Exposure values for nighttime MLB or NFL games

[buffalobreath]

What sort of Exposure Values do photographers encounter at night time MLB or NFL games?  Thanks.

[Waddizzle]

Are you familiar with Ev Value Charts?  You can use different settings, for a given amount of light, and get near identical exposures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_value

According to that link, outdoor night sports with artifical lighting fall somewhere around 9 Ev. 

[buffalobreath]

For some crazy reason I overlooked that site.  Thanks.  

[ebiggs1]

What gear are you thinking about using?  Most pro sports places are pretty strict on what they will allow you to bring in.

[buffalobreath]

I don't shoot major league sports.  I shoot local high school sports including football in a small, poorly lit rural stadium.  My EV ratings are 6 to 7 in the center of the field.  The corners are about EV 4 to 5..  I was just curious what the pros contend with.  Their photos appear pristine.  I figure a lot of that has to do with the processing.  I do my own RAW files with Photoshop Elements 14.

My use a Canon EOS 1DX Mk 2 and a Canon 400mm f4.DO IS 2.  

Thanks.

[ebiggs1]

When I did fill in work I used two lenses mostly the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM and occasionally the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM or way back, version one of these.  Always on a 1 series, or F1n, camera.  If you do football you can use the big 600mm but it is usually too long for baseball. All but the 70-200 were rented BTW.  I didn't do it enough to warrant purchasing nearly twenty grand in lenses.

For you the best choice is the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM and one of the offerings in the 150-600mm zooms.

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

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@buffalobreath wrote:

I don't shoot major league sports.  I shoot local high school sports including football in a small, poorly lit rural stadium.  My EV ratings are 6 to 7 in the center of the field.  The corners are about EV 4 to 5..  I was just curious what the pros contend with.  Their photos appear pristine.  I figure a lot of that has to do with the processing.  I do my own RAW files with Photoshop Elements 14.

My use a Canon EOS 1DX Mk 2 and a Canon 400mm f4.DO IS 2.  

Thanks.

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I would think that you should be able to get away underexposing by 1-2 EV, to up the shutter speed, with that gear. 

Also, while that link may have said that night sports are about 9 EV, if the event is televised, which most professional events like football are, then the venue is lit up just a bit more than 9 EV. 

[buffalobreath]

The 70-200mm f2.8 is my primary lens for indoor volleyball and basketball. I've used the 400mm with both 1.4x and 2x III extenders with incrediable sharpness.  I should have bought the lens long ago.

[mayaava]

There’s just something magical about night games — whether it’s under the stadium lights of an MLB ballpark or the electric buzz of an NFL prime-time kickoff. The atmosphere hits different. In baseball, the lights bring this nostalgic glow, and everything from the crack of the bat to the crowd noise feels more amplified. NFL night games, on the other hand, feel like an event — the energy is intense, the stakes always seem higher, and there’s that national spotlight that makes every play feel monumental, almost like unlocking a new level in something like an fc mobile mod menu.

[ebiggs1]

9 year old thread and probably spam?