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F-stops and Shutter Speed

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December 27, 2000

I presume you are doing this under available (ambient) light without a flash, and that you are using 35mm small format. The lens aperture will depend on film speed and shutter speed.

First, several considerations about the shutter speed. The shutter speed needs to be fast enough to not only stop action. It needs to eliminate any camera shake also if you are using a telephoto lens without a tripod. For a 50mm standard lens, you can get go as slow as 1/60th. Provided the action isn't too fast, this will leave a slight blur with only very fast moving objects, such as a hockey stick. This can be used to give a sense of motion. 1/125th will stop nearly all action except for something like a rocketing hockey puck. 1/250th should sufficiently stop the puck too. The limit for hand held telephotos is about 200mm. Anything longer should be on at least a monopod, preferably a tripod with a fluid head allowing you to follow action with a damped, smooth motion. The rule of thumb for hand held telephotos is 1/(focal length) for shutter speed. For a 100-150mm length, at least 1/125th; for 150-200mm, at least 1/250th.

Now for the apertures. Assuming these are well-lit indoor arenas, a starting point is the recommendation from Kodak's Pocket Photoguide (formerly called the Master Photoguide). This data is also probably found in Kodak's Professional Photoguide also. Since this depends on film speed and shutter speed, here are apertures by shutter speed for various film speed ranges:

ISO 64 - 100:
1/60th: f/1.4

ISO 125 - 200:
1/60th: f/2
1/125th: f/1.4

ISO 320 - 400:
1/60th: f/2.8
1/125th: f/2
1/250th: f/1.4

ISO 800 - 1000:
1/60th: f/4
1/125th: f/2.8
1/250th: f/2
1/500th: f/1.4

ISO 1250 - 1600:
1/60th: f/5.6
1/125th: f/4
1/250th: f/2.8
1/500th: f/2
1/1000th: f/1.4

This data should get you within a stop of what you need. Record what you use (film speed, aperture and shutter speed) and adjust from there for your specific arenas. The bottom line is you will need to use a fairly fast film, a fairly fast lens, and be willing to live with a relatively shallow depth of field. I don't recommend any films much faster than ISO 800 unless you're willing to live with a lot of grain. At ISO 800, prints bigger than a 4x6 will start to show graininess.

About Flash:
Many sports arenas and/or the "league" within which the teams play prohibit flash to keep from distracting the players. For one to be effective, it would have to be quite powerful and relatively close. I, and many others consider it poor form to use a flash for this reason. At hockey and basketball arena distances, even the most powerful consumer strobes will not put out sufficient light. (Distances over 30 feet require a Guide Number _over_ 120 [in feet], and that's opening up to f/2 or f/2.8).

Good Luck,
-- John

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December 30, 2000

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January 02, 2001