Computers in photography are not a new thing by any stretch of the imagination. Every camera of the digital age has required processing power to create the image. Even before the dawn of digital, processors were used in film cameras. They controlled things such as auto exposure modes, autofocus and flash output.
These days, computers in our cameras are extremely powerful. They can analyse the type of scene in front of our lens, the speed and direction of a tracked subject and even lock onto a subject’s eye. They are quite incredible. However, as good as our processors are, they are simply aiding our photography.
What is Computational Photography?
There are several definitions of computational photography, but to put it simply, it is when a camera uses processing power to overcome the limitations of its hardware. Most commonly, that hardware is either the sensor or the lens.
The potential for computational photography has been known about for some time. However, it’s only in recent years that processing power has become powerful enough to be able to achieve it.
We have been using our laptop and desktop processors for years to achieve computational photography in post-production.
Classic examples of this are HDR, high dynamic range photography, and noise reduction. We wrote an entire article on how shooting multiple images can drastically reduce noise in your shots. The difference today is that our cameras can do this in real time, without the need for us to return to our computers, upload the shots, and process them in an editing app. In camera HDR is an example of computational photography. By Robert Lukeman There is one genre that is driving computational photography more than any other and that is smart phones. Let’s look at where we are today.
Computational Photography In 2019
In September 2019, Apple announced the iPhone 11 Pro. The Pro moniker inferred that their new smart phone was a professional photographic tool. This, as with most Apple products, was met with equal measures of derision and intrigue, especially from the photographic world.
As is often the case with Apple products, what they offered to photographers in the iPhone 11 Pro was neither revolutionary or new. It was, however, given the Apple treatment. That is to say, it was made both very usable and of high quality. The driving force that makes the iPhone 11 Pro so intriguing is its current and future potential for computational photography. Smartphones are currently driving computational technology By Artem MaltsevSmartphones cameras have been improving in an almost exponential way. The yearly releases by Apple, Samsung, Google, Huawei et al have added some incredible features.
Their camera’s however, have been and will for the foreseeable future, been confined by the phone’s physical dimensions. That means, very small sensors, very small lenses and all the technical issues that go with them.
Smartphone photographers do not want to give up the ultra slim, compact designs of their devices, but they do want to be able to achieve the look of larger cameras. This is a major factor driving the development of computational photography now.
HDR, Bokeh and Stabilisation.
These are the three staples of computational photography as of today. They have been recently joined by high key black and white and night modes. The latter demonstrate how the power of processors is becoming more and more important in photography. But how do they work?
As photographers we are generally used to the one shot approach. We press the shutter, take one shot then press the shutter again. Even the very fastest continuous modes work in a similar way. They simply continue to take single shots until we release the shutter button. It's incredible to think that we can do high key, in camera without the need for complex lighting. By Frank BuschIn computational photography, when we press the shutter the camera will take multiple images virtually simultaneously. It will then process those images in real time into a single shot. HDR is the simplest form of this and has been around for a while. The camera takes a 5-6 shot bracket and merges them immediately. This is a relatively simple process that does not require huge amounts of processing power.
Step up to Bokeh however and we can see how powerful modern smartphone are. Bokeh in physics based photography requires large sensors and wide aperture, fast lenses of at least a moderate focal length. Clearly something that’s impossible in a phone.
To counter this the smartphone takes multiple images each concentrating on a specific technical detail. For example it might take shots to control exposure, focus, tone, highlights, shadows and face recognition. It will then merge them, analysing all the data within each shot and attempt to mask the subject from the background. It will then add a blur to that background to simulate Bokeh. All of this is done virtually in real time.
Night modes and high key filters use similar processor intensive techniques. And these are really only just the start.
The Future Of Computational Photography
The DSLR is dead, is the cry from many photography websites these days. And to be honest, they are almost certainly correct. However, not for the reasons you might expect. Size, video capabilities and many other reasons are touted as to why companies are shifting to mirrorless but this is not the full story.
The reason that the likes of Nikon, Canon, Sony and Panasonic are throwing themselves into mirrorless is because of their potential to use computational photography. Mirrorless will be next to embrace computational photography. ByClaudio SchwarzThe primary handicap that holds back the DSLR is the mirror. In mirrorless cameras, there is no obstruction to the sensor. That’s why it can live feed an image directly from the sensor to the LCD or viewfinder. That, in turn means it can be analysing a scene live, well before you press the shutter and this makes computational photography a real possibility in mirrorless cameras.
So what is holding them back? The only reason we do not have a lot of computational photography in mirrorless at the moment is the same reason we do have it in smartphones, processing power. The amount of data being pulled from compact system sensors is much much larger than on smartphones and these cameras only have the processing power for limited techniques.
That is changing rapidly though and if you want to see how, just look back at video capabilities over the last few years. A while ago, the standard video format for stills cameras was 1080p at 24fps. Now most new camera’s shoot 4k at 60fps. That’s a quantum leap in processing power and in just a few short years. Computational photography for mirrorless cameras is knocking at the door and that door will be open very soon.
It’s Cheating Isn’t It?
There is going to be a rich vein of purists that will not be happy about computational photography. It’s cheating they will cry, it’s not pure photography they might say. But of course the same type of people said the same things when photography went from glass to celluloid, from black and white to color and from film to digital. The fact is, that photography is an ever evolving technology and always will be. The best photographers have always been the ones that respect and understand the past but are also happy to embrace the future.
The easiest way to achieve rich skin tones in Photoshop:
Open your image in Photoshop.
To begin your selection of the skin, go to Menu->Select->Color Range.
To select the skin correctly, be sure to select “Sample Colors” (not
“Skin Tones” because this feature doesn’t capture the skin tones with
accuracy).
Firstly, decrease the Fuzziness value to around 15, and then select
the first Eyedropper tool. Using the eyedropper tool, click on one part
of the skin in your image. To see what your selection is, ensure that
you mark Selection in the Color Range window.
Now select the second Eyedropper with the + symbol to extend the
selection of the skin range. To do this, click and drag your Eyedropper
tool across all skin tones until you have selected them all. Make sure
no area is left out.
You don’t want to keep the selection harsh, so go to the Fuzziness Slider and change it to around 55, and then click OK.
Now that you have a selection of your skin tones, or colors similar
to your skin tones, click on the Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers
Palette. Choose “Solid Color.” This opens up the color palette window.
In the RGB section, put in the following numbers – R: 255, G: 46, B: 1,
and click OK.
Change the Blend Mode in your Layers Palette from “Normal” to
“Linear Light.” Rather than lower the Layer opacity, you are going to
lower the “Fill” to around 5-10%.
Take a look at your image and see if any areas have turned out too
harsh with the blend. If so, choose your mask, then select the
Paintbrush tool and paint those areas (with your brush color set to
White) to soften the transition. You can decrease your brush flow if you
want to.
That’s it!
Do you have any other tips you’d like to share with us? Do so in the comments section!
Whether you are looking for a free program to start learning photo editing or you want a lighter alternative to Photoshop, GIMP may be the software for you. You can create graphics, text, and manipulate photos, but first, you need to understand how it works. Keep reading for a brief introduction to GIMP software and how to use it.
What is GIMP?
GIMP is a completely free image editor. You can even use it for commercial purposes without having to pay. It is also open-source, which means that a lot of third-party developers have created free plug-ins for use with GIMP. Furthermore, if you know how to code, you can also modify it as you see fit. Finally, it is also available for many different operating systems. You can download GIMP from its site, and it will suggest the one for you.
It’s even possible to take it with you for other devices. You can find an instruction manual in the article How to Install GIMP on a Portable Device. In any case, on the main page of GIMP’s website, you’ll see a very enticing description, beautifully illustrated and promising high-quality image manipulation, original artwork creation, and graphic design elements.
It all sounds fantastic, right? But when you open the program, you may not know where to start. Well, let’s break it down for you to easily understand.
Multiple windows or just one?
Most programs open in one window that you can enlarge or squeeze, minimize or close, all in one go. Instead, GIMP, by default, opens in three windows. This is a bit puzzling, and I found it very off-putting the first time I used it.
The good news is that from version 2.8 of GIMP, you can change into a one-window view. I’ll tell you how to switch in just a moment.
First, I want to tell you what makes the multiple window choice worth trying. As each image opens as a new window, you can work with two or more images side by side. Even better, the same image can open in two windows so you can work on it as a side-by-side comparison.
Another perk of having separate windows is that you can gain more image space on your screen. You can individually minimize any window containing tools or labels that you’re not using. Now, if you’re not convinced with it, you can switch to the single-window mode by going to Menu -> Window -> Single-Window Mode. Whichever choice you make, it saves as a default for the next time you open GIMP.
What’s What?
Now that you have set up your workspace, it’s time to learn what each window contains. In the center, you’ll have the image window. Here you can see the image or canvas you’re working on. If you are on multiple windows, each image opens separately (as shown before), and if you are on the single-window mode, they open as tabs.
On the left side, you’ll have a window that holds your toolbox. In there, you can have a shortcut button for the tools you use most often. It comes with a default setup that you can personalize. To do it, go to GIMP -> Preferences -> Toolbox and choose the tools you want to add or delete from there.
Underneath you have the options available for each tool. Therefore, it’s not static content; it changes every time you select a different tool. You can drag and drop this dock to a different position if you prefer, however, I keep it on the right.
On the right side, you have a window that holds a series of tabs like History or Layers. This window behaves like a dock. If you want to open a tab that is not showing, you have to go to the menu Windows -> Dockable Dialogs, and chose it from the drop-down menu. It will automatically dock the tab. Then click on the arrow button on the right to open the settings and manage it from there.
If you are working with multiple-windows mode, you can still reach these tabs on the menu Windows -> Dockable Dialogs. In this case, you’ll find that some open as tabs and some open as separate windows that you can drag, minimize, or close individually.
Save or export?
Whether you did a small modification or an original artwork, you need to save it. If you go to the menu File -> Save as you would normally do, you can only use the GIMP extension .xcf.
If you want to use a universal format like .jpg or .tiff or even change it into Photoshop’s .psd, you have to go to the menu File -> Export. From there, you have a huge variety of file formats to choose from. If you aren’t sure about which one is best, check this article for Understanding all the Different Image File Formats.
I hope you found this article helpful overview to understand GIMP software and give it a try. If you are still not convinced with it, there are other free programs out there. For more information check out this article with Tips on choosing a Free Photo Editor for Post-Processing.
Have you used GIMP software? What are your thoughts? What are some other free post-processing software applications that you use? Please share with us in the comments section.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Profoto Launches Two Amazing Lights for Smartphone Photographers
If you’re a smartphone photographer, then you’ve probably struggled to deal with indoor lighting. After all, smartphones don’t come with a high-quality flash; it’s easy to get noisy images when shooting indoors.
Until now.
Because Profoto has just released two lights made specifically for the smartphone: The Profoto C1 and the Profoto C1 Plus.
What are the C1 and C1 Plus?
The two items are billed as Profoto’s “very first studio lights
for smartphones.” They’re small, orb-shaped lights, and they’re compact
enough that you can take them anywhere without much hassle.
According to Profoto:
The light the C1 product range delivers is natural
looking and beautiful with a soft, gentle fall-off…[F]rom now on you
will always have natural-looking, beautiful light with you.
Note that the C1 Plus is both more expensive and more advanced than
the C1. The C1 Plus includes a greater power output (4300 lumens versus
1600 lumens). The C1 Plus also includes a thread mount, so you can screw
the light onto a stand and shoot with both hands. And the C1 Plus
features better battery life than the C1.
Both
the C1 and the C1 Plus offer rechargeable batteries. They also include
multiple modes for increased flexibility: a continuous shooting mode and
a flash mode. To use the Profoto lights, you can pair them with your
smartphone via the special Profoto Camera app. Then you can take photos
that are synced with the Profoto flash.
The Profoto C1 costs $299, while the Profoto C1 Plus costs $499.
But just who are these lights for?
If you like to use your smartphone on the fly, without any
preparation, then I’d recommend against the Profoto C1. Despite its
small size, you probably don’t want to carry the flash with you
constantly. But if you’re the type of shooter who often shoots in low-light situations or prefers to capture more carefully considered shots, then the Profoto C1 could be exactly what you need.
If the Profoto C1 captures your attention, then you should also check out another product: The Godox R1,
which was announced a few hours after the C1/C1 Plus announcement. The
Godox light is similar to the C1 and C1 Plus, though it offers slightly
different lighting options. For those hoping to purchase the Godox R1,
keep an eye out for a release date! Would you use either of these lights? what are your thoughts? Share with us in the comments!
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How to Simulate Long Exposure using Stacked Image Averaging
Silky water effects, streaked clouds, motion-smoothed with an ethereal look; long exposure photography seems to be in vogue as photographers discover the looks that can be created. There are multiple ways to achieve this. The most basic is to buy a standard neutral-density photography filter which cuts the light, allowing you to use long shutter speeds without overexposing your shot. You can achieve exposures minutes long, especially when using 10-stop ND filters like the Lee Big Stopper or even the 15-stop Super Stopper.
I recently did an article on an alternative way to make long exposure photos, “Try this DIY Neutral Density Filter for Long Exposure Photos.” I encourage you to read the piece and learn how a piece of welding glass can be a budget substitute for more expensive photographic ND filters.
This is the same location I used for some of the other shots in this article but taken when the river
was much higher and faster. The biggest difference is that I used DIY welding glass ND filter to
This article teaches you a third method of making long-exposure images with no filter at all. Unlike the welding glass trick which pretty much requires your final image to be monochrome so as not to have to fight the heavy color cast, this works great in full color, with no filter at all, and no color cast present. It’s a great method to simulate long exposure.
The technique uses a stack of multiple images of the same scene then processed with a Photoshop process called Image Averaging. It’s really quite simple and has some advantages over traditional methods with ND filters.
Advantages over the traditional ND filter method
When doing traditional long exposure photography with an ND filter you will be making long exposures. (Duh!) There are a few challenges with this:
If during the long exposure you bump the camera or things move in the shot you don’t want to be blurred, you will need to re-do the shot.
Long exposures can often be several minutes in length. Double the time if you also enable in-camera noise reduction. If it takes 2-minutes to expose and another 2-minutes for the noise reduction to work, you will only be making a shot every 4-minutes. This can really slow down your work, and if the light changes during that time, you could miss it.
With very dark ND filters, you won’t be able to see anything through the lens once the filter is in place. You will have to compose your shot, pre-focus, then mount the ND filter and make the image.
Determining exposure will take some calculation. You’ll check exposure without the filter then use a calculation tool to determine the new shutter speed the ND filter requires. Often this will need some tweaking after you see your shot and…yup, another re-do will be needed.
If back in editing you see the shots and wish you’d gone for longer or shorter shutter speeds to change the look, too bad. You’d have to go back and reshoot – if that is even possible.
In fairly bright sunlight, even with the ISO at 50 and aperture at f/22, 1/5th of a second was as slow
a shutter speed attainable while maintaining proper exposure. This was with no filter.
The advantages of the Image Averaging method
The advantages of using the image stacking method are essentially the opposite of those things just stated above:
You’ll be making multiple images rather than one long one. If one of the images in the group has a problem, you may be able to eliminate it and use the rest to still successfully create the effect.
You can see what you’re doing! Not shooting with a dark filter means you’ll still be able to see, compose, use auto-focus, auto-exposure, and even image stabilization if you shoot handheld.
No calculation! Without the addition of a dark filter, you eliminate this step.
Adjust the length of your “simulated slow shutter” later in post-production. Want more or less blur? You can change your mind later.
Are conditions too bright for a standard long exposure shot? Maybe you only own a 6-stop ND filter, and daytime conditions are too bright to let you get the length of exposure you’d like. You can combine both methods to simulate a longer exposure than possible with the ND filter alone.
Are people in the shot you’d like to remove? Because they are likely to move during the multiple shots, when the averaging process takes place, they will vanish!
Make people disappear! Notice on the inset the people walking in the river, but on the completed
shot, 15 images, each 1/5th of a second = 4 seconds simulated. They are gone.
Making the shots
Setting up and shooting the images you need for your image-averaged creation is much the same as any photography. Here are the factors and steps to keep in mind:
Composition still counts!
Because you introduce a long exposure blurred effect does not mean that you will have automatically created a good photo. Still consider how to carefully compose your image. Take into consideration that moving objects in the shot will blur and look simplified with less detail. Good long exposure shots often emphasize the contrast between static, non-moving objects (buildings, rocks, trees, etc.), and moving objects like clouds and water. Include both in your shot.
Shoot on a tripod
I mentioned you could do this handheld and, well…maybe you could. However, even with this technique, you will still want to shoot at the slowest shutter speed possible. That way, you won’t have to make too many shots for combining. Once you get much slower than 1/30th of a second (and faster than that if if you’ve just had coffee), handholding your camera is probably going to ruin your shots.
All Images ISO 50, f/22 . Top left – No filter – 20 images each 1/5 second = simulated total =
4 seconds. Top right – No filter – 35 images each 1/5 second = simulated total = 7 seconds.
Bottom – 6-Stop ND filter – 15 images each 20 seconds = simulated total = 5 minutes.
How many shots?
This technique simulates long exposure by combining multiple shots. The simple formula is:
(# Shots) x (Shutter Speed of each shot) = Total simulated shutter speed effect (in seconds)
Let’s plug some numbers into that and see the result. Set your camera for the lowest ISO possible. I can get my Canon 6D down to ISO 50. Some cameras will have ISO 100 as the lowest. Use whatever you can. Set your aperture to the smallest aperture possible. Meter with those settings and see how long you can make each individual shot and have it properly exposed. Say we were able to do this in the shade: 1/4 second, f/22, ISO 50. To get a simulated shutter speed of one minute (60 seconds), we’d need to make 240 shots.
240 shots x 1/4 second (.25) = 60 seconds
That’s a little unwieldy, and stacking 240 shots in Photoshop may cause your computer to choke. So what to do? Perhaps you don’t have an ND filter in your bag, but you do have a circular polarizer. It will help reduce the light. You mount it and now find you’ve lost 2-stops. So your exposure can be 1 second, f/22, ISO 50. Plug that into the formula, and you get:
60 shots x 1 second = 60 seconds
If you’re shooting in lower light conditions, you may be able to get a slower shutter speed to start with. That will mean you can take fewer shots.
To make your job easier (and the computers as well), always try to get the slowest shutter speed you can for your shots. That will mean you can create the simulated long exposure with fewer shots.
Say you did have a 6-stop ND filter in your kit. You mount that, and now your settings are 16 seconds, f/22, ISO 50. Now, to get that simulated 1-minute exposure, you’d just need about four shots. Why not make 10 while you’re at it and you can simulate a 2.6 minute (160 seconds) exposure?
Had you done this traditionally, and had a 10-stop ND filter, you could take the unfiltered exposure down from 1/4 second, f/22, ISO 50 to 256 seconds (4.2 minutes), f/22, ISO 50. So, to get the same effect with a 6-stop ND filter as you could with a 10-stop by using image averaging, take 16 shots.
16 shots x 16 seconds each = 256 seconds (4.2 minutes)
35 images each 1/6 second combine to simulate a 6-second exposure. Shooting into the sun, it
would probably be impossible to make a 6-second exposure without a filter.
Forget the math, make the shots!
If all that math made your head hurt (it did mine), here’s the simple way to get what you need so Photoshop can do its magic:
Use a tripod. You don’t want to do all this and get shaky shots. That will waste all your work.
Do what’s necessary to shoot with the slowest shutter speed you can get with the equipment you have. In the camera, that will usually mean setting the lowest ISO and smallest aperture.
If you have a polarizer or ND filter, use those to get the shutter speed even slower if you can.
Make lots of shots for each stacked image you will create. Depending on how slow you were able to get your shutter speed, a few dozen isn’t too many. You don’t have to use them all when you get into editing, but having more will allow a longer simulated effect.
Putting it all together
This recipe assumes you will be using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop in combination. You don’t have to use Lightroom. You can get your individual images into a stack in Photoshop another way if you need to (though using LR is much easier). Using Photoshop, however, is mandatory. Also, to use the Smart Objects function described, you will need a version of Photoshop that is Version 14.2 or higher. Older versions of Photoshop won’t have this.
There are ways to do this with older versions in a more manual process. If you have an older version, you will need to do a little online research to learn that technique. I used the latest version of Photoshop at this writing (Photoshop CC 20.0.4).
Let’s look at this step-by-step process visually…
1. From Lightroom, select the sequence of images you will use. Edit the first one in the sequence to your liking. Then select all of them and use the Sync function so all have the same settings as the first.
2. With all selected, send the images from Lightroom to Photoshop by going to Photo->Edit In->Open as Layers in Photoshop. (Photoshop will open, and the images will appear as layers in a stack). If you have a lot of images to be opened and stacked, this can take a while. Let it work.
3. With all the layers selected, in the menu select Layer->Smart Object->Convert to Smart Object. This can take a while to do its work. Be patient.
4. With the Smart Object layer selected, from the menu select Layer->Smart Objects->Stack Mode->Mean. This can also take a bit to work.
Wait for it…wait for it…and…
Presto! You will have a simulated long-exposure image made from your stack of shorter exposures. 20 images each at 3.2 seconds, f/22, ISO 50. No filter used. Simulated long exposure of 64 seconds.
The water in this section of the river was pretty calm anyway, but look at the before and after areas pointed out by the arrow where the original shots were 3.2 seconds vs the combined 20 shots x 3.2 seconds = a simulated 64 seconds.
5. To finish up, go to Layer->Flatten Image. Then File->Save As and save the finished image where you like. If you want to give the completed image some additional tweaking, you can do that with Photoshop or Lightroom as you would with any other image.
Remember…
That’s the magic! Here are a few things to remember for best results:
Consider your composition. Look for a scene where you will have a combination of static objects that won’t move during the sequence and those that will. An image with both will be more compelling.
Use a tripod. You can do this handheld if you must, but know that any camera movement will be translated as a blur in the final result.
Do what you can to get as long a shutter speed with each image in the sequence as possible. Drop your ISO to the lowest setting, use a small aperture, and use polarizing filters or whatever ND filters you have. Longer exposures for each shot mean fewer images are needed to create a simulated long exposure.
Overshoot. You don’t need to use all the images in a sequence if you decide you don’t want as much blur. However, if you don’t shoot enough, you might later wish you had them.
As you work through the steps, some things can take a long time. Be patient and let your computer work. If the process crashes, it could be you don’t have enough computer resources and will have to settle for a smaller stack.
5 images, each 6 seconds = a simulated exposure of 30 seconds. No filter used.
10 images, each 1/4 second combine to give a 2.5-second simulated exposure. This can be a great
technique to use for getting silky water effects when you don’t have an ND filter and only need a
longer exposure of a few seconds.
Final thoughts
Is this a better method than using an actual ND filter? Like so many photographic things, the answer is probably…it depends. Maybe you don’t have a filter or have one with you. Perhaps you don’t need a really long exposure, but just one a little longer than you can get with a low ISO/small aperture combination such as when seeking blur on a waterfall. Maybe you need to vanish people and don’t want to make a single multi-minute shot for various reasons. Alternatively, perhaps you have an ND filter but need an even longer exposure than it can give you.
There are lots of reasons to add this How to Simulate Long Exposure using Stacked Image Averaging Technique to your bag of tricks. Give it a try, and I’m sure you’ll have fun. Share your images with us in the comments!
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Monday, September 23, 2019
Thanks for visiting my Photography Blog. If this is your first visit, you're probably responding to our ad campaign featuring the FREE Photography Ebooks offered each week. We're glad you took the time to come by and check us out. NO, we're not going to ask you for your name and email address, or any other personal information. We brought you here to this landing page to introduce you to our blog so you'll know where to find the weekly Photography Freebies. Now, if you'll copy and paste the link below into your web browser, and click ENTER, it will take you to the entire page of FREE ebooks we've offered thus far. Thanks for coming by and enjoy the freebies.
When I started to research sports photography gear, the first thing I noticed was that there are already quite a few articles about sports photography gear. The second thing I noticed was that the vast majority of the equipment being suggested, would not look out of place on the touchlines of the FA Cup Final or the Super Bowl. Not all sports photography has to be major league. By Caleb MullinsThe thing is though, the vast majority of photographers are never going to get a press pass for a major sporting event. Most of us who want to take sports photos will be doing so at local events, little leagues and maybe some of the lower level pro sports events. So when an article suggests you drop $6,500 on a Nikon D5 to shoot sports, they are not really talking to you or me.
So with this in mind, today we are going to look at sports photography gear setups for the budget-conscious. Rather than suggesting too many specifics, we will look at the specs you should aim for in a budget kit.
Sports Camera Bodies
Starting with a lower budget, your options are more likely to lie in the APS-C sensor range. This is not a bad thing at all as the cropped sensor gives you a more narrow field of view. This is turn means that you can get about 1.5 times closer to the action compared to using the same lens on full-frame. Add in the fact that there are some really sterling lenses designed specifically for the APS-C crop and you can start to build a very good sports setup for relatively low cost. A crop sensor will get you in closer. By Jose Morales Some of the specifications you will need to look for are a decent burst mode, 6-10 fps should cover it. With that burst mode, you need a decent buffer; in other words, the ability to continue shooting at 6-10 fps for more than a few seconds. Weatherproofing is a must, as is an at least partially metal-based chassis.
In terms of megapixels, 20-24 should be more than enough. You do, however, need a camera with a fast autofocus system with excellent image tracking and at least 100 autofocus points. Some excellent cameras that fall into these specifications include the Nikon D500, the Canon 7D MkII, both of which come in at around $1,500 or less for the body only. For about $500 more you can start to hit the budget full-frame mirrorless cameras such as Sony A7III and the Nikon Z6.
If these cameras are still above your budget, then the Canon EOS Rebel T6i (known as the 750D outside the US) is an excellent option. It does not have a high number of autofocus points as the other cameras, but it can be found for half the price.
Sports Lenses.
If you were to look at the line up of lenses at major sports events, you might be surprised to find that they are not all massive, fast telephoto primes. There will be shorter telephoto zooms and even some wide angles. While it’s true for many sports, you may be some distance from the action, there are others where the action can be pretty close to you. For these shots, a good, fast standard zoom such as a 24-70 would work well. Let’s look at some things you need to look out for when choosing a budget sports lens. You don't need to buy super expensive lenses. By ChuttersnapFirst up is autofocusing speed. Not all lenses focus at the same speed, and if you get a slower lens you might find yourself missing a lot of shots. Most manufacturers do not really give much information on how fast a lens focusses, so do your research among your peers.
Aperture is an important consideration also. While a 300mm f2.8 is almost certainly not a budget lens, 70-200mm f4 on an APS-C camera is going to give you a 300mm equivalent field of view for the cost of one stop. That one stop will not make a huge difference to the depth of field and given the sterling ability of modern cameras to use high ISOs you should not see any great quality difference unless the light is extremely low. F4 lenses can do the job for much less. By Aravind KumarMany camera manufacturers produce, pro-level f4 ranges these days for significantly less than their 2.8 counterparts, and it’s well worth looking into these. Third-party companies such as Tamron and Sigma also produce fine lenses often for APS-C and Full Frame cameras. Often these are optically as good and yet noticeably cheaper than the OEM equivalents.
For the real budget conscious, there are quite a few 70-300mm lenses available. These would be fine for most sports in bright light but may struggle in lower light.
Supporting Your Camera
A budget sports photography gear setup may well be quite lightweight but if you are hand holding it for two hours, you will soon find your arms beginning to ache. While tripods can be cumbersome to use for sports, a good quality lightweight monopod can be ideal. Carbon fibre offers the best strength to weight ratio but there are plenty of cheaper, aluminium monopod that would be equally suitable with only the lightness slightly compromised.
It’s also worth considering a ball and socket head with quick release plate for your monopod. Not only will this give you more shooting flexibility, but also allow you to remove the camera quickly if needed. A tripod or monopod will be very useful. By Ankush Minda
Sundry Items
One area where you should not go budget is with your memory cards. While your budget level APS-C camera may shoot 10 fps, its all for nothing if your memory cards cannot keep up. Look for good brand names such as Sandisk and look for fast write speeds. As a rule, if the cards are capable of storing 4K video, it will be more than suitable for sports.
Another thing that should be considered when thinking about sports photography gear is extra batteries. Shooting sports and action at 10fps can drain your battery life very quickly. Many cameras these days come with battery grips that add not only extra power but sometimes increase the fps rate also. If your budget does not run to a grip, then certainly get a few more camera batteries.
Rain covers are also a thing to look at, especially if shooting sports in places with less than perfect weather. A good rain cover will cover both the camera body and the lens and protect your valuable camera gear against the elements. Sports photography is challenging yet rewarding. By Gentrit Sylejmani
The Ideal Sports Photography Gear Setup On A Budget
In summary, here’s what to look for when putting together your sports photography gear on a budget
APS-C Camera with 6-10fps and 100+ Autofocus Points
Or a budget full-frame mirrorless camera with similar specs
Lenses covering 24-300mm with f4 or greater
Monopod
Ball head
Fast cards, extra batteries and weather protection.
There is no reason for sports photography to be the preserve of the super expensive cameras. With a reasonable budget, you can put together a kit capable of stunning sports images that will also be perfect for other types of photography.
Action photography is something that many of us will need to come to terms with at one point or another. Shooting your kids playing, friends playing sport or a great sporting event you attend are things that most of us want in our own photo collections. Getting good action shots though is not always easy and requires a bit of preparation. Hopefully these tips will help you get some memorable ones. Vince Fleming
1. Shutter Speed
You need to know how your shutter speed is going to affect your images. Generally this means that a fast shutter speed will freeze the shot, whereas a slower shutter speed will lead to some blur and the illusion of movement. However, you are going to need to know your exposure triangle well to get the effect that you want. A more open aperture allows faster shutter speeds, but decreases the depth of field. A higher ISO also allows faster shutter speeds, but you may run into problems with noise. Knowing how these three interact with each other is imperative.
Jeremy Bishop
2. Focus
While other types of photography are more forgiving in allowing you to manually focus, in many action photography situations that may not be an option – by the time you mess around with focusing, the shot will probably be gone. Try to practice using your camera's continual auto-focus capabilities so you are familiar with them when you need to use them with action photography. It will save you a lot of heartache. Gene Devine
3. Creative Blur
With action photography, there is a lot of scope for getting creative with the blur. You can try panning for some interesting effects like the images below. Alternatively, you can let the action go straight past you with the shutter open (without moving the camera) to show that it is moving. Have a think about what effect you would like as you will probably be able to get something interesting. Markus Spiske
4. Shoot Lots
It's very difficult to control everything with action shots. Oftentimes people will close their eyes at the wrong time or some other part of the shot won't turn out quite how you imagined. You can save a bit of frustration here by shooting in continuous mode so that you increase your chances of getting that perfect image. If your camera has a drive mode then don't be afraid to use it. Mi Pham
5. Gear
If you're going to be using drive mode then don't forget that you are going to run out of power and memory. Pack a few extra batteries and some memory cards so you don't fill up too soon. Kobby Mendez
6. Get Your Flash On
To capture a sharp subject on a dark or blurry background can be a very cool effect in action photography. It's achieved by using a flash in slow sync mode. Rosie Yang
7. Pre-focus
In a lot of sporting situations there are many places where you can predict the action will take place. At a tennis match, the server will always be in roughly the same spot many times during the match. In soccer, there will be corner kicks. In basketball there will be layups or slam dunks. These predictable situations allow you to pre-focus your camera and set the settings to achieve your desired outcomes without the stress of trying to change things on the fly. Think about these situations and prepare for them as they are kind of like a free shot that gives you a better chance of going home with a great image.
Jeremy Bishop
