Shoot manual & 1/640th

bigrob

bigrob

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Robin
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It seems that 1/640th as the minimum is the consensus on here from the Pro's for shooting thinks like rugby & football

What I'm curious about is this.

You turn up to shoot your match. It's overcast but still light.

If you have a choice of 1/1000 at iso 1000 or 1/640 at iso 500 what would you go for (I'm not saying the 2 examples equate)

I appreciate that there will be plenty of other variables to take in to account so let the explanations fly.
 
Only shoot when subject is full frame ...to negate heavy cropping.

I used a MKIV so I would shoot at the higher ss/iso..
 
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Do you have a rule of thumb though Tug?
 
Higher ISO all the way and thats why i even leave my 1.4x on most of the time.

Bear in mind if you shoot ISO 500 and 1/640th and the light drops or changes erattically and youre not quick enough to adjust to the situation you could end up where youre still shooting ISO 500 but your shutter speed has dropped so much you wont actually get the shot

Also remember the auto ISO feature if your camera has it, really useful and allows you to concentrate on the action while your camera does its thing.

But, but, but, but, but, there are situations where all this goes out of the window and you just have to wing it.
 
I was shooting the other day and my settings started at TV 1/1250 at f/4, ISO 400. By the end of the game I was shooting at ISO 4000/5000, 1/640 @F/2.8.... I missed a few shots because the shutter dropped down to 1/320 as the light dropped off........The flood lights were put on as a last minute thought and were totally usless untill the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game. Yorkshire Beat Lancashire with the last kick of the game, I was at the wrong end for the Celebration shots...doh !!

If you are pushing the limits of the body in terms of noise and a slow SS, Get the shot by upping the ISO....

WRT your question, You have to decide what IQ you are prepared to accept....It's a trade-off and everyone will have a different view...The slower shutter 1/640 @2.8 ISO500 may result in camera shake and you miss the shot....I'd up the ISO and SS in the example.

Bring on the 1DX
 
Personally, I would go for the higher shutter speed and increase the iso. I tend to get to iso 3200 before I start decreasing the shutter below 1/1000.
 
bigrob said:
It seems that 1/640th as the minimum is the consensus on here from the Pro's for shooting thinks like rugby & football
.
Click to expand...

No its not. Show me one single pro sports photographer on TP who says 640 shutter is minimum for football ? your saying there that we all do... I would be interested to know of one? certainly not me because its rubbish.

Sorry forgot the smiley :)
 
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Tony

It may be that my memory has failed once again. I could have sworn though that quite a few posts by respected pros on TP have suggested that sports shooters should be looking for a minimum of 1/640th.

I will do a search and probably fail miserably to find anything to back up my failing grey matter.

n.b. no need for the smiley as no offence taken whatsoever.
 
Its really a question of balancing the shutter with the ISO to get the best quality image. I've been as low as 250 @ 6400 under some floodlights and kept the ISO at about 800 when the sun is in and out. No hard and fast rule regarding the shutterspeed just set what you have to to get a sharp and correctly exposed image.
 
KIPAX said:
Show me one single pro sports photographer on TP who says 640 shutter is minimum for football ?
Click to expand...

Yep I looked back and was talking cobblers :bonk:
 
theres nothing wrong with a shutter 640 and a good starting point depending on the situation.. but if your shooting with a 70-200 or 300mm even then you can go a lot lower and still get a good set of pictures..

thats why i dont agree with anyone setting a minimum shutter for anything... you can have a reccomended.. but never a set minimum IMHO..

BTW Robin I do know where you saw 640 and i disagreed with it at the time..it was one person then lots of others saying it (not pros) who read it and thought it was gospel :(
 
I noticed I had altered the Standard profile and had the Sharpening set at 4 and had boosted both the contrast & saturation on 1 where the default is 0.

I have set the contrast & saturation back to 0 and the Sharpening to 2.

On the subject of Sharpening in camera I have started a new thread about this here (if you're bored with the lack of new threads in the Sports section that is). http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=363094
 
BTW between 4pm and 6pm today I have been shooting football at iso 3200 shutter around 400 and wait for it... f2 on floodlit schools pitches


I will never get rid of my 135mm f2 lens :)
f2.jpg
 
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Super quick processing then. Did you get your tea in first? :D

Kids are so sweet at that age.

My youngest in 07

p1064674141-3.jpg


and now

p871940096-3.jpg


What happened to my sweet little boy :'(
 
yep mine are same.. all growed up..

this is from this afternoon as it was a tournament.. wish i had pics like this of my kids... sorry that sounds a bit big headed doesnt it :( not meant to.. you can tell its winter when i need flash at 6pm

win.jpg
 
I wish I had more of me in action !!

This the best I have

p1013217018.jpg


But I know what you mean & that is why I am also surprised when I couldn't sell any photos to the parents of kids my son's football team.

"A fiver - gosh that's expensive" !!!
 
And I wish I had the mop of hair now.....
 
KIPAX said:
yep mine are same.. all growed up..

this is from this afternoon as it was a tournament.. wish i had pics like this of my kids... sorry that sounds a bit big headed doesnt it :( not meant to.. you can tell its winter when i need flash at 6pm

win.jpg
Click to expand...

No Pic Tony
 
If I remember rightly I might have been responsible for that initial "minimum 1/640" issue.

It was originally meant as a starting point for newbies or guys just starting out in sport...it's likely to give a higher probability of a sharp shot for a beginner.

We all know we can go lower or higher if necessary...sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity.

Interestingly enough rob, I find that 1/800 on the mk3 seems to be a lot sharper than 1/640. No idea why but CPS once told me it was something to do with certain frequencies causing vibration, they were right (albeit with this dubious logic) and I use 1/800 as my "jumping off" point.
 
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Have you been in Prison James :lol:

Funny you should say that though as ive always founf that 1/1600th is always sharper than 1/800th
 
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jamesb84 said:
If I remember rightly I might have been responsible for that initial "minimum 1/640" issue.
Click to expand...

You was.. and I do recall saying the same to you at the time that I didnt agree.. Again nothing wrong wiht it... just dont agree that its the minimum for any sports shooter at football rugby :) Then look at the first line of this thread saying all pors say 640? since recinded but it is what people think because it was a sticky on talk photogrpahy..
 
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