Beginner Av for sports photography

Merlin5

Merlin5

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Lee
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Hi guys. Apparently some photographers prefer aperture priority for sports photography. Why would this mode be favoured over shutter priority when a fast shutter speed from 1/1000+ is usually needed?

I just tried Aperture Priority at home to see how it works. In my garden, at f4, auto iso, shutter speed moved around depending where I was pointing the camera from 1/500 to 1/800 to 1/1250 to 1/1000 or even to 1/40 if I stood on the patio pointing into my kitchen.

In shutter priority I set it to 1/1000 and even if I pointed into my kitchen it just adjusted the ISO to 3200. Sometimes it adjusted the aperture to wider than f4.

So I don't get it. Aperture mode doesn't guarantee your shutter speed will remain fast, so how is that any good for fast moving action?
 
I don't think there is any hard and fast rule, it depends on the sport and what you want to achieve.
You just pick the mode Av ,Tv or M depending on what suits, at least these days we have a choice and particularly now we have the ability to vary the ISO at will either manually or auto ,in the days of using film that choice was not available
 
You are correct shutter speed is important for sports.. But DOF can also be important in a stadium enviroment to seperate the subject from the background.. The idea was never to stick in Av mode and forget about it.. Your supposed to keep your eye on shutter speed and adjust accordingly.. You can also set a minimum shutter speed to stop it going too low...

the reason to choose
In shutter priority the aperture can go too big for your needs.. in av the shutter can never go too big for your needs.. thats why av over shutter

however most use neither of these two modes now we have auto ISO and better to set the aperture and shutter speed yourself and let the camera choose the ISO for correct exposure

All the above is based on wanting to use a semi auto mode (Manual plus auto iso is just as much semi auto as the others) in varying light..

In steady light full manual settigns best way.. but these are rare outside in the uk :)
 
Awesome explanations, I'm a lot clearer on that now! Thank you guys. :)
 
KIPAX said:
You are correct shutter speed is important for sports.. But DOF can also be important in a stadium enviroment to seperate the subject from the background.. The idea was never to stick in Av mode and forget about it.. Your supposed to keep your eye on shutter speed and adjust accordingly.. You can also set a minimum shutter speed to stop it going too low...

the reason to choose
In shutter priority the aperture can go too big for your needs.. in av the shutter can never go too big for your needs.. thats why av over shutter

however most use neither of these two modes now we have auto ISO and better to set the aperture and shutter speed yourself and let the camera choose the ISO for correct exposure

All the above is based on wanting to use a semi auto mode (Manual plus auto iso is just as much semi auto as the others) in varying light..

In steady light full manual settigns best way.. but these are rare outside in the uk :)
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Do you mean aperture can go too small (larger depth of field) as apposed to 'too big'(narrow depth of field) in shutter priority?
 
shapeshifter said:
Do you mean aperture can go too small (larger depth of field) as apposed to 'too big'(narrow depth of field) in shutter priority?
Click to expand...


To put simply.. In shutter priority on a nice day you could end up shooting at f8 f12 or whatever and thats not desirable ... At least setting the aperture your not going to have problems if the shutter goes too high :)
 
KIPAX said:
To put simply.. In shutter priority on a nice day you could end up shooting at f8 f12 or whatever and thats not desirable ... At least setting the aperture your not going to have problems if the shutter goes too high :)
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That's a smaller aperture (bigger number) Kipax. I don't now you new boys.;)
 
When I first started doing equestrian I was just stuck in shutter priority as was just learning how to take action shots. The DOF was not always great but it wasn't helped that I had a relatively slow lens at 5.6 at the long end (where I was shooting a lot) and indoor shooting was not easy due to the 5.6.

Now I always use manual with Auto ISO.

My aperture for Sports is 2.8-4 and depending if I am indoors or outdoors, shutter speed ranges from 1/500 - 1/1500 with a few exceptions.

Auto ISO has always worked for the best part - but I guess a lot depends on how well your camera performs at higher ISO settings.

I could go manual ISO but so far I have trusted the camera with that decision and it does a good job!
 
JJ! said:
Now I always use manual with Auto ISO.
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You should never say "always" :) I use the same settings as you quite a lot because of the conditions.. but there are occasions when not letting the camera do the work for you is better... I would have thought indoor shooting of any sport wouldnt need auto anything ?

Anyone who says they always shoot full manual is as daft as anyone who says they always shoot auto :)
 
KIPAX said:
You should never say "always" :) I use the same settings as you quite a lot because of the conditions.. but there are occasions when not letting the camera do the work for you is better... I would have thought indoor shooting of any sport wouldnt need auto anything ?

Anyone who says they always shoot full manual is as daft as anyone who says they always shoot auto :)
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Indoors I am usually not in well lit places so it’s normally 1/500 2.8 with exposure at some sort of plus depending on the light. When I delve in to manual ISO settings I usually make a mess of things! My brain can’t cope with too many manual settings.
 
I'm no sports photographer, but I do do a bit of equestrian (because it keeps the wife happy). My fastest lens is a 70-200 f/4, so because of that, I mainly use av mode and set my aperture to f/4. As long as the light is fairly constant I'll set an ISO setting that'll keep the shutter speed up to where I want it to be.
Of course this isn't perfect, as you can come into problems with white or black horses affecting (or is it effecting) your exposure.
I do use auto ISO, but being on a Canon crop sensor, noise can be an issue after about 800/ 1600 ISO.
 
KIPAX said:
Anyone who says they always shoot full manual is as daft as anyone who says they always shoot auto :)
Click to expand...

As I learned to take photos when you had no choice but to use manual, I've never 'needed' to use any kind of auto setting.

I still prefer to use manual if I have the time, but mostly laziness gets in the way and I'll use aperture or shutter priority occasionally with bracketing if needed.

However, I will always prefer manual to any kind of auto setting - although I must admit using the auto-ISO with manual is very handy and is fast becoming my preferred way to use a long lens. ;)
 
Nostromo said:
I'm no sports photographer, but I do do a bit of equestrian (because it keeps the wife happy). My fastest lens is a 70-200 f/4, so because of that, I mainly use av mode and set my aperture to f/4. As long as the light is fairly constant I'll set an ISO setting that'll keep the shutter speed up to where I want it to be.
Of course this isn't perfect, as you can come into problems with white or black horses affecting (or is it effecting) your exposure.
I do use auto ISO, but being on a Canon crop sensor, noise can be an issue after about 800/ 1600 ISO.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough that is one of the times when I use manual. The light is the same but the subject changes fooling the light meter in the camera.
 
when I'm shooting motorsport I want more control over shutter speed, so tend to shoot shutter priority unless lighting is inconsistant and then I'll switch to manual. There is usually some distance between myself and the car, the car and the background scenery. The car is also quite long so I want to get more of it in focus.

when I'm shooting athletics, I'm usually looking for more background seperation. The runner is closer to me, the background, which may be more runners is also quite close proximity, so looking to blur background but keep runner sharp, but also have to watch shutter speed to ensure facial isn't blurred and that generally means that arms and legs aren't blurred either. Usually shooting at f/4 or something unless really poor lighting... Again, if lighting is inconsistant, then I'll switch to manual. I'd prefer to raise ISO as noise can be improved with post processing, can't unblur something afterwards.

In early days of auto-ISO I felt it got it wrong when left to its own devices, but I will sometimes use manual mode to dictate the shutter speed I want, the aperture I want and let auto-ISO do its thing.
 
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Sky said:
As I learned to take photos when you had no choice but to use manual, I've never 'needed' to use any kind of auto setting.
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then thats because of the conditions you shoot in not because you learn to shoot manual.. anyone can learn to shoot manual....

Please tell me..if you where shooting outdoors on a cloudy day and you had to shoot somehting thats only in your frame for a couple of seconds.. You set up manual... your about to take the shot and a cloud goes in front of the sun.... you havent time to reset so surely you ,miss the shot?

Or suppose your tracking an object that goes in and out of shadows?


Sky said:
However, I will always prefer manual to any kind of auto setting - although I must admit using the auto-ISO with manual is very handy and is fast becoming my preferred way to use a long lens.
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You know thats putting your camera in semi auto and isnt actually you using manual if your using auto ISO thus completely opposite of what you first said :)
 
DemiLion said:
That should be framed in neon lights.
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Along with: "If you are shooting with auto ISO switched on, then you are NOT shooting in full manual".

For any beginners struggling to understand this, it's because the camera is choosing the exposure for you; all you have done is select the aperture and shutter speed, but the camera is still controlling the exposure by changing the ISO as lighting conditions vary. To shoot in full manual you have to set a fixed ISO as well as setting the shutter and aperture.
 
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