EOS Rebel T5 shooting at night

[Greggersam]

HELP!  what is the OPTIMUM setting for shooting stop action sports at night under the lights?  (think High School football)!   I have the Rebel T5 and a normal and zoom lens that all came together when I bought the kit.

[diverhank]

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@Greggersam wrote:
I have to set the camera to Tv first, correct? then hit the Q button and set it to 1/1000. then toggle to ISO and set to 1600 . Is that right? then, toggle to AWB. How do I adjust the AWB manually?

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Not exactly what I said regarding ISO.  I said set the camera to AUTO ISO after you put an upper limit on ISO (a camera option).  When there is light, you don't want your ISO set to 1600 all the time.

Regarding white balance, if you post-edit your pictures, you can do them there.  If you don't you need to switch WB to manual and adjust it.  The way I do it is switch to Manual white balance, set the initial temperature to around 3000 or 4000.  Switch over to live view and adjust the temperature up and down until the colors look right.  Sounds complicated but can be accomplished in seconds.

[ebiggs1]

Greggersam,

"I have the Rebel T5 and a normal and zoom lens that all came together when I bought the kit."

All cameras have a limit to what they are capable of and can do.  What you have is going to be your limiting factor.  I.E. a faster, higher quality lens would make a great deal of difference.  You notice what the NFL pro photographers use?  However, you need to work with what you have. Right?

The number one factor when shooting any sporting event is where you shoot from.  The old location, location and location is king.  There are several ways to set up the T5 for this.  You read about Tv and it will probably work but I prefer Av. Here is why. 

In Av, aperture priority, you fix the lens wide open.  You then let the T5 select the fastest possible SS, shutter speed. In your case light is probably going to be the determining factor.  And, you likely are not going to have enough!

If you have Tv set and there isn't enough light the T5 won't fire.  In Av although you may not get the exact IQ you wanted, but you will get a shot.

I assume you have this lens the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens?  Set your Av to f4 but realize you are essentially working with a f5.6 lens.  Once moved off of 75mm the lens is no longer an f4. The T5 will know this automatically.

A SS of 1/500 will probably stop any football action. Most of it anyway. In Av let the T5 determine this.  An ISO of 1600 is warranted and I also prefer to fix it in favor of using the Auto setting.

Next use One Shot and use 'only' the center focus point.  Turn all the others off.  Later you might try AI-Servo but not until you are truly familiar with the T5.  Most of the time AI-Servo will disappoint you.

Shoot RAW and post process it yourself.  This lets you forget about WB, white balance, as you will correct it as you like in post. RAW also allows for several stops of exposure correction.  Blurry or OOF, out of focus, shots are not correctable.

Bottom line is either Tv and/or my choice of Av is the way to go. Try each one and see what works best.  Remember, location, location and location is king.  If you are only permitted to shoot from the bleachers, goof luck!

[Waddizzle]

"A SS of 1/500 will probably stop any football action. Most of it anyway. In Av let the T5 determine this.  An ISO of 1600 is warranted and I also prefer to fix it in favor of using the Auto setting."

Not unless there is a great lighting system, you're not getting anywhere close to that shutter speed with that camera/lens combination at night.  The only way to begin getting near that shutter speed will be to intentionally underexpose by 1-2 stops, and then bump up the exposure in post. 

I agree with Av mode to get a constant aperture, which means one less variable to complicate things.  I like the idea of specifying an ISO for the same reason.  So, why not do the above in manual mode and use exposure compensation?

You might even have to bump the ISO up as high as 3200 if lighting isn't that great, and turning on high ISO noise reduction.  Of course, very steady hands, or some form of camera support, will be a must in low light conditions.

[EDIT]  Greggersam, learn to use your camera.  Notice there are multiple videos at the one link I posted.  More importantly, learn to read the viewfinder information.

[ebiggs1]

"A SS of 1/500 will probably stop any football action. Most of it anyway."

OK, I am curious!  What made you conclude I said the OP was going to get 1/500?  1/500 was mentioned because someone said 1/1000.  I would say that even 1/250 will get 'most' football action.  Is it what I would prefer if I could use whatever SS, I wanted?  Probably not.

Using Av he will get the fastest SS the lens can provide, that's all. In this case his lens is a handicap and the weakest link if it is the one I mentioned.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"A SS of 1/500 will probably stop any football action. Most of it anyway."

OK, I am curious!  What made you conclude I said the OP was going to get 1/500?  1/500 was mentioned because someone said 1/1000.  I would say that even 1/250 will get 'most' football action.  Is it what I would prefer if I could use whatever SS, I wanted?  Probably not.

Using Av he will get the fastest SS the lens can provide, that's all. In this case his lens is a handicap and the weakest link if it is the one I mentioned.

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Wrong question.  Why should someone NOT reach that conclusion?  You provided detailed step-by-step instructions.

"I assume you have this lens the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens?  Set your Av to f4 but realize you are essentially working with a f5.6 lens.  Once moved off of 75mm the lens is no longer an f4. The T5 will know this automatically.

A SS of 1/500 will probably stop any football action. Most of it anyway. In Av let the T5 determine this.  An ISO of 1600 is warranted and I also prefer to fix it in favor of using the Auto setting.

Next use One Shot and use 'only' the center focus point.  Turn all the others off.  Later you might try AI-Servo but not until you are truly familiar with the T5.  Most of the time AI-Servo will disappoint you.

Shoot RAW and post process it yourself.  This lets you forget about WB, white balance, as you will correct it as you like in post. RAW also allows for several stops of exposure correction.  Blurry or OOF, out of focus, shots are not correctable.

Bottom line is either Tv and/or my choice of Av is the way to go. Try each one and see what works best.  Remember, location, location and location is king.  If you are only permitted to shoot from the bleachers, goof luck!"

[diverhank]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"A SS of 1/500 will probably stop any football action. Most of it anyway."

OK, I am curious!  What made you conclude I said the OP was going to get 1/500?  1/500 was mentioned because someone said 1/1000.  I would say that even 1/250 will get 'most' football action.  Is it what I would prefer if I could use whatever SS, I wanted?  Probably not.

Using Av he will get the fastest SS the lens can provide, that's all. In this case his lens is a handicap and the weakest link if it is the one I mentioned.

Bottom line is either Tv and/or my choice of Av is the way to go. Try each one and see what works best.  Remember, location, location and location is king.  If you are only permitted to shoot from the bleachers, goof luck!"

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I think it's bad advice for beginners to use Av for action. You guys know what's going on but not for someone who just starts out.  Makes no sense...irresponsible, really.

[ebiggs1]

"Makes no sense...irresponsible, really."

It may make no sense but irresponsible?  Hardly, this isn't the game of life here.  There is really little difference in this situation between using Tv or Av.  As I succinctly pointed out, Tv would work.  However, the lens in question can only open so far. When the light fails, the T5 will not fire.  Using Av at least there is more than likely going to be a picture.  Whether it is good or even usable might be a problem. I grant.

This is a case where the lens is the weak link not the T5.  It is best advice to give the lens the best opportunity to do what it can. All camera and phoyo gear have a limit on what they can do.  This will test what the OP had for sure.

Irresponsible?  Hmm, strange really strange!

[diverhank]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"Makes no sense...irresponsible, really."

It may make no sense but irresponsible?  Hardly, this isn't the game of life here.  There is really little difference in this situation between using Tv or Av.  As I succinctly pointed out, Tv would work.  However, the lens in question can only open so far. When the light fails, the T5 will not fire.  Using Av at least there is more than likely going to be a picture.  Whether it is good or even usable might be a problem. I grant.

This is a case where the lens is the weak link not the T5.  It is best advice to give the lens the best opportunity to do what it can. All camera and phoyo gear have a limit on what they can do.  This will test what the OP had for sure.

Irresponsible?  Hmm, strange really strange!

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Irresponsible may be too harsh of a word...so I will take that back.  What I'm trying to say is if I were to start out learning, I'd really get confused by your advice and may ended up with many ruined shots.  Aren't we here to help the less experienced folks get more interested in and learn more about photography?  As I stated before, once you know what you're doing...you can make anything work and work well...including letting the camera decides shutter speed for you for action shots -- but for people starting out, relying on the camera to help...they are most likely to get all messed up.

I got to the stage that I shoot mostly using full manual mode except for action, especially BIF, I will use M with auto-ISO...action is too fast and furious to be fumbling with setting ISO and/or depending on the camera setting SS for me.  Take this shot, if the Shutter speed is any lower, the result would have been unuseable...moments like this don't come by very often...I don't want to let the camera decide the SS for me...It took a mere 4 seconds for the osprey to dive down from 200 feet, scooped up the fish and flew away...no time to set anything once the action started.  And it can dive anywhere making you facing the sun, with the sun or anywhere in between so getting the light right is a real challenge.  That's why I use Auto-ISO.

Canon 7D2, Canon 600mm f/4L IS + Canon 1.4X II - 840mm; f/5.6; 1/1600; ISO 1600;

[ebiggs1]

There is no doubt, you are a talented photographer. You can make it work.  You know what you are doing.  We all have to learn and start somewhere.  And when it comes right down to it, there is not a great deal of difference between Tv and Av.  You just give priority to one or the other but you still have to follow the photography rules of exposure.

Like I said his lens is the limiting factor.  Not the camera.  This means you need to give it all the help you can. If Tv is used there will be times the T5 will not shoot at all because it can't open the lens anymore.  In Av even if it takes 30 sec, he will get a shot.  Of course that is nonsense but it does show why I say use Av in this case. Hopefully Av will allow some shots at least at 1/250 or that range?  However if not maybe 1/100 or even 1/60 will work.  But the camera will still get a shot.

Now let's say we choose Tv. What are we going to set it to? Certainly 1/60 or even 1/100 is not a good idea, Right? We set it to 1/250 but f5.6 doesn't allow enough light in.  Nothing!

I come from a world where manual is all we had.  You either learned, made it work or you didn't get the shot.  You can do that obviously form the example of that great shot of the osprey.  You and I do what is necessary.  We must educate these new folks so some success is there. Not why is my camera not shooting. The only way from there is getting better.

[ebiggs1]

"Why should someone Waddizzle NOT reach that conclusion?"

Thank you, I understand.