How To Set Up Sports Mode Photography On Sony A6400?
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How To Set Up Sports Mode Photography On Sony A6400?

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To shoot sports and action photography your subjects are going to be in motion. To capture the motion you will have to set up your camera in a way that you can freeze the action. 

In sports photography, you don’t want to have motion blur that ruins the photo. This is why you have to make a setup to freeze the action so you can have sharp images.

The Sony A6400 is a versatile mirrorless camera that is good for taking sharp photos, 4K videos and sports photography. In this article, I will show you how to set up sports mode photography on Sony A6400.  

Settings For Sports Photography On Sony A6400

There are some things you need to do to accomplish the finest photos.

The first one is the fast shutter speed and the second one is the good tracking speed that can focus and follow up the action. 

Step 1: 

Put your camera to manual mode as you have to use as many options as you can.

Step 2: 

Adjust the shutter speed as fast as possible. When you tweak your shutter speed the faster the shutter speed gets the aperture gets darker. 

Depending on the lighting situation you should use the shutter speed between 800 to 100. 

Also, it depends on the sports and motion you are shooting. If you shoot sports like tennis you will have to use a faster shutter speed. 

Step 3:

Use a wide aperture on the lens. Here the fixed wide aperture lenses are very handy to use as they have a very good aperture and you will have enough light to shoot the subjects. 

To shoot the moving objects, you need a good lens. If you are near to your subject the Sony 16-55 f2.8 is a good lens. It has a fixed aperture that is very useful for sports photography. 

Sample image: 

If you are far from the subject you can use the Sony 70-350mm lens. Although it doesn’t have any fixed aperture it comes in handy for taking shots from a long distance.

Step 4: 

Set the ISO to auto. The Auto ISO changes the exposure based on changing the light. So, if you don’t have any fixed aperture lens, you can get the job done using any good lens with the ISO set to auto.

Which Camera Is Best for Sports Photography? 

A good sports camera needs to be fast and accurate. It is neither the megapixels everyone counts nor the price. Being able to keep up with the subjects that move quickly is the main requirement here. 

Here I shortlisted some of the best cameras which are good for sports photography. 

1. Sony A9 mark II

2. Sony A6600

3. Sony A6400

4. Canon EOS 1D X mark III

5. Canon EOS R3

6. Sony A1

These are some top cameras that are good because of their High-resolution sensor and fast shutter. 

Have a read to know more about the best sports camera. 

Is Sony A6400 A Good Camera For Sports Photography?

Sony A6000 series is special for its versatile cameras. Consumers and photographers mainly use them as a logging camera. 

The Sony A6400 is a great camera launched in 2019. It is one of Sony’s APS-C mirrorless gangs. The A6400 has inherited the autofocus DNA of the full frame A9, A7R III, and A7 III cameras. 

The Autofocus system covers 84% of the image area thanks to Sony’s Eye AF system.  

Due to the new 180-degree tilting screen on the rear, the A6400 has grown somewhat in the middle, but other than that, it looks almost identical to the previous model.

The A6400 is very fast and responsive as it has high-tech AF specs. You will understand it when you are shooting sports photography. 

Overall the Sony A6400 is a great camera to have. And it is fully recommended.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which shooting mode would be best for sports photography?

Answer: The Burst Mode is the best for sports photography. Sports and action are fast-paced, making it challenging to keep up. The Burst mode takes 5/6 images at a time. This is why using burst mode can give you a quality photo.

How do I get my sports pictures sharp? 

To get a sharp image always use a wide aperture like f/2.8 or f/1.4. This will give you a shallow depth of field and give you a soft blur background. 

If you focus correctly you will have a good bokeh effect using the apertures.

What should my ISO be for sports photography? 

Setting the ISO is a very tough thing as it varies with the surroundings. On a really sunny day, 400 ISO would be enough. And if you take your camera in the evening to shoot night skatings the ISO will change. 

It is recommended to set the ISO to auto as the camera will set the best ISO value on its own. 

What f-stops for sports? 

The f stop is highly dependent on the shutter speed, you need the perfect f stops to as known as aperture values to have maximum efficiency. 

f/4 and f/5.6 are the common telephoto lens aperture. They are very ideal for sports photography.

What should my shutter speed be for sports? 

1/1000 of a second is a good shutter speed to shoot sports photography. 

Conclusion

Sports photography is a big industry in the media. Photos captured in motion are really eye-pleasing to see. Setting up the perfect settings for a camera for sports photography is tough because there are lots of things to tweak to have the perfect setup. 

I showed you how to set up sports mode photography on Sony A6400. And hope it will help you to achieve the photography journey,

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