[CtheC]

I'm the true novice DSLR with a new Pentax K-x and a couple of lenses. Does anyone know the best settings for taking outside sport pix, e.g., soccer with a 55-300mm kit lens? I've attempted using it inside at my grandson's basketball game with mixed results; lighting good, clarity not so good. By the way, could also use help on inside settings for basketball games.

Is it best to use burst or multiple single shots?

Thanks Dave

[icywarm]

I like single shot. look at the posts on panning with sports... helps you keep a target in focus and creates a look of action... I like it for hockey...

[dosdan]

I shot U7 Soccer last year. This year it will be U8s. I try to shot all players in both sides of the match & both presentations - which can have me running as they often occur simultaneously.

K20D & DA 55-300/F4-5.8 for field shots & DA 16-45 for presentation shots. I use a tripod and it makes tracking & levelling a bit easier.

Try to get the sun behind you - I often can't, and backlighting makes things more difficult. I only shoot daytime. Night time (for a demonstration match I watched) was hopeless. Unless the lighting is very good.

I use AF.C and TAv mode. I have ISO roaming between 100-1600 (typ. 280-560), aperture set at either F6.7, F8 (perf.) or F9.5 for some DOF, and shutter speed set at either 1/500s, 1/750s or 1/000s to reduce motion blurring.

Some of the shots are in my gallery

All the shots are here

Here's an ISO analysis from an early match:

Setting 1: 1/1000s, F8
Count: 136 shots
ISO 280: 90 shots
ISO 400: 32 shots
ISO 560: 10 shots
ISO 800: 1 shot
ISO 1100: 3 shots (sideline throw-ins with dark backgrounds - due to either the player's face being obscured or the shot being too static, none of these shots were kept)

Setting 2: 1/750s, F9.5
Count: 59 shots
ISO 280: 45 shots
ISO 400: 11 shots
ISO 560: 3 shots

Using my LV calculator (http://users.on.net/~dosdan/LV%20Calculator.xls) you can work out the Light Value (light level) for these exposures. For example:

1/1000s, F8, ISO280 = LV 14.5
1/750s, F9.5, ISO280 = LV 14.6 (should be the same, but rounding errors).

The K-x does not have TAv mode, so I'd suggest Tv.

I don't use burst. Just track the action. Experience will tell you when things are getting interesting. You don't really have time to check your shots. I'm often amazed at the things that appear on the shot that I was far too busy to notice at the time. One big benefit of shooting this stuff is it makes me appreciate the efforts of the players on both sides a lot more than I would as a mere spectator.

There's two elements I'm interested in: action & drama. It doesn't bother me that much if I miss a goal shot. I'm not there to document the game. I'm there to spotlight the kid's efforts.


Dan.

[alohadave]

Personally, I shoot everything single shot. If you know how the game works, you can anticipate when you can get great dramatic shots.

If you can, use a monopod to steady the camera. The 55-300 is relatively light as long zooms go, but at 300mm, any shake is going to make the shot look blurry and unsharp.

Think about decoupling the Auto Focus from the shutter button. This helps in a couple ways. 1st, if the subject is already in focus, you can shoot as fast as you can press the shutter button. 2nd, you can pre-focus on where the action will be without needing to turn off AF. 3rd, the camera won't change focus if something enters the shot that may confuse the AF system.

Don't be afraid to bump you ISO up enough to get the high shutter speeds that you need to freeze action. Especially in daylight, you should have very little problem with noise at relatively high ISO.

Shoot in Shutter Priority (Tv) to make sure that the shutter speed is fast enough to freeze action. At distances that you are likely to be shooting from, depth of field isn't going to be too much of a problem, especially since this lens is f/5.8 at 300mm.

Watch your backgrounds and reposition if possible to minimize background distractions. It's not always possible, and if not, an overhead angle where you are shooting the players against the field is great for isolating and minimizing the background.

[Marc Sabatella]

As always, thinking in terms of "settings" is counterproductive. it's all about exposure and almost nothing else. Understand - really, truly understand - shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. What they are, how they relate to each other, how to control them using the various exposure mdoes, and how each affects the image. That understanding will answer almost all questions. For example, when you say "clarity" is not good, that means either the picture is out of focus, or the shutter speed is not fast enough. Improvising focus is mostly a matter of practice, but as for how to get shutter speed higher, that's a function of understanding how aperture and ISO help determine shutter speed.

[GerryL]

With the K-x you get get away with high ISO settings, so that is the first to be recommended to be set.
Setting it at high ISO would ensure you get fast shutter speeds that would compensate for the not so fast aperture.
All the rest is up to you and your techniques and how to meter correctly.
Single shot is most often how I shoot but that doesn't mean that I didn't set the shutter settings to "continuous".
I usually have it set to continuous and just use my trigger finger to ease up on the shutter button, so I can press down continuously for burst or ease up for single shots.

[GerryL]

Welcome to the forums by the way CtheC!
We will be looking forward for more of your posts!

[paulelescoces]

With sports, as you have signficant movement you will need to get an appropriate shutter speed.... either high enough to freeze the action... or slightly lower to artistically add motion blur.... the rest is about balancing ISO / aperture to get the correct exposure bearing in mind that getting aperture 8-11 is like going to give you sharper images, with the Kx you should have a decent freedom to let the ISO rise up till ISO1600.

I would likely start with the following, and adjust if needed.
shutter 1/1000s
aperture F8
Iso Automatic min-1600

also, as previously mentioned, try to get the sun behind you.

I also prefer to use single shot, with soccer (or football as we call it in the civilized world ) you can typically "predict" enough.... if nothing else it will facilitate your post processing (i.e. dont have 1000 identical pictures to play "spot the difference")

[dosdan]

I would likely start with the following, and adjust if needed.
shutter 1/1000s
aperture F8
Iso Automatic min-1600

Paulelescoces, we are in agreement. That sounds like TAv mode, but unfortunately the K-x does not have that exposure mode. (As K20D owners, we can use TAv). That's why I recommended Dave use Tv mode.

By the way, using the ISO200 standard min. ISO for the K-x (before sensitivity expansion) with those Auto-ISO exposure settings covers LV 15 (ISO200) to LV 12 (ISO1600). However, I think with the K-x and day-time action shots you should have no problem using ISO3200 which would handle LV 11. So you could either stick with 1/1000s & F8 or maybe try 1/2000s & F8 because LV 11 is pretty low.

If trying for night-time soccer with a K-x, I'd be tempted to expand it to ISO6400 and maybe drop it to 1/500s & F6.7 if pushing it. This would cover LV 8.5 (bright night-time street scene level) and, depending on the level of flood lighting, might do it. (Wikipiedia say night-time sports is LV 9). Most definitely, you would need to shoot in raw because the WB would require serious adjustment under flood lighting. AF speed at this light level might become a significant problem though for action photography. Would probably need a constant F2.8 zoom lens for that, even if stopped down to F6.7 for DOF, just for the AF speed benefit.

The problem with the K-x in Tv mode is the program line used. The camera might decide to open up the aperture first before going for a higher ISO. So DOF could become a big problem in long FL group action shots.

Dan.

[Marc Sabatella]

To get around not having TAv mode, I'd personally recommend M mode - pick a shutter speed, aperture, and ISO that basically works, and stick with it. If a cloud comes and darkend the field, change something, but otherwise, let the exposure ride. Maybe nudge the shutter speed one notch one way or the other if the action moves back and forth between a shaded area and a sunny area. But really, exposure stays more constant than I think is commonly assumed, and this kind of approach works way better than people who aren't used to M mode might think.

[phzy2003]

i am sure it will be better if you use burst. you can catch more

[dosdan]

i am sure it will be better if you use burst. you can catch more

I typically shoot 100-150 shots in a weekly 20min U7 or U8 match using single shots. It takes me long enough to go through those - shooting rapid-fire would double or triple the number of shots - a lot more to go through.

Dan.

[Tuner571]

I would also agree for single shot, you will also need to shot at fast shutter speeds to capture the action sharply. This means that you might have to bump up your ISO depending on the lighting conditions and you will also have to use low F stops so your lens can bring in as much light as possible.

Hope this helps,
Cory

[legacyb4]

Agreed, if lighting is even (say slightly overcast), I'll switch to manual and pick a shutter speed to match the look and feel I'm trying to get. This helps prevent crazy exposure changes based on how the light reflects off different colored uniforms, etc.

To get around not having TAv mode, I'd personally recommend M mode - pick a shutter speed, aperture, and ISO that basically works, and stick with it. If a cloud comes and darkend the field, change something, but otherwise, let the exposure ride. Maybe nudge the shutter speed one notch one way or the other if the action moves back and forth between a shaded area and a sunny area. But really, exposure stays more constant than I think is commonly assumed, and this kind of approach works way better than people who aren't used to M mode might think.

[Arpe]

I'd use high fps. I do in fact.
Press the shutter at the right moment, as the others here would do on single shot, but then just ride the shutter button for an extra second, as you never know what's going to happen next, and you won't be able to react in time id something does. I've only done a couple of soccer games, but was happy enough with them.
See here.

To Dan - how many keepers would you typically get? And where do you stand, or wander? Under 8 would be great, I'm sure they don't move as fast as the grown-ups!