Sports Shooter Question: ƒ/4 Fast Enough for NFL?

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with 1.4 converter, Shot at 630mm, ISO 51200, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000

I saw this post on Sports Shooter and responded to the question because I think sometimes photographers consider a lens or camera and don't realize there are many settings that can impact sharpness of a photo and acceptable noise for publication.

My Response

I think with today's cameras capabilities with high ISO should not be a problem using a 300mm ƒ/4 lens for NFL football night or day games.

The question you should always be asking is will the photos of the subject connect with the audience. 

I would then even take test shots at many different ISO settings and then compare the results to how the photos are published for that audience.

This is closeup on the photo above. Notice one major thing between the two photos, display size. This impacts the noise being seen. Again how will the audience view your work?

If they are primarily a website then you can get away with more than in print. 

Through the years there are a few things I have noticed that really impact this discussion with sports.

I have noticed a significant difference in sharpness of my photos when I drop below 1/1000. 

There are a few factors that impact focus. So often people blame a lens when it could be a few other things.

Factors Impacting Sharpness [which can make something look in or out of focus]

1. I found separating the shutter from focusing and using the back button to focus and the shutter release to fire the camera improved focusing.
2. Adjust the fine tune focus on the camera to match the lens. Each camera is different. I use LensAlign 
3. Many of the lenses that I thought didn't focus that fast magically are great once I upgraded my cameras to newer models.
4. My Nikon D4 all of a sudden got ten times sharper images when I upgraded the firmware.
5. On the Nikon system we have focus tracking. You can change how fast or slow the computer tells the camera to hunt for change in focus point. This can make a difference if something comes between you and the subject ever so briefly [referee]
6. How many focus points you use for a sport. Sometimes you need fewer and sometimes more. This is why the camera manufacturers give you choices, so you can maximize your equipment for each situation.

Here is a quick video showing how calibrating your lens can improve the focusing.


My point is you can have a ƒ/1.4 lens that should be tact sharp, but because of all the things I mentioned above will perform badly.

With today's cameras ability to shoot high ISO, auto focus in lower light than before I think you should be just fine with a ƒ/4 lens shooting.

Here are some of my photos from a HS Football game shooting at 12,800 in earlier post.

I was curious about pushing the ISO even higher to improve the sharpness of photos and get even more keepers, so I went to another HS Football game and pushed my ISO to 51,200 and here are those results. 

Bottom line is always test something before shooting for the client.