Shooting a nighttime football game

[bob williams]

I normally prefer shooting wildlife, dusk to dawn and just about anything between; however, I had the opportunity to shoot a little league football game last night and now I have a new and profound appreciation for you guys that have beendiscussinghigh ISO, noise, noise reduction,fast lenses,etc. Normally I don't worry much about that, but after last night I am definitely going to learn more.I have so many questions, I am not really sure where to start. First, I must say that a 400L/2.8 would have sure come in handy last night. When I mentioned this to my wife--------, well you know the rest of that story. Anyway, I had a great time and would definitley like to do some more of this. I even see a lot of opportunity to make some money off of it.Unfortunately, this experience has has got me completely rethinking my kit and my future equipment purchases.---I am curious how many of you experienced this?


My current kit consists of a 50D, 100-400L, 24-105L, and a 10-22. Not really a sports photographers dream, but I made it work----at ISO 3200 and some post production NR----not great, not even good in my book, but ok for the family album.


where I was seriosuly lacking---


1. My 100-400L clearly wasn't fast enough--especailly at 5.6(400mm)----


2. The 50D lacked frame rate and I wasn't really happy with the amount of noise---of course I was pushing the exposure, so I can't blame the camera for that--or can I? Do you think the 5DII or the 7D would be that much better under the same conditions.


3. I was shooting with Sandisk (45 mbs)UDMA 8 cf card, and that seemed to take forever to update after a series of shots.


I am going to shoot some daytime games just to see the results and see if I really like this type of photography.---But my guess is that I will---it was just plain fun, non stop action.


ok, I have rambled on long enough so now my questions:


1. What does EV mean---I think it is "exposure value" i.e. 1 EV=one stop of exposure--is this correct?


2. I have been planning to upgrade to the 5dII for IQ sake, but after last nite, I see the value in high frame rate and improved AF and metering of the 7D. Whats your take/opinion


3. With my primary interest being wildlife I have been looking at the 500 or 600L, but now Ihave a desire for the 400L 2.8----again---your thoughts.


4. Finally, I suppose I could stick with my wildlifeplans and just shoot day games---Is there a happy medium to all of this?


---I pay off my alimony next month, and I already have it spent for the next 2 years the question now is , on what???[:#]


Your thoughts are appreciated,





Thanks,





Bob

[peety3]

Lens-wise, my plan (and suggestion) is fairly straight-forward: start with the 300/2.8 and the 500/4 (the "odd" hundreds), and then come back to the 200/2, 400/2.8, 600/4, and 800/5.6 (the "even" hundreds). The 300 and 500 are less expensive, lighter, and can be handheld (within reason).


If you're waiting on the buffer that much, you may want to choose a lower resolution, push the button less, or drop back to single-shot drive. You'll develop your timing skills over time, and find that you can probably get away with single-shot in time (if not realize that you as a single shooter can't shoot everything!).

[bob williams]

Thanks Peety, I have been seriously considering the 500. As far as waiting for the buffer, I hadn't considered usinga lower resolution---definitely food for thought----thanks again,





Bob

[dmckinny]

Bob,


I've been shooting my daughter playing soccer for about 18 months now. I have read a lot about sports shooting, and I am much better than when I started. You wouldn't believe how rusty you can get with just a little lay off. What I have learned is that knowing your equipment, knowing the sport, and developing a sense of timing are probably the most important elements. I have come to believe that timing your first shot for the height of action gets more keepers than "spray and pray". That doesn't mean you should only shoot single frame, just that you should develop your timing. Even 10 frames per second will not capture everything, but is sure does help ;-)





I'm shooting with a 30D and a 70-200 f/4 L (non-IS). It's the poor man's sport setup, but it works pretty well. If you want to read up some more there is a really good beginners article over at open photography forum


http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=668


I learned a lot from this article alone. There are many others as well, you can do your own searches, but I recommend this one to start with.

[bob williams]

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check it out. I am going to try a day game on Sunday and I am sure that will present it's own set of challenges as well, specifically the harsh lighting---I suppose I can hope for a cloudy day, but in NM, those are far and few between.


Thanks again for the feedback