Steven Stoven |
Night Shot/Soccer Stadium Under Lights??? Hey everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Assuming I can get the camera in, I have a Pentax *ist and I was wondering what the best settings will be for shooting an MLS soccer game under the lights from the 3rd row? I have a small 18-55mm lens, will only do I think f/3.5. Should I put it on shutter priority, and use a high iso? I really don't know what to do or how bright it will be. Any help would be awesome, as the game is Saturday.
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Ariel Lepor |
I've never been in that situation, but if your Pentax is digital, you could quickly experiment before the game starts with the different settings. Ariel
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robert G. Fately |
Steven, be aware that your 55MM maximum focal length is not particularly long - offering an effective magnification of about 1.5X or so. I mention this because it implies that if you want to end up with an image of one or two players (as opposed to half of the field) you will end up cropping away a good portion of the original image. This, in turn, means that any digital "noise" resulting from a high ISO setting will become all the more apparent. That said, your gut instinct is basically correct - shutter priority with the lens set to its widest aperture, and a high enough ISO to get you at least 1/125th second shutter speed (slower than that and the motion of the players and/or you will probably cause blur, which also will be magnified when you crop). When you see the pros at the sidelines with their 300 or 400MM f2.8 lenses at sporting events, now you'll understand why they need that optical reach and speed. Certainly you should try anything you can - you might get some nice shots since you'll be sort of near the sideline - and as Ariel points out, you should play and experiment a bit before the game if possible.
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Steven Stoven |
I know my lens is worthless... I'm afraid they won't let me in with my 300mm lens. I'm going to bring it anyway. It is still f/3.5 I think... So we'll see. Thanks for all your help.
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Ariel Lepor |
Why wouldn't they allow a 300mm lens?
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Steven Stoven |
I just assumed... I'm just a spectator sitting 3rd row, usually "professional" cameras aren't allowed in sporting events I thought... Maybe I'm wrong?
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Ariel Lepor |
Why? Are you just shooting for personal use? Is the lens or is the camera not allowed? What is "professional"? Maybe you could call the team or stadium or something and ask them about the policies.
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Steven Stoven |
It has been my experience in the past with some events, especially big ones like Real Salt Lake vs Real Madrid, that they usually don't allow cameras in like SLR's because they consider them "professional" even though they aren't. Much like at concerts, the stadium specifically says, "No cameras or recorders." but people bring them in anyway, even though they may have a policy against them they might not care if you bring them in. That's why I won't know for sure until I go.
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Ariel Lepor |
If you camera is big, they might notice it.
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