Soccer Match Shutter Speeds

Hello,

I would appreciate advice on the minimum and maximum shutter speeds to freeze action in my son’s soccer matches (7 year olds).

The equipment is Nikon N80, Nikon 85mm AF 1.8D, Tri-X 400 (handheld).

The conditions are late afternoon South Florida sun.

I shot one match using shutter speeds of 1/750 and 1/1000, and the results were good, but I wonder if any of you would shoot at lower or higher shutter speeds, and why.

Thanks.

Shoot at 1/500 or above. This helps with freezing the action, and also gives you larger apertures so that you have a shallow dof.

Murphy's Law with soccer, is that the action is always on the other side of the field from where you are standing.

Since the kids are only seven, you should have no problems going just about wherever you want along the edge of the field with the camera.

When I photographed soccer for newspapers, I used a 300 2.8 w/a 1.4 tele converter on one body, and a 80-200 2.8 on the other. The long glass gives you very shallow dof. It also lets you fill the frame with players rather than having a lot of empty space.

Good luck. And with any sport, be patient and find the rhythm of the game.

steve

Sometimes having a blurred photo is interesting.Try a few shots with slow shutter speed.
I shot a lot of rugby games using a pan & shoot technique.Isolates one or two players in sharp detail and blurs the rest.

1/250th minimum, but you shouldn't need more than 1/500th. I shoot bmx racing at 1/500th, that manages to even stop most of the wheel motion.

Depends on your magnification and how fast people are moving. '500 is a safe bet for a normal lens, but if there is enough light, I try to use '1000 or '2000 if I want totally frozen sharp pix. Also, '500 is *not* a safe bet for a long lens. Soccer is frustrating because the shots could happen anywhere on the field, so a lot of it is luck and lens choice. There will be times in the match where you need a 600mm lens, and times where you will need a 50mm lens. Shooting kids is even harder because you need more magnification to fill the frame with people, and the action is less smooth and predictable.

With your 85, Tri-X, and late afternoon Florida sun, I would assume approx. F/8 to f/11 at '250 to be a decent exposure to start, assuming EI 250. So I might shoot at f/2 or f/2.8 at '4000. As the day goes on, you can lower your shutter speed to add light. I would not bother shooting unless the action is near enough. You won't be able to see anything anyhow if you shoot really loose and then crop. Depending on many things, the action could be within range of your lens for reasonable lengths of time, or it could not be. Good luck on that part of it!

Thanks for the responses.

I wish I had a longer lens, but right now my longest is a Nikon 85mm AF 1.8.

You’re all so right about the action often being on the other side of the soccer field. Fortunately, the kids are 7 and so the field is small, plus I “cheat” the sidelines a bit, if you know what I mean.

I think I’ll take all of your advice and shoot the next soccer match at shutter speeds both slower and faster than the 1/750 and 1/1000 speeds I used last time ... and compare!

Don't limit yourself to particular shutter speeds. Try out multiple speeds, including slower ones. Try a monopod if you haven't yet. As the players get larger, so does the field, so a good long tele might be in order. I was given a zoom that I found nice left at about 300mm for general soccer shooting. The 400 prime I was given was too long. Before that I shot a lot with 75, 90, and 135 on rangefinders.

As the players get older, things will move more quickly, so I'd advise giving up "cheating" the touchline. Rules also require a one yard clear zone outside the touchline so that the linesman can clearly see and call the whole touchline. They'll become annoyed with you if you interfere with their ability to do their job.

You might find the league amenable to shooting from past the endline. I was able to do this outdoors in all except tournament play (where there was concern about talking to goalies). The advantages were that I could stand where the offensive players of interest were mostly facing me, and I could wait until they were closer. Plus they are often moving toward the camera rather than across the frame, which aids in reducing blur and in less hectic framing. I'd pick a spot about 6 yards off the endline, somewhere between the sides of the penalty box and the 6 yard box. Don't wear the same colors as either team back there.

Know your players and their habits. That helps tremendously.

Lee