Help me with night football on a Eos T3i

[Paj]

I need help getting better shots from my canon Eos T3i at night football games. Any suggestions??

[Skirball]

The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that you're trying to capture a difficult type of photography without the right equipment.  So you may not be able to get the results that you want. 

Night sports is about as difficult and equipment dependant as it gets.  There's not a lot of light, you have fast moving subjects, and you're far from the action.  That means you need lenses with big aperture and long focal lengths (read: big and expensive), and a camera with a good autofocus system and high ISO performance.

But that doesn't mean you can't improve what you're currently doing.  Let's look at some basics:

I'm assuming you're using a kit lens, like the 55-250?  A fast lens (wider max aperture) would really help, not to mention it'd probably be sharper which wouldn't hurt.  But if that's all you got then so be it.

The T3i doesn't do particularly well at high ISO, but you don't have a choice.  Go as high as you dare, accepting that there's going to be some noise.  But with a bit of post processing you can clean it up a bit.  I'd start at ISO 1600, no lower.

The shooting mode you use is debatable.  Personally I think this is a good situation for manual, since your aperture is going to be wide open, and you'll have a minimum shutter speed you want to use.  But if you don't feel comfortable in manual then go into Av, and open up your aperture all the way.  Chances are your shutter speed is going to be fairly slow.  Not much you can do about that other than up your ISO even more.  I'd recommend trying to use a rail or a wall to stabalize yourself.  You should be at fast enough speeds to not really need a tripod, but since you're presumably at a fairly long focal length even shutter speeds in the 1/250 range can show camera shake.

If you have a place by you that allows you to rent lenses I'd recommend it.  A better lens will make a huge difference.  Something like the 70-200 f/2.8, or 200mm 2.8 prime would be good.  The 100-400 would allow you to get close, and it'll be sharper than the kit lens, but doesn't offer you any more light. 

[cicopo]

I agree with most of the above but I would also try shooting in Tv mode using Auto ISO (if the camera allows that) or start at the highest ISO it allows to see what shutter speed MAY be possible under the existing lighting & depending on those readings decide whether to lower my ISO, shutter speed or both slightly while still freezing the action. Trial & error will be what you need to use to find the best setting compromise for your skill set with the gear you have. A monopod may also be useful at slower shutter speeds but I'd do what I could to keep them as close to 1/500 (or higher) whenever possible.

[Skirball]

My reason for not mentioning Tv mode, is that it's simply going to open the aperture all the way up, and let it underexpose - assuming there's not enough light, which there probably won't be.  So you might was well just shoot in manual at that point.  By using Av and then opening the aperture all the way up you now allow the camera to set exposure via shutter.  Presumably it'll be slower than optimal, but at least you still stand a chance at getting a decent picture.  And if the shutter speed is too slow to even get something, then you know you have no choice to but bump the ISO up even more.

OP: one more thing.  When pushing your ISO it's better to go high and get a proper exposure than to undercut it and try to push the exposure (of an already noisy image) in post.

[cicopo]

About 95% of what I shoot is action, but not under poor lighting conditions other than dull overcast weather. I find it easer to shoot in Tv but could do it in Av & by watching my results (a bit over or under exposed) I can quickly add or subtract exposure compensation to suit (based on experience with having used the same gear for a long time). That said I just realized that making exposure compensation changes on a Rebel series isn't so easy compared to the bodies using a rear wheel. My way eleminates constantly watching the light meter as required for full manual, but in this case full manual may be a consideration.

I still recommend trying Av & Tv as suggested because it's all about finding what works for YOU with the equipment you have. If you find that equipment can't get the job done then it's time to re evaluate whether you want to spend the money to buy better gear. Shooting any form of action in poor light is challenging, & can be expensive as a hobby. 

Now that I've said that there are a few other things to consider including perfecting a panning stance so you can pan smoothly, setting the AF to AI Servo & deciding on whether you like activating the AF by half pressing the shutter button or assigning AF to the rear button (if a Rebel has that option). Also turn IS off UNLESS the lens has dual mode IS in which case use mode 2 for panning.

[Paj]

I have a 70-300 lens....does that help?

[ebiggs1]

f5.6 doesn't help.  That's a pretty steep handicap but you can do it.  You need to use a mono or tripod for best results.

Remember IS stop camera motion not subject motion.  If you do use a monopod, my choice, turn the IS off and try it.

[cicopo · Accepted solution]

I'll assume that you haven't had a photography course & don't actually understand the basics of how aperture & shutter speeds work. Your 70-300 is f5.6 WIDE OPEN when zoomed to 300 mm (it will become an f5.6 lens well before reaching 300 mm & maybe even before hitting 150 mm).

Lens f stops relate to the amount of light the lens CAN let in and will dictate what shutter speed is needed for the selected ISO to produce an acceptable exposure. Because freezing action demands faster shutter speeds we'll talk about the need to use 1/500 sec as the slowest acceptable speed for your night time football. NOW we talk about the DIRECT relationship between the shutter speed & aperture. These settings produce the same exposure

at f 2.8 the shutter speed needs to be 1/500 but if the lens can only open up to f4.0

at f 4.0 (one full stop "slower" than f 2.8) you MUST lower the shutter speed to 1/250 second, but YOUR lens is an f 5.6 lens (2 stops "slower" than the f 2.8 lens)

at f 5.6 you need to slow the shutter speed down to 1/125 second for the same amount of light to make a correct exposure.

BECAUSE 1/125 won't freeze action your ONLY option is to raise the ISO, which introduces noise once it passes a certain point (which varies by camera age & original price point in a manufacturers offerings.

Again there is a DIRECT relationship with ISO settings so we'll start with the FULL STOP numbers using ISO 100 as the base. The numbering system is 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800 etc.

IF you had to use your f 5.6 lens & the above setting set where the f 2.8 @ 1/500 worked at say ISO 800 shooting a game at night you need to bump the ISO up to 1600 to shoot the f 4.0 lens at 1/500 or all the way up to 3200 to shoot your f5.6 lens at 1/500

All of that is FACT but there is another potential problem. Raising the ISO doesn't help the AF in any way. The AF will struggle at f 5.6 in poor light compared to how well an f 2.8 lens will let it work. Another factor is a combination of how well the AF works in the lens. More expensive cameras have more money devoted to better AF components & so do more expensive lenses. The 70-300 L IS will AF much faster than the regular 70-300 IS which will focus faster than lower priced 70-300's.  

[Paj]

Thanks so much. It help to spell it out because I do not know much but would like to use what I have due to money. Thanks again.

[cicopo]

The secret to success is learning how the controls on your camera work & how to set it up for the task at hand AND practice. With digital the cost of throwing away the bad photos is nothing so shoot & learn what works for you. j