What’s Your Preference?

Rhondau · #1 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 01:03 AM

Once again I attempt to take photos of my daughter at her gym. It was a gymnastics show, not really allowed to move from our bleachers, so I used the 55-200 zoom lens that came with my Nikon d3000 kit, I messed with action mode, auto mode, shutter priority mode, tried to change everything I could and still managed to get photos that are too dark, very blurry or slightly blurry. I did notice that the closer she was to me the better the shot, but forget the ones when she was across the gym, dark, grainy and blurry. Any advice to taking better action shots would be greatly appreciated. I am so tired of missing out on this stuff.

There were flourescent lights and i didn't think to change the white balance, not sure if it would have mattered. And yes, I am a dslr newbie, I have had my camera just over a month. I am trying to figure out how to use it, I reread the manual and have the dslr photography book for dummies, but I am more of a hands on learner and the books are not helping too much...Thanks so much in advance for any suggestions!!!

Rhonda

OsmosisStudios · #2 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 01:25 AM

Faster aperture lens or higher ISOs (generally from a full-frame body). Either way, you're looking at quite the investment.

SHooting indoor sports is quite possibly one of the hardest things: low light, fast action. That means you need a fast shutterspeed. Generally speaking that means a combination of high ISO (1600+) and a fast-aperture lens (say f/2.8). High ISO means lots of grainy noise; fast aperture lenses mean an empty bank account.

Rhondau · #3 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 01:49 AM

So if I could talk my daughters gymnastic coach in moving ALL of his equipment outside then I might get some good shots with the equipment I have?

I have a new lens on my wish list for Christmas, I guess I will get shopping on what would be the best one for me...thanks for your quick response!!

Rhonda

inkista · #4 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 02:38 AM

Here. Read up on max. aperture before you go shopping.

As Os says, indoor sports is one of the most demanding subjects when it comes to lenses, since you typically need telephoto reach AND a fast max. aperture in combination. Worse, you have that focus motor issue, so you can't do what we cheaper Canon shooters do--which is mess about with fast primes. Our 85/1.8, 100/2, and 135/2.8 all autofocus on entry level bodies. Nikon's do not.

A few things you can try, but which are unlikely to help as much as getting a D90 or a faster lens (like a Tamron/Sigma 70-200 f/2.8):

1) Digital "push" processing. This is similar to what your camera does to give you iso 3200: Shoot RAW, and underexpose the images to get fast enough shutter speeds to freeze the motion, then adjust the exposure brighter in post-processing. You may want to invest in some form of noise-reduction software, as this will drastically increase the noise.

2) Use additional stabilization. VR is great, but a monopod might actually eke out another stop for you, if nobody's moving too fast. This can help with camera shake blur--but not subject motion blur, just like VR.

3) Back-button autofocus (don't worry that that's a Canon page, the feature works pretty much the same on both Nikons and Canons). You basically split off the AF half-press behavior from the shutter button to the AF-ON button on the back of the body. The Shutter button half press is now for auto-exposure setting, and the AF-ON does your AF start/stop behavior. Removing AF behavior from the shutter button can help you be more exact in timing shots, and make it easier to lock focus. Most sports shooters prefer using this technique.

kencaleno · #5 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 02:42 AM

This shot was taken at a Go-Kart indoor arena under Sodium lighting-I was using a Lumix G1 Micro 4/3 camera ,(hand-held) with a 45-200mm lens-my ISO was set to 1600,white balance was auto,and this gave me a shutter speed of between 1/80 and 1 120sec at f4 -I include a 100% crop too:

Jim Bryant · #6 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inkista

Here. Read up on max. aperture before you go shopping.

As Os says, indoor sports is one of the most demanding subjects when it comes to lenses, since you typically need telephoto reach AND a fast max. aperture in combination. Worse, you have that focus motor issue, so you can't do what we cheaper Canon shooters do--which is mess about with fast primes. Our 85/1.8, 100/2, and 135/2.8 all autofocus on entry level bodies. Nikon's do not.

A few things you can try, but which are unlikely to help as much as getting a D90 or a faster lens (like a Tamron/Sigma 70-200 f/2.8):

1) Digital "push" processing. This is similar to what your camera does to give you iso 3200: Shoot RAW, and underexpose the images to get fast enough shutter speeds to freeze the motion, then adjust the exposure brighter in post-processing. You may want to invest in some form of noise-reduction software, as this will drastically increase the noise.

2) Use additional stabilization. VR is great, but a monopod might actually eke out another stop for you, if nobody's moving too fast. This can help with camera shake blur--but not subject motion blur, just like VR.

3) Back-button autofocus (don't worry that that's a Canon page, the feature works pretty much the same on both Nikons and Canons). You basically split off the AF half-press behavior from the shutter button to the AF-ON button on the back of the body. The Shutter button half press is now for auto-exposure setting, and the AF-ON does your AF start/stop behavior. Removing AF behavior from the shutter button can help you be more exact in timing shots, and make it easier to lock focus. Most sports shooters prefer using this technique.

inkista -- damn dude you're giving my secrets away.

Number 3 is a my number one secret!