I wish I could, but stopped shooting indoor sports in 2005 when I retired from the Newspapers. I have since gotten rid of the photos. Only thing I have now is my Baseball, Softball, Little League stuff along with a little Football. All outdoors.Originally Posted by Germ
Really it is always a question of shutter speed. Once you move to using a flash 1/125th of a second setting will do you fine. I usually stayed at 400 ISO when I could.
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. --- Lord Chesterfield
Flash, I think the idea of posting a pic was directed at the O.P.
Fly rods for sale: http://forums.floridasportsman.com/s...-rods-for-sale
I kinda figured that but seeing others shots will help also.
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. --- Lord Chesterfield
Indoors, there is almost never a need to shoot on any program mode. Manual is it. The lighting won't change, so get your settings correct and stay with them.
1/400 is a bit slow and will result in some blur. I know because I am forced to shoot at 1/400 if I want to shoot at 1600 ISO at FAU Arena. Otherwise, I must jump to 3200 ISO to allow for faster speed (1/650, 1/800, etc.).
If you want to shoot indoors on a budget, try buying your brand's simple 50 mm F/1.8 lens. The Canon version costs around $75-$85 and is fine under the basket. You can shoot at F/1.8-2.8 at a higher speed.
My guess is, ISO 1600 is not going to be fast enough for your gym. Bump to ISO 3200 or even 6400 if you have a later model DSLR. A sharp image with grain (caused by the higher ISOs) is better than a blurry smooth image.
Another lens to consider is the 85 mm F/1.8. The Canon version ($350?) is fantastic. I use it mostly for college hoops. Canon also has a 100 mm F/2.0 version, which is equally good. I am sure Nikon has equivalent models.
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Last edited by bmarkey; 11-09-2012 at 09:02 AM.
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Bob Markey
Palms West Realty
www.WellingtonHomes.com
www.RPBHomes.com
The basics of photography haven't changed since film. Set on any automatic setting, your camera is going to use the shutter to soak up the light in a dark gymnasium or stadium. You have to have enough light hitting your sensor/film to make a correct exposure for your film speed (ISO setting). That means balancing your aperture (the len's iris) and shutter speed (the curtain that opens really fast in the camera). Automatic settings like Av, Tv, P and "Sports" all try to average what the sensor sees automatically. It tries to assume the setting has an even amount of whites, blacks and greys. Your camera fails when there is a lot of dark jerseys, or a white background or anything else that will screw with the "dummy" settings.
On the sidelines of professional sporting venues, you will see photographers with monster lenses on monopods. These lenses have wider apertures, usually up to f/2.8. If I had to guess, your lens probably goes to f/5.6 or f/4 at the widest. That gives you a 1- to 2-stop less of an ability to have a fast enough shutter speed to "freeze" the action. Anything below 1/500th of a second and you will see blur.
A camera set to 1600 ISO with the aperture at 2.8 and 1/500th of a second is probably the bare minimum you can get in a brightly-lit professional sports arena. In a high school gym, it is probably 3200 ISO or higher. With an f/4 or f/5.6 lens, you will have to raise the ISO one or two stops beyond this to compensate for the lens to reach the correct exposure. Your pics will get extremely grainy at that ISO.
What I am trying to tell you is invest the time to learn how to use your camera on Manual mode. It is a lot more work, but it will improve your pictures as you improve your mastery of the subject matter.
A custom white balance using a slow shutter speed in gymnasiums is a big help, too.
Hope this helps! Shoot 'em up!
All it takes is good technical skills, good composition skills and good gear designed to do the job. Quality gear designed to do the job at hand just makes it easier for a good photographer to create compelling images. An example might be Dave (Flash) shooting kid's baseball. His gear is somewhat old, but his skills easily make up for it. Given my gear, he'd do even better.
I have no problem shooting indoor sports. You have have to understand basic photography and have the gear which allows you to use that. Under the net, I use a Nikon D3S and a Nikon 85 f/1.4G. I think it's one of the best close in sports lens. Sidelines, same camera but sometimes an 80-200 f/2.8D AF Nikkor. Sometimes the 85 f/1.4 again. High stands, a 300 f/2.8 AFS Nikkor and any FX camera. I like the new D800 a lot but it's framerates aren't the fastest. It allows me to crop a great shot though which can make up for the framerates.
Light isn't as much of a deal these days as it used to be because of the massive high ISO improvements. I don't like moving too high if I don't have to though because as you increase ISO, you lose dynamic range, but I have it if I need it. I can be fairly clean out to ISO 6400 or a tad higher. If I can, I like to be closer to 1000th of a second for sports and a little higher for birds. It all depends on location and timing.
Nikon D800, D3S, D700, D300, F3HP, Canon S95, Nikon 10.5 f/2.8 Fisheye, Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6, Nikon 16-35 f/4 VR, Nikon 28 f/1.8G AFS, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, Nikon 35-70 f/2.8 AFD, Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 AFD, Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR, Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 VC PZ, Nikon 35 f/2, Nikon 50 f/1.8 G, Nikon 55 f/3.5 AI'D Macro, Nikon 60 f/2.8 G Micro, Nikon 85 f/1.4 AFS G, Nikon 105 f/2.5 AI, Sigma 150 f/2.8 APO Macro, Nikon 300 f/2.8 AFS VR, Nikon 500 f/4 -P, SB600 Strobes x2, SB800 Strob. Alien Bee 800s x6
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. --- Lord Chesterfield
heheheh.. given my rear, you'd look funny. Hey it was you who made be love that 80-200 f/2.8D. Great lens and no need for VR.
Nikon D800, D3S, D700, D300, F3HP, Canon S95, Nikon 10.5 f/2.8 Fisheye, Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6, Nikon 16-35 f/4 VR, Nikon 28 f/1.8G AFS, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, Nikon 35-70 f/2.8 AFD, Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 AFD, Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR, Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 VC PZ, Nikon 35 f/2, Nikon 50 f/1.8 G, Nikon 55 f/3.5 AI'D Macro, Nikon 60 f/2.8 G Micro, Nikon 85 f/1.4 AFS G, Nikon 105 f/2.5 AI, Sigma 150 f/2.8 APO Macro, Nikon 300 f/2.8 AFS VR, Nikon 500 f/4 -P, SB600 Strobes x2, SB800 Strob. Alien Bee 800s x6
Shoot ISO800 or higher indoors and get your shutter well over 1/300th. As a general rule your shutter speed should always exceed your zoom!
I'm not sure I understand this point. How can a shutter exceed a zoom? What does it even have to do with a Zoom? I mean let's say I have a 16-35 f/4 zoom lens, what shutter speed exceeds that zoom? Are we talking the f/4 and that means I can shoot at 4 seconds. Are we talking the zoom ratio which is around 2x so 2 seconds? What about a zoom is exceeded? Now take a Nikon 200-400 f/4 zoom lens. It's only a 2x zoom which is somewhat less than the 16-35 f/4 zoom, so can I shoot at a slower shutter speed? I don't think so.
The point I'm making is that you're probably talking about using a shutter speed which is the reciprocal of the focal length and has nothing to do with a Zoom lens. If the lens is a 55-300 zoom and you're using it at 300mm, the rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed of 1/300th of a second or faster.
A 500 f/4 lens has no zoom at all, but it does have a focal length of 500mm so you'd want to be at 1/500th of a second or greater. Again, Zoom has nothing to do with it.
FusionZ06, I think I knew what you were trying to say, but just wanted to set it straight for someone that might not understand. :-)
Cheers,
Craig
Nikon D800, D3S, D700, D300, F3HP, Canon S95, Nikon 10.5 f/2.8 Fisheye, Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6, Nikon 16-35 f/4 VR, Nikon 28 f/1.8G AFS, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, Nikon 35-70 f/2.8 AFD, Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 AFD, Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR, Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 VC PZ, Nikon 35 f/2, Nikon 50 f/1.8 G, Nikon 55 f/3.5 AI'D Macro, Nikon 60 f/2.8 G Micro, Nikon 85 f/1.4 AFS G, Nikon 105 f/2.5 AI, Sigma 150 f/2.8 APO Macro, Nikon 300 f/2.8 AFS VR, Nikon 500 f/4 -P, SB600 Strobes x2, SB800 Strob. Alien Bee 800s x6
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