topic Re: EOS Rebel T3 Sports photos coming out blurry in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS Rebel T3 Sports photos coming out blurry

ltdeleon — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 13:59:59 GMT

I have athlete boys so I purchased a telephoto lens EF 75-300mm so that I could take lots of photos of them playing sports. Although a beginner, I started off really well and the pictures were great! We are way into our high school season and I have tried to take several pictures of my oldest who is a senior and I am so disappointed! The pictures are terrible! I don't know what happened, what I did, what I touched, but I can't seem to find the right setting and get those great shots I had once taken before. The only difference is that I am taking pictures in the evening at outdoor games. The pictures are extremely blurry. Sometimes they look great when I review them on my camera but I can't trust that view because I am not wearing my glasses. When I download the on to my computer to start viewing them, they are bad. I want to cry! It's his last year playing soccer and I have not been able to get any decent shots of him! I have changed the aperture, the ISO, the shutter speed and nothing works. I have never used a tripod, but when I started using the camera and telephoto lens, I held my camera in my hand and the pictures were great! Can anyone share some tips/help?!!! Thank you!

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

kvbarkley — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 13:57:46 GMT

Can you share one of the good photos and one of the bad photos?

Note that the 75-300 does not have image stabilization so if you don't hold the camera perfectly steady you can get a blurred image.

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

stevet1 — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:21:09 GMT

Itdeleon,

I just had a couple of questions:

How far away are you when taking your shots?

Cameras and lenses need light in order to achieve focus. Try to time your shots to when your son is well lit.

I would say that for soccer, you'd probably want a shutter speed of somewhere between 1/500 and 1/1000. Can you share what some of the settings you used when the shots came out lousy? Trying to capture motion in dim light is one of the more difficult types of photography there is.

As kvbarkley asked, do you know how to post a picture in the forum? We need to see if your whole picture is blurry, or if it's just the subject of your photos.

You said you never used a tripod. Do you have one? Or, are you up in the bleachers?

Steve Thomas

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:23:55 GMT

Thank you. I try my best to hold it as steady as possible.

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

kvbarkley — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:30:44 GMT

At 300 mm on an APS-C frame, you need at least a 1/500th of a second shudder speed.

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:33:57 GMT

Sometimes I am shooting from the bleachers and sometimes I am closer to the field. For high school I am on the bleachers and for Club soccer I am on the field. Those are the pictures that have come out much better than when I am on the bleachers. I have tried adjusting the shutter speed between 500-1000. My telephoto lens only goes as low as f/4.o I know f/2.0 or somewhere around there might work better. I don't have a tripod but can invest in one. Here is one picture that I thought was pretty good and then one that makes me want to cry! We have a game tonight. I am going to give it another shot and hope to be able to capture some great pictures. Thank you for your help!

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:37:43 GMT

Would that be from the bleachers? I normally sit in front and not at the very top which would be farther. Can you see the good/bad pictures I posted? Thank you!

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:38:34 GMT

The good picture is from the sideline/field. The bad picture is from the bleachers ☹️

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

kvbarkley — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:09 GMT

You need to boost the ISO to 3200 or so, it will be noisy, but that will be the best chance for the shot. Use Tv mode and set the shutter to 1/1000.

If that pegs the Aperture and seems underexposed, lower the ss to 1/500.

Review the exif data for the two images, as you can see outdoor light is good for sports.

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:55:36 GMT

Thank you! I will try using TV mode. I usually have it on Sports mode. Will post picture(s) after. Appreciate your feedback 🙏

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

stevet1 — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:57:51 GMT

itdeleon,

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Well, if you're up in the bleachers, you're not going to be able to use a tripod, bur you might be able to get away with a monopod. If you do get a tripod, try to get one with a removable leg.

I personally have a Geekoto, and one of the legs unscrews that you can then use as a monopod. I really think that would help in your situation.

In your nighttime photo, I think you have the exposure down right, and to me, it looks more like camera shake than motion blur of your subjects. With long focal lengths, the tiniest of movements will be exaggerated.

If your lens will only go down to f/4, you won't be able to use an f/2 aperture, but like I said, your exposure looks good.

Like kvbarkley suggested, put your camera in Tv mode. Set your speed between 1/500 and 1/1000 to freeze the action. Your camera will set your aperture for you. You can either use Auto ISO and let your camera set the ISO, or you can do it manually yourself. Take a couple of test shots and either lower or raise the ISO to your desired brightness.

You're on the right track.

Steve Thomas

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

FloridaDrafter — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:17:30 GMT

Hello, Itdeleon!

Unfortunately, it looks like you are approaching the limits of your gear. IIRC, the T3 ISO maxes at 6400 and you are halfway there with the blurry example you provided and noise generally increases from there. It is blurry because your shutter is too slow for the action (see attached). You may be able to raise your ISO or even max it out, but that may or may not be acceptable or even get your shutter speed to where it needs to be. All you can do is try and see if the shots are acceptable to you.

Newton

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:26:34 GMT

Thank you so much! Unfortunately Mother Nature decided to drench the fields and we had to postpone the game to a later date but we have another one tomorrow and hoping I can use all these great suggestions! Appreciate it very much 😎

Re: eon rebel T3 beginner

ltdeleon — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:27:31 GMT

Thank you very much for your suggestions and feedback!

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Sports photos coming out blurry

wq9nsc — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 22:21:44 GMT

A tripod isn't going to help with this type of blur because the shutter speed needed to freeze soccer player motion (1/1000 or better preferred, 1/800 fairly usable, 1/640 will result in a fair amount of blur) is far faster than needed to avoid blur caused by camera shake.

Typical high school soccer fields are not brightly illuminated so, like HS football, it is a sport that requires a wide aperture lens. I believe your current lens wide open is f5.6 at the telephoto end and even with a really good high end camera body, a f5.6 lens would make things difficult to get fast enough shutter speed while keeping the ISO reasonable. A body that handles low light well and a wide aperture lens are both critical to night sports in high school but the lens is the most critical and if you decide to upgrade, that is the direction to go first.

It will be limiting but at night your best bet is to get as close to the action as possible on the best illuminated portion of the field and keep your lens within its focal length range where f4 aperture is available. Try experimenting with 1/800, 1/640, and maybe as low as 1/500 (although this is going to introduce some major motion blur from player speed) to see what works best for you. Unfortunately high school sports is actually more demanding of equipment than D1 college or pro-level because at those venues the level of illumination is much higher.

Example photos below were shot on an average HS field using f2.8 lenses (70-200 f2.8 and 400 f2.8) with a pair of 1DX III bodies at 1/1,000 shutter speed with the lens wide open. This resulted in ISO 10,000 for all except the second photo which was in a relatively bright spot at ISO 5,000. In daylight or on a well illuminated pitch, a f5.6 lens will do fine but not so much in the dark. The fifth photo was at an afternoon match and I shot this game using my EF 200-400 f4 with integrated f1.4 extender; the last photo was captured while I was at the opposite goal with the extender switched in resulting in a 533mm f5.6 lens but due to plenty of daylight ISO wasn't an issue.

Rodger

1DX III EF 70-200 f2.8 1/1000 f2.8 ISO 10,0001DX III EF70-200 f2.8 1/1000 f2.8 ISO 50001DX III EF 400 f2.8 1/1000 f2.8 ISO 10,0001DX III EF 400 f2.8 1/1000 f2.8 ISO 10,000

1DX III EF 200-400 f4 with 1.4X extender engaged

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Sports photos coming out blurry

Ron888 — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 02:33:29 GMT

As others have said i various ways, sports photography is hard. Basically your problem is a too low shutter speed for the night shots.
It may be that the highest ISO still doesnt allow a high enough shutter speed.Sorry ,you've reached the camera's limit.A better lens and/or camera will help but just be aware there are no miracles in the sports photography game.Even pros with the expensive gear can have kinda grainy pics and a low keeper rate😮
However there is one small positive: You'll get some nicely blurred shots that work.For example If their faces are sharp but limbs are moving, that can make a cool arty shot 😃

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Sports photos coming out blurry

ltdeleon — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 02:37:04 GMT

That's a lot of $$$$ right there in lenses! These shots are awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your photos and suggestions.

Re: EOS Rebel T3 Sports photos coming out blurry

ltdeleon — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 02:38:47 GMT

Will try different options different ISO, will try to get closer to the field as well when I can. Thank you for your input, appreciate it.