Why is my Nikon choosing slow shutter speeds for lacrosse at night, and what settings should I use?
Asked 7/28/2014
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2 answers
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I’m new to photography and using a Nikon D5200 with a 55-200mm lens to shoot lacrosse from the sidelines. In good daylight, my photos were taken at around 1/800 to 1/1600 sec and looked much better. But in cloudy conditions and especially during an 8:00 PM game under stadium lights, Sport mode started choosing much slower shutter speeds, around 1/250 to 1/400 sec, and many shots looked blurry. Why would the camera select those slower shutter speeds, and what settings or shooting mode should I use to keep action shots sharper in lower light?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
2
If you are taking sport shots and need a high minimum shutter speed, shoot in S (shutter priority) mode instead, and force the camera to use a speed like 1/800. It will adjust your other settings (ISO, aperture) to accommodate it. But be careful: it might make boost the ISO so much that it may make your images grainy. But you'll get the higher shutter speed that you seek.
Also, it might not have been a focus problem that you encountered. It may have been motion blur caused by a combination of the slightly slower shutter speed plus the long 'zoomed-in' focal length (which accentuates camera shake). If the camera can't get enough light in, it will slow the shutter speed down. That can cause motion blur. A tripod, monopod or a lens with image stabilization can help with that.
Originally by user6459. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user6459
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Sport mode lowers shutter speed when there isn’t enough light. In daylight, the camera had enough light to use 1/800–1/1600 sec, but under clouds or stadium lights it had to slow down to around 1/250–1/400 sec to get a usable exposure.
The blur may not be missed focus — it’s often motion blur from player movement and/or camera shake, especially at the long end of a telephoto zoom.
A better approach is to use S (shutter priority) mode and set a faster shutter speed yourself, such as 1/800 sec for sports. The camera will then adjust aperture and ISO as needed. The tradeoff is that in low light it may raise ISO a lot, which can add visible noise/grain.
If light is very limited, support can help reduce camera shake: a monopod or tripod can help, and image stabilization can also help with hand shake, though it won’t freeze player motion. The key point is that lower light forces slower shutter speeds unless you take control and accept higher ISO or brighter lens limitations.
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