cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I have also been shooting sports for 50+ years at all levels, including a touch of pro level. I much prefer a full frame body for night work, along with a f2.8, or faster, lens. For night football I use a 400/2.8 on a D5 wide open, 1/1000th with Auto ISO. I set the ISO, based upon the camera body and, depending on the field and what I'm after, I might just set everything in manual. I do not shoot any sports with any lighting equipment, except for wrestling because of the gym(s) I shoot in. My second body for football, and all outdoor field sports, is normally a D850 with a 70-200/2.8 set similarly. There are occasions when I find I need to 'throttle back' my iso and fix in post, and there are times I might drop my speed to 1/800, again, venue dependent. I find I like my results better in my sports work at 1/1000th, unless I actually want some blur (such as batter hitting a ball). And yes, I just love all the flickering lighting. I much prefer 12,800 as my max ISO, but am just forced to go as high as 25,600 sometimes. Outdoors, WB is normally auto, inside a gym, custom. I use Lr CC for all my processing, with a small sprinkle of Ps, and I'm loving the latest auto settings upon import because, as PaulR points out, time is of the essence to make deadlines, so anything I can fix (semi)automatically is very helpful. For many indoor sports, I use faster (1.4 or 1.8) primes sport and venue dependent. Shooting action sports can be enjoyable and rewarding, but it takes lots of thought, improvement and practice, practice, practice. Best of luck.

fstoprookie Loc: Central Valley of California

Good evening Bill, I guess I shouldn't comment on your post, cause I'm a Nikon guy. However, I've been shooting HS Basketball, Football, & Volleyball for the last 5 years. Sounds like you have plenty of experience. I shoot a D5 with a 70-200mm 2.8, usually have the D5 ISO at 6000-10000 and the shutter speed at 1/1000. That setup and camera combo seems to work for me. I know with your experience, It won't be too long before it is all dialed in. Good Luck.

PS - I shoot most of the school sports for the yearbook at a small Christian school in Central CA - There is a quick sample below

sxrich

Shot hs football and basketball. Lighting was pretty much very poor for night football. Good thing, who will be viewing your images? I went to 6400, lowered shutter speed to 1/400 and shot at 2.8. I could have gone higher on the iso and ss as necessary. Is the pic ready for SI - probably not but it's HS. You can decide what you like and what meets your standard.

(Download)

PaulR01 Loc: West Texas

Great post!

sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

I'll add one thing that someone started to mention; location makes a difference. If the motion is coming at you, you can nudge down your shutter speed. If it is side to side, it needs to be faster.

Example, if you are shooting near the line of scrimmage, players will be going sideways to my camera and I need faster speeds (1/1000+). If I am in the corners or beyond the end zone with longer glass, I can sometimes get away with 1/640th or 1/800th that is still sharp. That helps my ISO. I change location a lot in games, use your feet as much as you are allowed.

For bad high school lighting, there is another element to location; middle of the field is best. End zones can be a full stop or more worse. I've found that getting it right in camera with higher ISO levels is much better than trying to push exposure in post. ISO 10,000 that don't get any exposure in post often make it to digital or print publications. The same shot at 6400 pushed up a stop look much worse and never get used. Using the lowest ISO to get it right in camera is best.

dickwilber Loc: Indiana (currently)

I disagree. You have adequate depth of field, even at f/2.8 at most distances you're shooting football at. Are you enlarging portions of the picture? That could be your problem.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

I don't do much of this, but when shooting my grandson I try to get as close to the action as possible. The games are often in daylight or under good lighting (football is BIG where he lives) and I find 1/250 adequate for shutter speed. At the combination of f8 and1/250, I rarely have to go over ISO 3200. My grandson prefers images where he can see the action behind him rather than the isolated shots of him with the ball.

But you're right, if you focus tight on the ball carrier f 4 should be plenty - I do think 2.8 is a little tight.

Andy