[clegore]

What settings should I use for stadium photography with Canon Rebel xt

[jcdill]

Hello,

The Canon Digital Rebel XT is a great camera.

I assume that by "stadium photography" you mean sports photography from the stands at a sporting event.

Start by setting the ISO to 400.

Put the camera in the TV mode - this means "time value" and in this mode you set the time (shutter speed) and the camera selects the f-stop for the correct exposure at that speed. The required speed depends on the sport but in general you want 1/400 or faster. Depending on the light, you may not have enough light to set a faster shutter for the maximum f-stop of your lens. If you set a higher speed the camera may not shoot because you don't have enough light at the widest aperture for your lens.

You will end up with a shallow depth-of-field so your focus must be right on the player. You will also need a telephoto lens so you can zoom in on the player.

If you don't have enough light there are 2 things you can change. You can select a higher ISO - this mode amplifies the sensor readings and allows you to shoot in lower light, but you will get digital noise in your images - the higher you set the ISO the more noise you get.

Or you can go to AV mode - this is where you set the f-stop and let the camera set the shutter. Set the aperture to the widest setting, and let the camera set the shutter speed. You may get motion blur if the shutter speed isn't fast enough to "freeze" the player motion. You may also get blur if you are shooting with a telephoto lens. Unless you have a tripod or are using an IS lens (Image Stabilization) you need to use a shutter speed that is as fast or faster than the lens length - to shoot with a 200mm lens you must shoot at 1/200 or faster to avoid camera shake blur in your images.

Good luck!

Jc