping up the ISO this time to get a bit more room in DOF. I didn't want to overboard with noise reduction, but they may be too noisy. Let me know what you think.

All shot with Canon 7D + Sigma 70-200 HSM II @ 4000 ISO, f/3.2, 1/640s.

Any comments are welcome, thanks.

#1

The guy in #6 should be wearing (American) football pads and blocking for a quarterback.. or trying to kill a QB. Other than the last one I don't notice a lot of the noise.. but the advantage you have is focusing on the team in white where the noise won't show as much.. you can see it more in the last one with the goaltender, unless that's snow-spray?

DHMN wrote in post #11649861
The guy in #6 should be wearing (American) football pads and blocking for a quarterback.. or trying to kill a QB. Other than the last one I don't notice a lot of the noise.. but the advantage you have is focusing on the team in white where the noise won't show as much.. you can see it more in the last one with the goaltender, unless that's snow-spray?

Haha yeah, guy in #6 is huge.

The white spots on the one side of the goaltender is me trying to mask a smudge on the plexiglass, it created a white line over the goaltender. Thanks for pointing that out, I'll have another go at it.

I am new to this site and a real amateur. I took this shot and cant figure out how to get the colors correct when i use custom white balance. Any help would be appreciated.

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Shoot the ICE like you would a gray card or white sheet of paper.. out of focus and dirty (before Zamboni) to get your custom white balance.. In our darker high school arena I have to shoot ISO 2000-3200 at 1/500 to get a shot the camera will ALLOW me to use for Custom WB. In the college arena ISO 1000 gets me a good WB at 1/500, but I'm sure you can get a good one with lower settings it's just what works for me

tonyecj wrote in post #11917487
I am new to this site and a real amateur. I took this shot and cant figure out how to get the colors correct when i use custom white balance. Any help would be appreciated.

Tony:

I use Auto White Balance 99% of the time with no problems, so unless you have a real issue with the lighting in your rink, as a beginner, stick to that. If you try CWB, like mentioned below, shoot the white ice, then use that as your reference image to set your CWB as per the camera menu instructions.

i took a look at your photos http://christianjstewa​rt.zenfolio.com …mar31/h16b28c6b​#h1fc88916

did you use AWB for those?

tonyecj wrote in post #11919281
i took a look at your photos http://christianjstewa​rt.zenfolio.com …mar31/h16b28c6b​#h1fc88916

did you use AWB for those?

Tony:

Pretty sure I did for those games as the light in our ECHL rink is really good. I certainly have used AWB for all this season's games. I can't honestly remember when I last used a custom WB.

I shot this one today on AWB. I think my problem was the bright light over the glass. Any suggestions on what would have made this photo better?

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tonyecj wrote in post #11924541
I shot this one today on AWB. I think my problem was the bright light over the glass. Any suggestions on what would have made this photo better?

I think your first option would be to crop much tighter and try and loose the distracting window as much as possible,placing more importance on the action in front of the goal.

tonyecj wrote in post #11924541
I shot this one today on AWB. I think my problem was the bright light over the glass. Any suggestions on what would have made this photo better?

The EXIF says you used Manual WB.. it looks like with that window behind the glass could let you should shoot from behind the glass on that side and use that window to your advantage during daylight? If you're going to shoot from where you did, then definitely crop real tight to eliminate most of the distracting glare.

Nice, just picked up a 7D today, shot my kid's game today with a 60d, but am very much looking forward to his next game now!
I thought the 60d was nice, but this 7d looks awesome!

hmm. i thought i changed it back. see how much of a novice i am. Thanks for the tips.

Great shots! The noise isn't noticeable at all, unless you really look for it.

I shoot in a decently lit rink for an NAHL Junior team. I can usually get ISO 1600, f2.8, 1/500. I've bumped the ISO and f stop up a few times to get a better depth of focus, but didn't see a difference.

I'm still running through combinations to find the best.

Great work! Look forward to seeing more.

I think your shots all look very clean, no noticeable noise at all like Rsuslow said. I have a 7d also and the more I use it, the more I love it at 3200 and even 6400 ISO.. I have been playing around with shooting more bands/performances and bringing it to college basketball games and as long as I have the shots exposed bright enough from the get-go they usually look pretty darn good. However, if I have to boost exposure or brightness in shadows more than just a bit, noise starts to pop up pretty quickly in shadows