It's outdoor high school soccer time for the girls again in Michigan. Although I can capture perfectly good soccer shots with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens, there's no substitute for the reach of big glass like the 300mm f/2.8 that captured this shot. My 300mm lens is a Nikon circa 2000. Yes, this lens is abourt 13 years old. I purchased it on eBay from a camera store several years ago. It's AF-S (meaning fast auto focus). And it works perfectly well with both my newer Nikon D700 and D800 camera bodies.
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This photo was shot using a Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens attached to a Nikon D800. It's another good example of the ability of the 70-200mm lens to capture action close to a photographer's position on a field or court. And it's provides more confirmation that the D800 us a very useful camera for sports in general. This photo began as a 36MP image that was cropped to 12MP to produce the image shown. The high resolution capability of the D800 becomes very useful for getting to actual composition you need while retaining image quality.
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Photographers who believe the Nikon D800 cannot be used for sports photography, are wrong. The most common reason given by those who believe the D800 isn't useful for sports is the slower frame rate of the D800 versus other cameras that shoot higher frame rates (4-6 fps for the D800 versus 8-12 fps for other cameras). If all other variables were equal, then higher fps is better for sports. But as usual, the D800 has a few variables that are superior to some other camera bodies.
For example, I also own a Nikon D700 as well. With the vertical grip attached, it can shoot up to 8 fps. Yet I find myself reaching for my D800 for sports more than the D800. Why? The auto focus speed and accuracy of the D800 is much better than the D700 in real world shooting. This speed advantage is magnified when lighting conditions are less than optimal (indoors or under stadium lights). Also, there's no comparison between the 36MP sensor of the D800 versus the 12MP sensor of my D700. This is important because I can actually crop more of my images while maintaining good overall image quality versus the same crop on the D700 (very important for sports like soccer when I use my 300mm lens to shoot action relatively far from my position). The D800 also shoots video, which I'm now incorporating a little more. And it' a much better walk-around camera than my D700 as well.
Are there times I wish I had a little higher frame rate? Yes. But I don't think about frame rate while shooting as much as you might think. I'm now focusing much more on capturing the actual shot that matters from a timing perspective. In fact, I now find myself only taking 1 shot of a particular piece of action compared to just letting the D700 fire-away and only hoping I captured the best action afterwards. There are occasions when shooting soccer that I attach my 300mm lens to the D800 and the 70-200mm lens to the D700. The 70-200mm lens is very useful for action too close to your field position to be captured by the 300mm lens. And it's very difficult to capture specific action in the box on a soccer field (like during corner kicks) which makes the higher frame rate of the D700 more useful.
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I ordered the D800 in February from B&H and it arrived in late July. After a weekend shooting soccer, I must say it seems like it was worth the wait. First, I must admit I have to grow accustomed to a 4 frames per second frame rate in FX mode (highest resolution mode). With the vertical grip attached to my old D700, 8 frames per second is a nice added feature. I ordered the vertical grip with the D800 for the added battery capacity. However, unlike the D700, the D800 still only shoots 4 FPS in FX mode with the attached vertical grip.
Are there any other other reasons not to like the D800? Absolutely not! Autofocus speed is better than my D700 with the same Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 lens attached. And picture quality is outstanding. In fact it's much better than anything I've ever experienced. One of the main reasons for purchasing the D800 for sports is the ability to crop and maintain significant photo clarity. For me, that means not worrying about the reach of my 300mm lens when shooting soccer. Check out the first photo below. This was shot with the D800 and 300mm lens. The photo was cropped significantly and straightened as well. I think the photo clarity is outstanding. Compare this to the original 36.2MP (28.81 MB) RAW file at the bottom of this post.
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 lens, Shutter 1/1600s, Aperture f/4, ISO 450, 10.4 MP after cropping (2733 x 3806)
Original pixel size 7360 x 4912 (36.2 MP)
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If you're serious about sports photography, good lenses are your best investment to capture dramatic images. But even with the best lenses attached, the camera plays a significant role as well in getting usable images. For example the image below was shot using a 300mm lens set at f/2.8. The shutter speed was 1/1000s. Yet even with this very good lens attached, the camera's ISO was automatically adjusted to 6400 to properly expose the image. Notice there's not much grain in this image. The grain in this image was not cleaned-up using any post-processing software. The Nikon D700 used to capture this image performs very well at high ISO settings like 6400. Some lesser camera bodies don't perform as well from a grain perspective when shot at high ISO settings. These other cameras might be perfectly suitable for stills. But to capture action in less than ideal lighting conditions, the chosen camera can have a dramatic impact on the quality of your images.
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Why have all of that gear if you're not prepared to use it. If you shoot sports, you know that one lens doesn't cover every situation you'll encounter during a shoot. That 300mm prime lens is great for capturing the action far away, but terrible when the action moves closer. But it's not so great when the action moves closer. That 70-200mm lens allows you to capture the action closer to your position, but doesn't quite meet your needs for the quickly assembled team photo. Yet it doesn't quite meet your needs for the quickly assembled team photo. Of course you can always change lenses. But why change lenses if you have some old camera DSLR bodies sitting around.
The photographer below, was shooting a professional soccer match recently. You can't completely tell from this photo, but he carried 300mm lens (attached to the monopod), a 50mm lens (on his shoulder), and a 70-200mm lens (not seen in the photo) on another DSLR body.
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"It's not the fiddle. It's the fiddler." While this is mostly true when it comes to capturing good sports shots. It's not completely true. Your camera equipment can really help you get more of those very interesting sports photos that I know you crave. These are my top four equipment capability criteria that help capture cool sports images.
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In my last post, I described the autofocus settings I use for soccer when using my Nikon D700. One of those settings that I use every time I shoot sports is the "AF-ON Only" setting found in the focus custom setting menu (a5). This setting removes the autofocus function from the shutter release button. It requires the use of the AF-ON button highlighted above to activate autofocus. This allows the sports photographer to make the camera autofocus on fast moving subjects well before the shutter release button is ever depressed. It eliminates one step of a three step camera process when only using the shutter release button (autofocus, exposure and shutter firing). I get more in-focus sports photos that are properly exposed when using my thumb on the AF-ON button to autofocus, and my index finger to take the picture.
Try this technique. After some practice, you'll get more in-focus shots (with proper exposure) than using the shutter release button alone.
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I've heard for some time now that the ISO performance of Nikon's D700 (and D3) dlsr is just outstanding. Well.... I can honestly report that the hype about the camera is true. I used a D700 attached to a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens to capture these indoor soccer photos. With my D300, these photos with this level of low noise would have been all but impossible at this indoor facility.
These photos were taken in aperture priority using the D700 at f/2.8. The shutter speed for the top photo was 1/1000s. The shutter speed for the bottom photo was 1/500s. The ISO used for each photo was 6400. Yes, that's 6400 ISO. The lack of noise at this high ISO level is just amazing.
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Don't let bad weather ruin your sports photography day. In fact bad weather can present you with an excellent opportunity to capture very dramatic sports shots.
This photo was shot in 1996 2006 during a snow shower using a Nikon D70 with a 70-200 VR f/2.8 lens attached.
f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 500
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