Help with settings for night time football

gregc729

New member
Hi folks Hope I can get a lesson on using the D850 I am trying out a new D850 I have a 70-200 2.8 Nikon lens I am on the side lines in the middle of the action My problem is that I have no clue on how to set the camera up for night time football.... I have the ISO set on 800-1600 from what I read this about the norm When I take any action photos they are all blurry I cant seem to stop the action...I also noticed that when I put my finger on the shoot button instead of the image coming in clear in the view finder it gets blurry Can some one tell me what I should set my camera setting at I am no expert photographer and yes I probably bought a wat too advance camera I should bought one with automatic setting But from what I read if you can ace this camera You can wind up with some really nice photos Thank you for any help in advance
 

PapaST

Senior Member
Long term answer for the blurry pics is to learn the relationship to your shutter speed in relation to the action that you're taking. Also learning the exposure triangle (with shutter, ISO and aperture) will go a long way in understanding why pictures turn out the way they do.

Short term answer is to check out sites like flickr. Look at photos that are similar to what you're looking to shoot. From what I'm seeing, a night time game some photographers with similar setups are going at around 3200 ISO, 1/500 shutter and 2.8 aperture. I would go up and down on the shutter depending on how fast you need to stop the action. But keep in mind moving one aspect of the triangle will effect the others.

Best of luck and welcome to the forum.
 

nickt

Senior Member
When you say the viewfinder gets blurry when you press the shutter, that sounds like autofocus is either not catching focus at all or it is choosing something other than what you had in mind.
So tell us what focus mode you used. I am a big fan of single point focus. I use that with technique called back button focus. More on that when you are ready for it. That technique not essential for success. You need to figure out if focus is an issue. It sounds like it is. Get to understand your focus modes and choose one that works.
I don't know all the features of the d850, but for focus I'll suggest af-c and single point for starters. Get the single point over the subject, half press the shutter and the camera should focus on the single point. Its a good starting place. Other modes might be more helpful, but you can't go wrong keeping a single center spot on the subject.
Next is exposure. Many ways to go here and there is no one correct answer. For me, I would set manual mode with auto iso. Set a shutter speed that you can safely hand hold. Many would say 1/focal length. So 1/200. But I'd say 1/400 or higher. Go higher if 1/400 is not stopping the action. Then set the aperture. You could go wide open, f2.8 or you could stop down a little. Some lenses are sharper slightly stopped down. Try 2.8 for awhile. With these minimum manual settings, along with auto iso, you have a good automatic mode for lower light situations. I'd let auto iso have its full range available. It will probably settle in the 3000 range for most shots anyway.

Read up on the exposure triangle as suggested, it will help with EVERYTHING to understand those basic principles.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

It also depends on the lighting. Some high school stadiums, in particular, have very dim lighting which will effect your photos greatly.
 

Texas

Senior Member
Mastering the dozen focus modes is also a challenge. As a first try, I would learn about Back Button Focus and Continuous AF along with group or small number dynamic.

Jumping right into night action photography might lead to some frustration, but stay with it !
 

gregc729

New member
Thank You folks I'm going to like this forum I can see !!!! Everyone like to help out new folks like my self I'm going to go to the field tomorrow and shoot some photo using the forum advice I will post the results tomorrow Thanks Again !!!!!
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
You need a fast shutter speed - at least 1/1000, which means shooting at f/2.8 or f/4 along with higher ISO, perhaps up to 6400. All depending on the light. Many use back button focus and also reprogram the video button for ISO, giving you control over the exposure triangle without taking your eye off the subject (manual shooting).

Good luck.
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
If you know you need a fast shutter speed and can use a reasonably low aperture (2.8 or 4), then set both of those manually (i.e. shutter 1/1000 and f2.8), and put ISO on Auto-ISO. Be sure to shoot in RAW so you will have the most control over exposure on your PC later.

For beginners, this is absolutely the best combination. You must have high shutter speed and a wide open aperture, so let the camera control the ISO for each shot. Don't be surprised if it goes way up, some shots might even be over 10,000 ISO. You could also try lowering the shutter speed to 1/800 or 1/500 to see if they are sharp enough, but the huge 46 megapixels on your D850 will show even the tiniest motion blur.

To set Auto-ISO, I believe you just hold the ISO button and roll the front command wheel one click. (I don't have my camera at work.) You will see the "Auto-ISO" turn on. Also, in your menu settings for ISO, you should make sure your Max ISO for Auto-ISO is at least 12,000. I know that seems high, but a sharp focus picture with grain is better than a blurry sports shot without grain.
 
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gregc729

New member
Ok guys I been going through forum on the settings in the menu I must of changed something I took a few photo around the house When I put either card in my PC And it claims it doesn't support the file DSC2178.NEF Any idea what I screwed up Thanks in advance
 

nickt

Senior Member
You are shooting raw. Probably 'raw only'. Check your shooting menu, image quality. Not sure what exactly it looks like on the d850. Change it to jpg fine. Eventually you will want to shoot raw (nef), so remember where it is. Nikon software should open the nef. There should be a codec thing you can add to windows to recognize the nef's.

found it:
https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/97.html
 
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gregc729

New member
Thank You I downloaded the file you gave me and was able to open the file in RAW I gather the picture quality is better in this setting Will this be good to shoot over 200 photos at a football game at night also Thanks again !!!!
 

nickt

Senior Member
Better quality, but you need to make use of it. Its not an automatic upgrade to better quality. The codec will let windows see it, but no extra benefit unless you are using a raw editor. Free Nikon software will do it. I use Lightroom. There are other free editors out there, but I don't know what to recommend.
Jpg's are created from all the image info captured by your camera. What ever is not needed for the jpg is discarded. Raw saves 'everything' so you have more to work with. More opportunity to bring up the shadows or bring down the highlights, etc.

Not sure if you want Nikon View NX-i or Capture NX-d. maybe somebody else will recommend which or maybe both. These Nikon softwares will leave you with a good picture right from the start. 'Good' meaning the same as the jpg you had before. Lightroom and other free options will leave you with a blah looking picture until you work with it or apply a preset. So there is a little more learning curve to quickly get a good picture. The Nikon stuff applies the camera picture control settings right from the start.
You could shoot raw+jpg for awhile. Soon enough you will be fine just shooting raw. It gets messy on your computer shooting both files.
 

gregc729

New member
Just a fast question I got the setting to use to shoot night time football...... What setting should I use on my d850 to shoot daytime photos at the game today any help would be great Thank You
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Just a fast question I got the setting to use to shoot night time football...... What setting should I use on my d850 to shoot daytime photos at the game today any help would be great Thank You

How has everything turned out? I was gone a while but am curious if you feel good about your shots.
 

Ron Carlson

Senior Member
I shoot night HS football with the D850 and 70-200 f/2.8. My rule of thumb is 1/800 to 1/1000 @ 6400 ISO at f/2.8. Most HS football fields in my area are 3 sets of lights on either side of the field around the two 20 yrd and 50 yrd lines. Lighting in the end zones are horrific! At the beginning of the season the sun is up longer and get more light at the start of the game (lower ISO). This time of year its pitch black outside at the start of the game. If i'm shooting in the middle of the field from sideline to sideline can usually get away with an ISO of 4k. If i'm shooting sideline to sideline near the end zone I'm at least 8k to 10k, sometimes 12800. If i'm in the back of an end zone looking down field toward the other end zone, depending on the angle I get more back light but in the 8k average ISO. In my world its ok to get shots a little on the dark side but frozen action. You can boost the exposure in post. Will you introduce some grain, yes, but that is to be expected in low light. I'd rather have a tack sharp pic with some grain than a blurry pic! But with that being said, I had some issues shooting a game Friday night 10/19/18. Nothing seemed to tack sharp on the focus, thought it was me. Went on Nikon site, Firmware ver 1.3 was available 10/18/18. Specifically for: (Fixed an issue that in rare circumstances would delay the shutter release or the start of the autofocus operation.) link here: https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/fw/311.html
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Went on Nikon site, Firmware ver 1.3 was available 10/18/18. Specifically for: (Fixed an issue that in rare circumstances would delay the shutter release or the start of the autofocus operation.) link here:https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/fw/311.html

Thanks for that link. For anyone stymied trying this at home, as I was, this is one of those rare times that you have to press the actual dedicated "OK" button instead of the center button in the control wheel to actually start the upgrade. I never use that OK button any other time except when entering text.
 
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