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A strong action shot which does lack critical sharpness on the subject. I would have been up at 1000 or 1250 ISO in these conditions to get a really fast shutter speed. You comment on difficult conditions and that should have dictated a high ISO in these circumstances.
Paul
Paul
It's better to have some grain than an unsharp picture... There's a view in clubs and places where togs chatter that raising ISO is a complete no-no. Not so: grain can even enhance a picture, and I've been using grain creatively since I was at school in the early Seventies. With film, would you have gone to hte lengths that Kodak Technical Pan fans did - special developers, pitiful speed, all for the sake of a grain-free image? When driving, do you always accelerate slowly, avoid braking and coast to a stop for the sake of economy? Minimising grain is like maximising miles per gallon - a good thing in itself, but not hte only consideration in the real world...
And modern cameras are pretty good at delivering the goods: I regularly go to 6400 ISO, and am perfectly happy to go higher if the light is really poor. Try it and see...
And modern cameras are pretty good at delivering the goods: I regularly go to 6400 ISO, and am perfectly happy to go higher if the light is really poor. Try it and see...
High ISOs will have some noise, but the ISOs tht Paul suggest will be fine with your 7D2 so you shouldn't have any worries.
As John says, better to have a sharp image and a bit of noise than a soft image.
Today we've been conditioned to expect zero noise, and indeed in some areas of photography that's essential such as still life setups for advertising.
With action, it's a nice to have (no noise) though with a little noise if you nail the moment it's that that counts. It never hurt the best sports images in the past. Sport, and that taken in challenging conditions especially, means you may get 'less than your ideal results' in some cases.
As John says, better to have a sharp image and a bit of noise than a soft image.
Today we've been conditioned to expect zero noise, and indeed in some areas of photography that's essential such as still life setups for advertising.
With action, it's a nice to have (no noise) though with a little noise if you nail the moment it's that that counts. It never hurt the best sports images in the past. Sport, and that taken in challenging conditions especially, means you may get 'less than your ideal results' in some cases.
The secret with settings is to understand why you will want any specific shutter speed, aperture, or ISO, and the effect each has on the others (thois is called the exposure triangle ).
For sheer quality, you want low ISO, and the 'sweet' aperture for the lens you're using, plus a shutter speed that rules out camera shake and subject movement. The sweet aperture varies from lens to lens, and can change as you zoom. However, two to three stops down from maximum aperture is often the right area.
How high the shutter speed needs to be depends on the action you want to freeze. Many manuals have tables giving at least a rough idea of what you need: HERE is a web version. 1/100 or higher seems good for surfing, especially with a long lens. (There are separate tables dealing with the shutter speeds you need to avoid camera shake, and image stabilisation can affect these - it doesn't affect subject movement.)
And it's fine to use a rule-of-thumb! It's just that with more understanding of the technical side, the rule will live better: and you will have an idea of when you can bend or break it!
For sheer quality, you want low ISO, and the 'sweet' aperture for the lens you're using, plus a shutter speed that rules out camera shake and subject movement. The sweet aperture varies from lens to lens, and can change as you zoom. However, two to three stops down from maximum aperture is often the right area.
How high the shutter speed needs to be depends on the action you want to freeze. Many manuals have tables giving at least a rough idea of what you need: HERE is a web version. 1/100 or higher seems good for surfing, especially with a long lens. (There are separate tables dealing with the shutter speeds you need to avoid camera shake, and image stabilisation can affect these - it doesn't affect subject movement.)
And it's fine to use a rule-of-thumb! It's just that with more understanding of the technical side, the rule will live better: and you will have an idea of when you can bend or break it!
1/1000 (or higher) for action stopping, yes. Slower speeds for 'creative' style shots (once you've got the main action shots in the bag).
'Best f stop' usually refers to best lens performance and depends on the lens. At long focal lenghts the extra depth of field of f/8 over f/5.6 for example is very small but you'd take it.
Of course, lighting conditions can dictate otherwise in sports photography. A 300 mm f/2.8 or 500 mm f/4 for example are designed to be on the nail even at full aperture but with price tags to match.
'Best f stop' usually refers to best lens performance and depends on the lens. At long focal lenghts the extra depth of field of f/8 over f/5.6 for example is very small but you'd take it.
Of course, lighting conditions can dictate otherwise in sports photography. A 300 mm f/2.8 or 500 mm f/4 for example are designed to be on the nail even at full aperture but with price tags to match.
