Boxing match, advice needed please.

Lee O'D

Lee O'D

Messages
1,147
Name
Lee
Edit My Images
No
Hi guys,

I've been asked to photograph a boxing match by a friend who's son is fighting.

It's a charity do so I've agreed to do it but it's not something I know anything about so any tips would be greatly appreciated. I plan to use a 1DX and 24-105mm.

Thanks, Lee.
 
first.. why would you agree to do somehting you know nothing about?

second.. in order to help we would need to know the type of venue and level of boxing..

third.. why would you stick such a cheap lens on such a quality camera? :)
 
KIPAX said:
first.. why would you agree to do somehting you know nothing about?

second.. in order to help we would need to know the type of venue and level of boxing..

third.. why would you stick such a cheap lens on such a quality camera? :)
Click to expand...

£720 isn't that cheap for a lens

I've shot pro boxing with a 5d mk III and 17-40 f4 so I'd reckon he'll be fine with a 1dx

Boxing is tough from right at the ring side - ref gets in the way a lot - you are also likely to get covered in sweat and possibly blood
 
KIPAX said:
first.. why would you agree to do somehting you know nothing about?

I was asking politely for help / advice, not negative comments. It's charity, if I don't do it, they won't have any pictures.

second.. in order to help we would need to know the type of venue and level of boxing..

It's an amateur lads night in a civic hall.

third.. why would you stick such a cheap lens on such a quality camera? :)
Click to expand...

Why would you call a 24-105L a cheap lens? Its a perfectly good lens that has served me well irrespective of what it costs?
 
davidy233 said:
£720 isn't that cheap for a lens

I've shot pro boxing with a 5d mk III and 17-40 f4 so I'd reckon he'll be fine with a 1dx

Boxing is tough from right at the ring side - ref gets in the way a lot - you are also likely to get covered in sweat and possibly blood
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll watch out for the blood, sweat and tears! Did you use flash when shooting from ringside?
 
You should not use flash unless the lighting is too low for your 1dx at 12800 ISO. Then try and obtain permission before you do. If you use flash use common sense ( not in the boxers faces whilst fighting) and as little as possible. It depends on how high the ring is but normally turn a chair around and shoot between the bottom and second rope up. If using flash you need it on side of camera really otherwise the rope will block it. If ring is lower use a knealing pad and kneal. Use manual exposure min shutter speed 400th sec. Fstop usually about f3.2- f4.5. If it's not a pro fight the lighting will probably be poor.
 
shapeshifter said:
You should not use flash unless the lighting is too low for your 1dx at 12800 ISO. Then try and obtain permission before you do. If you use flash use common sense ( not in the boxers faces whilst fighting) and as little as possible. It depends on how high the ring is but normally turn a chair around and shoot between the bottom and second rope up. If using flash you need it on side of camera really otherwise the rope will block it. If ring is lower use a knealing pad and kneal. Use manual exposure min shutter speed 400th sec. Fstop usually about f3.2- f4.5. If it's not a pro fight the lighting will probably be poor.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
 
I've shot a few charity boxing matches. From my experience you need nowhere near 1/400 of a second. Obviously your camera can take it though with regards to bumping the iso where as mine at the time couldn't. I used flash at all of them and just shot straight up with it. Firing it directly at them is not only bad for the boxers but the results usually look awful aswell.

Remember that any spectators won't be best pleased with you standing up all of time in front of them so expect a little agro from them, especially later on into the night if there is alcohol involved. Pick a neutral corner and preferably one which has the least spectators around it.

I found picking my shots and getting about 10 action shots a round was more than enough. Then just keep your camera ready at the intervals inbetween rounds for any good shots that may present themselves such as the corner man misting the boxer with a sprayer. I used to like to get creative with the lighting if i could but all that takes time and isn't worth worrying about as you could miss a vital shot whilst fannying around lining the light up with a boxer for some rim lighting or silhouette shots. :LOL:

Most of all though mate, is to remember to enjoy the occasion and experience!

Good luck and don't forget to share a few pics afterwards!

David.
 
minnnt said:
I've shot a few charity boxing matches. From my experience you need nowhere near 1/400 of a second. Obviously your camera can take it though with regards to bumping the iso where as mine at the time couldn't. I used flash at all of them and just shot straight up with it. Firing it directly at them is not only bad for the boxers but the results usually look awful aswell.

Remember that any spectators won't be best pleased with you standing up all of time in front of them so expect a little agro from them, especially later on into the night if there is alcohol involved. Pick a neutral corner and preferably one which has the least spectators around it.

I found picking my shots and getting about 10 action shots a round was more than enough. Then just keep your camera ready at the intervals inbetween rounds for any good shots that may present themselves such as the corner man misting the boxer with a sprayer. I used to like to get creative with the lighting if i could but all that takes time and isn't worth worrying about as you could miss a vital shot whilst fannying around lining the light up with a boxer for some rim lighting or silhouette shots. :LOL:

Most of all though mate, is to remember to enjoy the occasion and experience!

Good luck and don't forget to share a few pics afterwards!

David.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info and advice, I feel a bit more confident now. I'll post some pics when I've done it.
 
Lee O'D said:
Why would you call a 24-105L a cheap lens? Its a perfectly good lens that has served me well irrespective of what it costs?
Click to expand...


Well done. You've just pisched off the bloke who knows more about photographing boxing than anyone else on this forum.
 
Must be easily pisched off then , I would also like to know why the 24-105 is a cheap which must imply useless lens ? What would be more expensive and better ? A 24-70 , hardly think on a 1dx the 2.8 is really going to give you that much of an ISO advantage at 1 stop
 
DemiLion said:
Well done. You've just pisched off the bloke who knows more about photographing boxing than anyone else on this forum.
Click to expand...
As I said, I asked for help and advice, not negative comments. I've had some really good advice from some helpful people on this forum, which is what it's all about isn't it?
 
You were the one that chose to ignore Kipax's second line about needing more information to give you proper advice.

His comment about the 24-105 is correct, bearing in mind that you decided not to mention that it is the L version*.



*and even that isn't suited to boxing in a low light venue.
 
It's a charity boxing match, not a world heavy weight championship bout. Lee has been asked to do it as a favour for his friend. Hardly going to go out and spunk a grand on a 24-70 f2.8 if he doesn't need it for what he normally shoots, is he?

A friend of mine used to shoot boxing with a 650D and an 18-135mm lens and never had any complaints from the people he was shooting for.
 
DemiLion said:
You were the one that chose to ignore Kipax's second line about needing more information to give you proper advice.

His comment about the 24-105 is correct, bearing in mind that you decided not to mention that it is the L version*.



*and even that isn't suited to boxing in a low light venue.
Click to expand...

Did you read my reply? I didn't ignore his second line.
 
DemiLion said:
It's not about ISO. It's about speed of focusing in low light.
Click to expand...
And the 24-105 is totally fine , I've lost count the amount of MMA events I've covered ringside and shooting through wire with a 24-105 and 5dmk3 and even a 5d mk2 heaven forbid
 
Last edited:
DemiLion said:
You were the one that chose to ignore Kipax's second line about needing more information to give you proper advice.

His comment about the 24-105 is correct, bearing in mind that you decided not to mention that it is the L version*.



*and even that isn't suited to boxing in a low light venue.
Click to expand...
Do they do a non L 24-105 ?
And nonsense that it's not good enough .
 
DemiLion said:
Yes Canon do and I said 'suited to' not 'not good enough'.
Click to expand...
Ok I'll rephrase it's more than suited to :) think we will have to agree to disagree but I can only go on my own experience which is good enough for me . Bearing in mind I photographed guys doing running fly kicks from one end of the octagon to the other through wire with crap light and no flash allowed , much much faster paced than boxing and probably less light as they usually have the place more like a night club.
I stand corrected on the non 24-105 lens which I've never came across , ya learn something new everyday as they say
 
Just wanted to report back on photographing the boxing night that the good people of this forum advised me on. It was hard work, 14 bouts in all, although they were only 3 rounds each.
It was just as you all said, extremely dark. I had to shoot the entire night at 12800 iso but I was surprised how good the images were - I've never used such a high iso before.
Fortunately for me, as it was in a Civic hall there was a stage right next to the ring so I was able to shoot from there on the same level as the ring. The people I did it for were really pleased with the images but unfortunately I was given strict instructions not to put any on the internet ( I think because some of them were only kids) so I can't post any to show you, which is a shame.
Anyway, thanks again for your help and advice.

Lee.
 
depending on the light,which is usually low/bad at these events,you may struggle with an apeture of f4,I find myself at 3200 iso with an f2.8 apeture,try and get some shots of the kids in the corner at the end of the rounds,for this you can drop your iso and shutter speed for better quality,be sure to re adjust when the action starts again,I like to keep my shutter speed above 250th of a second :)
the 24-104mm is an ideal focal length,its a cool lens,if they were able to make it with f2.8 it would be the dream lens for boxing events!
 
Excellent boxing images. I was under strict instructions not to put any of the pictures on the web
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top