Night time shooting question

[klb2sweet]

I've got a question about the camera settings for night time shooting when action is involved. I was shooting drag racing this last thurs. night and as the evening turned to night I had a really hard time getting good shots that weren't too dark or when I changed the ISO too grainy. I need to be able to stop the action and still keep the shot clear and not grainy. Any suggestions. Any advice would be great! Thanks.

Kelly

[JoeMc]

It is a tough thing to achieve... The two ways to do it is high ISO and fast glass... Make sure you shoot with the the Aperture at wide open... Like f/ 2.8 or even 2.0, 1.8 or 1.4 if your lens will allow you.
Cheers, joe

[klb2sweet]

Thanks Joe! I was having a really hard time. Most of the shots were coming out too dark, then grainy when I upped the ISO. I have the Sony a1oo and it allows me to adjust just about evething it seems. Thank you so much for the advice.

[RTaylor]

Automatic settings don't usually work well with action shots. The camera has no idea the subject speed you are pointing at.
You would probably get more consistent results with a high ISO and shutter speed.
It could be possible that your camera doesn't do well with high ISO as far as noise.

My D70 didn't do that well in high ISO settings, but my D300 handles it quite well.