please can some one help me The start of my childrens football season has begun which means the start night time football games and I have no clue how to take night time action shots of the kids with my Nikon D5100 camera Ill be using a 55-200 mm lens Im wondering will a external flash help ( I really dont want to spend the money if t wont help much ) I take multiple shots at once - must catch that perfect run or that perfect tackle... I would appreciate any and all help on this I have 12 days to perfect it before the first game Thank you all so much in advance
I doubt flash will do much good given the distance... Plus it might be distracting for the players... Presumably the stadium has some light? I would experiment w widest aperture and highest ISO? Hopefully someone w experience will be able to help more
Rather than investing in an external flash, you might want to get a used 85mm or 50mm f1.4 lens. It's so much faster and gives you a chance to take shots, with a higher ISO of course, that will not be blurry. Unless you've noticed that the field lights are so bright it serves as a daytime tone. Otherwise, you'll need to up your ISO as far as you can go, and then use the largest aperture (smallest number) possible on your camera. Good luck!
Flash will be no help, even a good external flash will only reach 30-40 feet, and you cannot shoot continuously. As @taffy suggested, a fast lens f/2.8 at least, f/1.4 two stops faster even better, but you can't get zooms this fast. I am afraid your 55-200 at 200mm can only get you f/5.6, and that is pushing this kit lens very hard and I don't think you will be happy with the results. Your D5100 will handle the high ISO (6400) OK, better if you can make it on 3200.
You might want to rent a lens? The fast f/2.8 70-200 zoom from Sigma or Nikon will be the sort of lens to do night sports action. Perhaps the f/4 70-200, but that is a stop slower than the f/2.8, and that will mean ISO 6400 instead of 3200 (or 3200 rather than 1600) and that can make all the difference for clarity. These are heavy lenses, the f/4 not so much, so you might want a monopod for support. If you've ever seen pros shooting night sports they have these huge lenses usually supported on a monopod. It's not just to look cool, but just an issue of physics and light.
Flash will not help you. Hopefully, you will end up on a field with good lighting. If that's the case, you will be able to put your camera in a sports mode for fast action and snap away. Last year, my son played on some fields with terrible lighting. I tried to take as many early in the game before it got too dark. Sometimes putting it in multiple sports mode helped me, but they were more grainy. But, it helped with blur, because it took multiple shots. You have a better camera than I do, so hopefully you will have better luck than I had last year. Hope you have lots of day games (course, shooting into the sun can be just as bad). Definitely go with a good zoom, though. If you end up in a high school stadium for some games, you can be very far away.
While I wouldn't personally use flash unless I was sure it wouldn't distract the players, I also wouldn't be too hasty to say that a flash won't help. There's an excellent guide on shooting outdoor sports at night with a single flash, off-camera cord, and a basic grid light modifier here:
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You might want to rent a lens? The fast f/2.8 70-200 zoom from Sigma or Nikon will be the sort of lens to do night sports action. Perhaps the f/4 70-200, but that is a stop slower than the f/2.8, and that will mean ISO 6400 instead of 3200 (or 3200 rather than 1600) and that can make all the difference for clarity. These are heavy lenses, the f/4 not so much, so you might want a monopod for support. If you've ever seen pros shooting night sports they have these huge lenses usually supported on a monopod. It's not just to look cool, but just an issue of physics and light.
http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2012/09/friday-night-lights.html