Nikon D500 for night football: I recently retired and purchased a Nikon D500. I also bought a AF-S NIKKOR 70-200 2.8 G to use for sporting events. I had been using a Canon 20D for...

Maddigan2

I recently retired and purchased a Nikon D500. I also bought a AF-S NIKKOR 70-200 2.8 G to use for sporting events. I had been using a Canon 20D for cross country and track meets of my kids (they've now graduated). I've only used the D500 for about a month and I thought I'd try a local high school football game (at night). Can someone give me hints on what settings have worked best for them for night football?
I've enjoyed reading the HOG stories that have been posted... and I really enjoy when someone gives a tutorial! The images that people post are truly amazing. So many skilled photographers!

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GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Turn the flicker detection on if you're shooting under the lights at night.
Borrowed a D500 from Nikon back in May to try.
That camera is incredible!

Maddigan2

Thanks. I knew I could count on the professionals!

SteveR Loc: Michigan

You've got a camera that is terrific for low noise at high ISO. Experiment. Take your camera outside as it gets darker and take photos at various ISO levels, all the way up to 10,000. Find the limits of your equipment. You might possibly find that the 70-200mm lens is too short. I would have suggested the 300mm f4 prime with a 1.4x teleconverter or an 80-400mm VRII. Despite the 80-400's apertures, the high ISO capabilities of the D500 would offset that. My suggestion would be to rent the lens and check it out.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Maddigan2 wrote:

Thanks. I knew I could count on the professionals!

Though not detectable to the naked eye, some event lighting flickers, causing exposure and color variations in your photos. Doesn't affect images as much taken at slower shutter settings, but it will at higher settings. The flicker detection somehow avoids this...by... minutely timing the actual exposure? I don't know. I just know that it seems to work.
A recent thread using a Nikon D3400 shows the issue: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-485156-1.html

Maddigan2

Thanks, Steve. I am a little worried about the distance from the action, but your advice about practicing ahead of time makes great (common) sense. Another lens would be out of range right now. My wife would not be happy if she saw me purchasing more equipment!

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Maddigan2 wrote:

Thanks, Steve. I am a little worried about the distance from the action, but your advice about practicing ahead of time makes great (common) sense. Another lens would be out of range right now. My wife would not be happy if she saw me purchasing more equipment!

You can easily use a 1.4x with the 70-200 f2.8. With the crop factor of the D500, it would give you the effective field of vision of 420 mm. That should work, too.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

SteveR wrote:

You can easily use a 1.4x with the 70-200 f2.8. With the crop factor of the D500, it would give you the effective field of vision of 420 mm. That should work, too.

Yes! And you lose only one stop with the teleconvertor.
When I worked for the paper, the longest I used in college games was a 300mm 2.8.
That was with film and they were daytime games.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Maddigan2 wrote:

I recently retired and purchased a Nikon D500. I ... (show quote)

GROUP AUTO FOCUS, center weighted metering, continuous 10 fps. Shoot at least 1/1500 sec. up ISO, your D500 can handle it. I have shot at 12500 ISO without a problem with that camera.

Maddigan2

Thanks for giving me a game plan. I wasn't sure what shutter speed to try and it's nice to receive advice from someone who has already succeeded in this endeavor. I am appreciative.

Maddigan2

I will purchase that and try it at the next game. This is all new to me!

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

GoofyNewfie wrote:

Though not detectable to the naked eye, some event lighting flickers, causing exposure and color variations in your photos. Doesn't affect images as much taken at slower shutter settings, but it will at higher settings. The flicker detection somehow avoids this...by... minutely timing the actual exposure? I don't know. I just know that it seems to work.
A recent thread using a Nikon D3400 shows the issue: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-485156-1.html

Just a note:

A local high school football field has upgraded it's lighting and I think other might follow when several bulbs need changing.

For the one near me, the lighting is about a 1/2 to 3/4 stops brighter with the same amount of bulbs and does not produce any flickering that I have noticed. I love it compared to the older set! (It makes me not want to cover away games. LoL)

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

GENorkus wrote:

Just a note:

A local high school football field has upgraded it's lighting and I think other might follow when several bulbs need changing.

For the one near me, the lighting is about a 1/2 to 3/4 stops brighter with the same amount of bulbs and does not produce any flickering that I have noticed. I love it compared to the older set! (It makes me not want to cover away games. LoL)

Progress, but probably not because photographers complained!
Good for you!
When I was shooting HS night games for the paper in the '70's, we didn't worry about flicker.
The fields were really dim, we had a limited ASA: I think the highest we used with Tri-X was 1600 in Accufine, or 3200 with Diafine and that's black and white. (Thankfully color was reserved for the front and back page.)
No autofocus.
We used flash.
Probably would be booted out nowdays.

Maddigan2

Interesting. I had no idea that you have this many things to consider when shooting a game. I'll be asking more HOG questions when I start shooting high school basketball games!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Maddigan2 wrote:

I will purchase that and try it at the next game. This is all new to me!

if you use the "Quote Reply" option, it will be easier for us to figure out which post you are responding to.