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D300 Does DIII Softball Championships

May 20th, 2008 · 10 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to shoot some of the action at the 2008 NCAA Division III Softball Championships. Check out some of the images as well as my settings for this sport.

Caught Stealing. 1/1600 @ f4, ISO 1250, Sigma 120-300/f2.8
Caught Stealing. 1/1600 @ f4, ISO 1250, Sigma 120-300/f2.8.

Women’s fast-pitch softball is an interesting sport with some important differences from baseball.  The D300 has a number of features that are well-suited to capturing the action.

One thing I relied on photographing the championships this year was the Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick.  This allowed me to set my preferred shutter speed (usually 1/1600) as well as aperture (f4 or f2.8) and the camera would automatically adjust the aperture to fit lighting and scene conditions.  1/1600 is a good speed for women’s fast-pitch, as this will usually show an ever-so-slight amount of ball movement while freezing other aspects of the action.

 
Release. 1/1250 @ f2.8, ISO 900, AF-S Nikkor 80-200/f2.8D.
Release. 1/1250 @ f2.8, ISO 900, AF-S Nikkor 80-200/f2.8D.

 Other settings I used are as follows (where they differ from factory defaults):

Shooting Menu 

  • Quality: JPG Normal - Really more than enough quality; I find the D300′s out-of-camera JPGs are just about perfect.
  • Image Size: L – Make every pixel count!
  • JPEG Compression: Quality
  • White Balance: Auto (varies by location, of course)
  • Picture Control: Standard – I like this for sports, natural yet bright colors and decent skin tones.
    • Sharpening +5
    • Saturation +2
  • Color Space: Adobe RGB
  • Active D-Lighting: Normal/Low – Active D-Lighting is the bomb!
  • High ISO NR: Off – In-camera NR is better than the D200′s “cartoonish” look, but I still prefer NeatImage for high-ISO images.
  • ISO auto sensitivity control: On – Thanks to the Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick, this is a very useful setting!  I allow ISO to float all the way up to 3200 depending on the lighting conditions.

Custom Settings

  • a1 AF-C priority selection: Release + focus – I find that when shooting at the greater distances involved in outdoor sports, giving the D300 just a bit more time to acquire and lock focus is useful.
  • a3 Dyanmic AF area: 51 points (3D-tracking) - It’s amazing how useful and accurate this mode can be.  With players generally spaced widely apart, it’s easy to lock on.  And the 3D-tracking is extremely useful for keeping the focus on, for example, the pitcher’s eyes during a herky-jerky windup motion.
  • a4 Focus tracking with lock-on: Long
  • d2 Viewfinder grid display: On
  • d10 MB-D10 battery type: FR6 – I keep a battery tray loaded with AA lithiums as a long-term backup power source.
  • e1 Flash sync speed: 1/250 (Auto FP) – Gives me maximum flash flexibility.
  • e2 Flash shutter speed: 1/30 – If I’m shooting flash I will likely have a VR lens mounted (18-200).
  • e7 Bracketing order: under/meter/over – It only makes sense…
  • f1 Multi-selector center button
    • Shooting: Select center focus point – Especially with so many to choose from, I need to get back on center quickly!
    • Playback: Show histograms – I like my cameras to behave consistently with one another.
  • f3 Photo info/playback: On – See above.
  • f4 Assign FUNC. button: FV lock (button press) – Consistently use function button for this function.
  • f9 No memory card: Lock – Yes, I’ve shot games with no card (or no film) in the camera, so I always set this function!

I also found myself dialing in a little exposure compensation: +0.3 of a stop during an overcast game, and +0.7 of a stop when shooting into a bright, early evening sun.  I find these values fairly consistent to use with the D300′s matrix metering.  I also took advantage of sun’s backlighting to get some under-exposed shots (dialing in -0.3 of a stop).

Windup. 1/1600 @ f4, ISO 900, Sigma 120-300/f2.8.
Windup.  1/1600 @ f4, ISO 900, Sigma 120-300/f2.8.

Tags: Cameras · Softball

10 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Allen // Sep 10, 2008 at 8:06 pm

    Great pics, finally a web site with recommended settings. I need some advice on setting my d300 for girls club soccer, trying p mode with 51 3d, 21 and 9 AF but alot still blurry, any recommendations? using a 18-200 vr lens

    thanks , great site

  • 2 The Sports Photo Guy // Sep 10, 2008 at 8:31 pm

    21 is what I’d recommend, but the problem may really be the 18-200: its AF system is not really designed for sports action and that may be what is holding you back. You may have better luck with a longer zoom in the 70-300 range. Also, be sure the blur is not due to your shutter speed: you’ll want speeds in the range of 1/500 or better.

  • 3 Allen // Sep 12, 2008 at 4:28 am

    thanks for the recommendation, i have that expensive 70-200 lens on order, i’ll also try shutter speeds, i guess in the manual setting mode.

  • 4 Lawrie Robertson // Sep 13, 2008 at 10:06 am

    I purchased a D300 after using a D70 for several years. I shoot cross country and track & field and have struggled to find just right settings for shooting one runner in a deep pack of many. Based on the comment above about my 18-200 VR II, I am switching to my older Nikkor 70-210 after several blurred shots with the 18-200.

    It would be great if you wrote an article on shooting a crowded outdoor spot (like XC) in mixed light circumstances. Thank you for your wonderful articles.

  • 5 The Sports Photo Guy // Sep 13, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    For XC, I’d stick with 9-point continuous AF; but more importantly, accurate framing is required. Be sure your selected AF sensor is directly on your subject prior to activating autofocus.

  • 6 Lawrie Robertson // Sep 30, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    I have found that Nikkor 70-210 has been brighter and more accurate with my D300 in shooting cross country competitions. I did follow your advice with very good results. I set the picture control on Standard with a extra sharpening and found that the runners came alive. Thanks for your assistance.

    I also agree with Ken Rockwell’s recommendation to reset before each day of shooting.

    Lawrie

  • 7 Steve // Nov 4, 2008 at 10:56 am

    I have been using the 18-200 VR with my son’s little league with great results. I am still learning the settings. I am far from optimal on picture control and sharpness. However, I find the AF/exposure to be very accurate with spot focussing/continuous servo/center metering/auto iso while shooting in S or M mode. Generally at 1/640 or greater shutter speed. I find any blur issues occur mainly a result of a) movement in my camera hold while moving to catch a scene or b) forgetting to hold the lens correctly (palm underneath).

    I have similar good fortune on vacations snatching my son out of crowds. However, in general with Auto area focus I have some blur issues at times with moving objects. I am thinking of moving to Dynamic area focus at times I do not want to use only spot focus.

  • 8 Jamie // May 17, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    I love your shots. I am a real photo nerd and learn so much more from photos when I can see what the settings are that created the shot. I shoot alot of Little League type baseball and am still trying to perfect when to start my burst to get the ball either on the bat or just coming off. Would love your input.

  • 9 The Sports Photo Guy // May 17, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    The old “bat on ball” shot is simply a matter of timing – you’ll only get one “swing of the bat,” as it were. Don’t think in terms of bursts – it’s a one-shot deal (of course, bursts can still be OK for shots of the follow through or the pre-swing stance). I try to position myself so that, with one eye on the batter through the viewfinder, I can keep the other eye on the pitcher and watch his windup…then time the shutter release with the arrival of the ball, as opposed to the reaction of the batter. You’ll “waste” a lot of shots this way, of course, but in the digital era, no one really cares – and you’ll soon be able to accurately gauge when to release the shutter while the ball is over the plate. When the batter does make contact, you’ll have bat and ball very close, if not in actual contact.

  • 10 Jamie // May 18, 2010 at 11:48 am

    Chuck:

    Thanks for the tips. I bought a D300s last a coupple of weeks ago and spent yesterday morning setting up the camera with your baseball settings and D300 trick. Well, we had bad roll in last night and the clouds were so black that I was going to be shotting wide open at 1/3200. So, I bagged the camera and worked the dugout instead. I did take some shots last week and would love your comments. Is there a way to email you a couple of shots or post them. Unfortunately, I do not have a website.

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