Super Sexy Sports

What mega pixel camera do Sports Illustrated photogs use?

What ISO settings do they use and how do they get those great shots at night games? I am trying to get better shots at high school games.

Public Comments

1. Generally about an 8 megapixel camera (8.1) scaling to a 10 mp camera Ricoh GR Digital II is the most recent that i know of
2. Here's a bunch of really great SI shots with some technical info: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0711/gallery.canon.biever/content.12.html Looks like Canon's 1D (or the current version) is the camera of choice. No ISO info on the site. Hope this helps.
3. they shoot around 100iso - or 50iso if shooting medium format film - for the poster shots on digitals they shoot 10-16 mp or a hassleblad 39mp the night shots are made by exposing the image for 15-30seconds and using flash to fill the model - sorry thats swimsuits ok for night shots on the 1ds theres basically no noise so 800-1600 iso proberly Canon are the weapons of choise as with 80%+ sports shooters a
4. Moose, you simply can't afford it. If they are shooting Canon's, it will probably be the 1D Mk II's or Mk III's. The bodies, without a lens, will set you back several thousand dollars. The lenses are very fast telephotos and they will set you back several thousand more. Figure a 400 mm f 2.8 lens will run $6,000-$7,000 USD. A used 1D Mk II, about $3,000, so you can get one lens and body for around $9,000-$10,000. I think you get the picture. By the way, that 1D is only 10 MP. If you want to get better shots, say what type of camera you have. There are a lot of people who can give you tips on getting better shots. Megapixels are not as important as most people think they are. There are a lot of other factors involved. Vance Addendum: The Sports Illustrated shots aren't High School football. That means a very simple thing - they just aren't lit as well. They are lit sufficiently to deliver a light level for the human eye to see all the detail needed to play the game. No more. Pro sports are lit so that the games can be broadcast. What does that mean? A hell of a lot more light. The technical details for the SI shots aren't relevant to the questioners problem - which is High School games. ISO? Somewhere in the range of 1600 - 3200 for action reasonable action stopping. With a very good camera, noise will not be a MAJOR problem between 800-1600 and can be dealt with at 3200. How to handle action? If possible, shoot action heading towards the camera or away from the camera. Action moving directly across the sensor plane results in the greatest blurring for any shutter speed and lens combination. A target shutter speed of 1/1000 or more is good for a person running across the sensor plane. A traget shutter speed of 1/500 is pretty good for running subjects moving diagonally. 1/125 or 1/250 sec works when the subject is moving directly toward or away from you. Another trick you can use is not filling the frame with the subject. If the subject only fillls about half the frame, the shutter speeds can be reduced by about half, or the ISO can be reduced to produce less noise. You can use photoshop to do what is called 'up res' the images by about 150-200% without terribly damaging the image and then crop in tighter. You'll want to shoot in shutter priority mode if you can set your camers for that. Use the 'motor drive', multiple exposures, setting and press the shutter just before the action. It really helps to know about the game for this. Use a monopod. Tripods aren't really useful. And you need to practice. The asker wants to know about taking better pictures. It seems to me that, whatever camera he has, there is advice that can help him. Sheesh.
5. Night games are HARD and, as Vienna says, you (or I) probably can't afford to even think about this. Although we think there is a lot of light provided, there really isn't. If you are shooting high school games, you might be able to gain access to the sidelines and use a powerful flash. Even using ISO 400, I found I was using ¼-½ second when I checked this out. This is just not going to cut it for football. If you go to ISO 1600, you might be able to use 1/15 at f/4.0. If you have a faster lens, you could use a faster shutter speed, but you are probably still looking at 1/30, so don't expect to stop much action. I'd rather know how to take pictures like these: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/2007_swimsuit/
6. My friend shoots for the Phoenix Suns ... he has 3 Canon 1Ds Mark III' ($8,000 each), one mounted at each end of the court and one he hand holds. They all fire at the same time. He also uses a 400mm f/2.8 for cross court shots (another $6,500). Shooting sports is not for the faint of heart when it comes to investing in photo gear. Most young men would rather spend the $30,000 plus on a hot car.
7. "Most young men would rather spend the $30,000 plus on a hot car." How true..
8. Ace said: Most young men would rather spend the $30,000 plus on a hot car. I have an SUV, would rather have $30,000 for camera gear. From a 50 year old, not so young.
9. Sport photography didn't related to a mega pixel camera,it's your own experiences and skills,you want to take sport photos with flash by using ISO 400 film speed,shutter speed at 1/60 second,aperture at f/16 or f/22.