High School Football w/ Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 HSM on a K-5

Isnwm · 09-08-2012, 06:51 AM

I've read a bunch of articles online and gotten some pretty good tips. But I figured I'd ask on here too, and see what my fellow Pentaxians have to say on the subject. I'm shooting my first football game next Friday. I'm so excited I can hardly sleep. I was curious of you guys had some tips. I played football most of my life from little league through High School, so I feel that will work into my advantage, being able to semi-predict what type of play is about to happen, or where the ball will be. So mentally, from that aspect I think I have potential to take some great shots. Based on everything I read, I'm thinking im going to shoot in TA mode... Probably 1/800 @ ISO capped at 1600. Aperture set in the low 3's, and shoot in Burst mode. Everything I read said to shoot in JPEG. Just the thought of shooting in JPEG makes my skin crawl. I'm not worried about filling up a memory card if I shoot in RAW, I'll take about 80 gigs of empty cards with me. But will RAW process fast enough on a 30gb/sec memory card to be able to shoot burst mode ? Anyways, I'll wrap this up so you guys can start throwing some advice at me. I appreciate it.

Deiberson · 09-08-2012, 08:01 AM

I'm going to predict you'll be shooting closer to 6400 if you want to keep a shutter speed of 1/800. In a lighted gymnasium, to remain at 1/250th I'm already in that ballpark.

For sports....other than WB, why do you need RAW?

**jatrax** · 09-08-2012, 08:07 AM

Predicting the action and pre-focusing, as you say
Check your white balance if there are lights. Might be better to set a fixed WB instead of auto so you can correct everything at one time.
TAv mode works quite well and 1600 is reasonable, if it gets dark you might want to bump it to 3200 but you will get noise
Check your exposure and maybe bump the compensation up a half stop, the closer the histogram is to the right (without going over) the less noise you will end up with
jpeg is 7fps up to 30; RAW is 7fps up to 20 exposures. I think I would go RAW, but I'm not a big burst shooter so 20 exposures sounds like an afternoon's work for me
Any class 10 card should keep up, but keep in mind that after a burst in RAW there will be a pause as the card is written to. So make sure you get all the action within your 20 exposures because you are then done for awhile
You might want to test the burst mode in both jpeg and RAW before the game to see which works better for you

bdparker · 09-08-2012, 08:35 AM

I've been shooting sport with the Sigy 70-200 f2.8 HSM for the past year. From football (AFL in Aus) to Hockey, Cricket and Tennis.
Question are you shooting Day or low light? If day then keep reading.
First, I have noticed the this lens (for me) tends to overexpose so I run a -1 to -1.5 EV comp, which allows me get a bit quicker on the Ap
I Shot AV mode and set the ISO to no higher than 800 (mostly 200), I can still achieve 1/500 or better
Because most of the action is rarely close to you (me) I shot at f2.8, some time I'll go as far as f4 when shooting from the back of the goals.
I stopped shooting burst mode not long after I started, because it tends to miss that special. I prefer to predict the mark or kick and I get what I want.

If there is a pre game to the one you want to shoot, get there early and try some shots out and see what work best for YOU and your shooting style.
Education is best gained from experience, so have fun.

Oh and the hardest thing to remember, is not to get caught up in the excitement of the moment and forget to shoot.

Isnwm · 09-08-2012, 09:50 AM

All great advice. The only reason I was hoping to shoot raw was more flexibility in Post Processing. I know I won't be doing a lot in PP, but still, it's nice to have the option. I'll be shooting day & night for those that asked. The game starts @ 7:00, and it'll be daylight probably through most of the first half. Won't get dark till about half time. I'll probably need to bump up to 3200 ISO . I didn't think of that. As far as burst goes, I've never used it before, so I'm anxious to see how it turns out. What's a normal number of pics for bust mode ? 20 ? 30 ? Will the subject stay in focus for the majority of them ? Say, a RB is coming around the corner on a sweep, and I see a cornerback coming in for the tackle, of I start "bursting" about a foot away from the two making contact, how long would I hold the button down ? A couple seconds ? Long enough for the "action" that I was trying to freeze to finish ?

Isnwm · 09-08-2012, 10:12 AM

Also, would you recommend using "catch in focus" mode ? I can definitely see the benefit of it on a manual focus lens. But on an AF lens, the only benefit I could see is, the camera being faster to react and start shooting, than my fingers. Might catch a few shots unintentionally , but overall I could see it potentially being useful. Any thoughts ?

**crewl1** · 09-08-2012, 11:26 AM

For sports I leverage the fast AF of the Sigma.
I always shoot in center point AF-C mode.
in this mode the camera must be kept on a player so you cant point it at the space between two guys waiting for a hit.
On a long run you may hit the buffer Max at which point your shots will space out so keep track so you can catch the action as he crosses the end zone.
I usually do short bursts of around 5 shots to keep my options open.
I shoot jpeg for the bigger buffer since shots are good enough with minimum pp required unless you plan to do something artsy vs just document the game. Once the lights come on you can go full manual exposure since you wont need to worry about shadows.
Your keepers will go up over time and since you know the game you are already halfway there.
I shot some pop warner this morning in sunshine and used settings 1/600 Iso 100 f8.
Oh get a monopod to help with the sigma. I use a tilt head not a ball for best control. Manfrotto 234 tilt head.

GvilleRick · 09-08-2012, 12:20 PM

I used to shoot using burst mode a good bit for football but do it more sparingly now. I will use it more near the goal line or on a long pass play but even then generally only shoot 3 to 6 shots at a time. You might think of shooting RAW+, at least at the beginning to see if the camera is keeping up, then you can see how the JPG works and still have the RAW shots for fixing when needed. I shoot mainly to create web galleries and get usable shots at ISOs up to even 6400 when necessary on the K5. I bought a Tamon 1.4x TC to use with my Tamron 70-200 and it does help get a little extra reach. Once the lights come on I usually take off the TC. I shoot TAv or Av most of the time but often switch to Manual mode when the lights come on and even use the 540 flash some. I am able to shoot right from the sideline so I can get pretty close. Did learn quickly that if the player is getting bigger in the view finder it might be time to move.

I've not taken a direct hit but have been brushed a time or two.

09-08-2012, 06:51 AM	#1
Isnwm Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 98	High School Football w/ Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 HSM on a K-5 I've read a bunch of articles online and gotten some pretty good tips. But I figured I'd ask on here too, and see what my fellow Pentaxians have to say on the subject. I'm shooting my first football game next Friday. I'm so excited I can hardly sleep. I was curious of you guys had some tips. I played football most of my life from little league through High School, so I feel that will work into my advantage, being able to semi-predict what type of play is about to happen, or where the ball will be. So mentally, from that aspect I think I have potential to take some great shots. Based on everything I read, I'm thinking im going to shoot in TA mode... Probably 1/800 @ ISO capped at 1600. Aperture set in the low 3's, and shoot in Burst mode. Everything I read said to shoot in JPEG. Just the thought of shooting in JPEG makes my skin crawl. I'm not worried about filling up a memory card if I shoot in RAW, I'll take about 80 gigs of empty cards with me. But will RAW process fast enough on a 30gb/sec memory card to be able to shoot burst mode ? Anyways, I'll wrap this up so you guys can start throwing some advice at me. I appreciate it.

09-08-2012, 08:07 AM	#3
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Predicting the action and pre-focusing, as you say Check your white balance if there are lights. Might be better to set a fixed WB instead of auto so you can correct everything at one time. TAv mode works quite well and 1600 is reasonable, if it gets dark you might want to bump it to 3200 but you will get noise Check your exposure and maybe bump the compensation up a half stop, the closer the histogram is to the right (without going over) the less noise you will end up with jpeg is 7fps up to 30; RAW is 7fps up to 20 exposures. I think I would go RAW, but I'm not a big burst shooter so 20 exposures sounds like an afternoon's work for me Any class 10 card should keep up, but keep in mind that after a burst in RAW there will be a pause as the card is written to. So make sure you get all the action within your 20 exposures because you are then done for awhile You might want to test the burst mode in both jpeg and RAW before the game to see which works better for you

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
For Sale - Sold: Sigma DC 50-200 f/4-5.6 HSM OC	zbrueningsen	Sold Items	8	07-28-2012 05:19 PM
Sigma 70-200 2.8 (NON-HSM) + Sigma/Kenko/Pentax TC?	sergysergy	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	4	08-08-2011 03:31 PM
Wanted - Acquired: Sigma 150-500mm HSM, 150mm MACRO HSM, Sigma 18-250 HSM, Sigma 10-20mm HSM	mackloon	Sold Items	7	05-01-2011 02:25 AM
Sigma 70-200 HSM II vs. 70-200 HSM II OS	Mehlsack	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	4	02-19-2011 10:05 AM
Sports Fall High School Football	8540tomg	Post Your Photos!	16	10-17-2010 02:31 PM

09-08-2012, 08:01 AM	#2
Deiberson Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Albums Posts: 734	I'm going to predict you'll be shooting closer to 6400 if you want to keep a shutter speed of 1/800. In a lighted gymnasium, to remain at 1/250th I'm already in that ballpark. For sports....other than WB, why do you need RAW?

09-08-2012, 08:35 AM	#4
bdparker Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 307	I've been shooting sport with the Sigy 70-200 f2.8 HSM for the past year. From football (AFL in Aus) to Hockey, Cricket and Tennis. Question are you shooting Day or low light? If day then keep reading. First, I have noticed the this lens (for me) tends to overexpose so I run a -1 to -1.5 EV comp, which allows me get a bit quicker on the Ap I Shot AV mode and set the ISO to no higher than 800 (mostly 200), I can still achieve 1/500 or better Because most of the action is rarely close to you (me) I shot at f2.8, some time I'll go as far as f4 when shooting from the back of the goals. I stopped shooting burst mode not long after I started, because it tends to miss that special. I prefer to predict the mark or kick and I get what I want. If there is a pre game to the one you want to shoot, get there early and try some shots out and see what work best for YOU and your shooting style. Education is best gained from experience, so have fun. Oh and the hardest thing to remember, is not to get caught up in the excitement of the moment and forget to shoot.

09-08-2012, 09:50 AM	#5
Isnwm Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 98 Original Poster	All great advice. The only reason I was hoping to shoot raw was more flexibility in Post Processing. I know I won't be doing a lot in PP, but still, it's nice to have the option. I'll be shooting day & night for those that asked. The game starts @ 7:00, and it'll be daylight probably through most of the first half. Won't get dark till about half time. I'll probably need to bump up to 3200 ISO . I didn't think of that. As far as burst goes, I've never used it before, so I'm anxious to see how it turns out. What's a normal number of pics for bust mode ? 20 ? 30 ? Will the subject stay in focus for the majority of them ? Say, a RB is coming around the corner on a sweep, and I see a cornerback coming in for the tackle, of I start "bursting" about a foot away from the two making contact, how long would I hold the button down ? A couple seconds ? Long enough for the "action" that I was trying to freeze to finish ?

09-08-2012, 10:12 AM	#6
Isnwm Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 98 Original Poster	Also, would you recommend using "catch in focus" mode ? I can definitely see the benefit of it on a manual focus lens. But on an AF lens, the only benefit I could see is, the camera being faster to react and start shooting, than my fingers. Might catch a few shots unintentionally , but overall I could see it potentially being useful. Any thoughts ?

09-08-2012, 11:26 AM	#7
crewl1 Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,807	For sports I leverage the fast AF of the Sigma. I always shoot in center point AF-C mode. in this mode the camera must be kept on a player so you cant point it at the space between two guys waiting for a hit. On a long run you may hit the buffer Max at which point your shots will space out so keep track so you can catch the action as he crosses the end zone. I usually do short bursts of around 5 shots to keep my options open. I shoot jpeg for the bigger buffer since shots are good enough with minimum pp required unless you plan to do something artsy vs just document the game. Once the lights come on you can go full manual exposure since you wont need to worry about shadows. Your keepers will go up over time and since you know the game you are already halfway there. I shot some pop warner this morning in sunshine and used settings 1/600 Iso 100 f8. Oh get a monopod to help with the sigma. I use a tilt head not a ball for best control. Manfrotto 234 tilt head.

09-08-2012, 12:20 PM	#8
GvilleRick Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,690	I used to shoot using burst mode a good bit for football but do it more sparingly now. I will use it more near the goal line or on a long pass play but even then generally only shoot 3 to 6 shots at a time. You might think of shooting RAW+, at least at the beginning to see if the camera is keeping up, then you can see how the JPG works and still have the RAW shots for fixing when needed. I shoot mainly to create web galleries and get usable shots at ISOs up to even 6400 when necessary on the K5. I bought a Tamon 1.4x TC to use with my Tamron 70-200 and it does help get a little extra reach. Once the lights come on I usually take off the TC. I shoot TAv or Av most of the time but often switch to Manual mode when the lights come on and even use the 540 flash some. I am able to shoot right from the sideline so I can get pretty close. Did learn quickly that if the player is getting bigger in the view finder it might be time to move. I've not taken a direct hit but have been brushed a time or two.