The back-and-forth actions also consumes more battery power. However, the system is also slower because camera must push the focus point of the lens back and forth to hone in on the maximum contrast. The contrast detection system provides a sharper focus. The subject is in focus when contrast is the greatest. The sensor tells the camera to keep changing focus until the contrast from one pixel to the next is the highest possible. Contrast detection works by analyzing pixels on the camera’s sensor. Most mirrorless cameras, point-and-shoots, and mobile phones use a contrast-detect focusing system. Phase detection is found in most all DSLR cameras and is a component of the focusing system use in some mirrorless cameras. The phase detection works by splitting the light into two images and then focusing the lens until the two images converge as a single image on the sensor.

Phase detection is the fastest to acquire and focus the image, and is the most common auto focusing system for sports photography.

There are two auto focusing systems found in cameras: phase detection and contrast detection. The flash can be distracting to the players. Never use an on-camera flash to supplement poor when photographing sports.

I consider using the extended ISO range as a matter of last resort because of the degraded image quality.I recommend your sports camera have a maximum normal ISO range no lower that 51,200. It has been my experience that images begin to appear grainy when exceeding 25% of the normal ISO range. The sensor’s ISO capabilities is expressed as a “normal” range and an “extended” range. Depending upon the quality of venue light, ISO settings of 6400 to 12,800 are common. To make matters more challenging, sports are often played at night or indoors where the amount of light is far less than in daylight. Very little light hits the sensor at high shutter speeds because the shutter is open for such a short period of time. High shutter speeds (e.g., faster than 1/1000th sec) are required to capture an image that is not blurred. Sports photography captures fast moving images. The sensor’s light sensitivity, referred to as ISO, is of critical importance in sports photography.

There are two sensor qualities to consider when selecting a sports camera: light sensitivity, and autofocus system. The sensor is what makes digital photography possible: the importance cannot be overstated.

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