help with sports shots

[ungers6]

I usually have no problem getting lacrosse shots, but today I got a mess and I don't know why. The pics are all blurred as if I put vaseline on the lens. (no, I didn't ) I'm using a Nikon D50, with a 55-200mm zoom. I used the automatic setting, then "sports", then switched to manual using somewhere between a 1/500 at 5.6 to a 1/1600 at 5.6. Very few shots came out clear. Surprisingly, they were ones where the kids were actually moving! Any suggestions?


Camera: Nikon D50
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
Exposure Program: Manual

[Moy_Nathan]

The only reason I can think of is that your hands are really shaky. Are they? Does your lens have VR?

[ungers6]

Nope, not even any coffee today! And I was leaning on a sturdy object. I was wondering if it might have something to do with the AF, AF mode, or metering? I've not done much experimenting with those. But then again, I've never gotten such smeary shots as these. Oh, yes VR.

[archersdad]

With that high of a shutter speed, the only thing I can think of is hand shake. If you look closely at the blurred areas you can see that all of them trail in the same direction. Maybe you were just tired. I know I have a hard time holding a long lens steady when I'm either tired, hungry, or get caugh up in the action. If you have Photoshop, you might be able to save them using the Smart Sharpen filter set to motion blur and try to match the angle of the blur.

[eugenen]

Something that has happened to me, but luckily I figured it out quite quickly was that I had put my lens onto manual focus for something and forgot to put it back to auto focus.

That is the only thing I can think of and especially since you said that very few shot came out clear, were all the clear shot more or less at the same distance/focal length if you zoomed?

[Elmo]

AS there seems to be motion down and to the left, it makes me think of shutter jabbing. This is a common happening with sports/action photography. Try supporting your lens balanced on your left hand, steading the body with the right. Elbows close into the body.. Then when shooting pratice rolling your finger over the shutter button to release it

[TheMoons678]

If you don't have a VR lens, why not invest in a monopod if you shoot sports often?

I was at walmart last night picking up some extra memory cards and I saw that they had a monopod for $15.

Amazon.com: Targus Digital TG-MP6710 67-Inch Camera/Camcorder Monopod: Camera & Photo

[zona5101]

Have you since had any issues with the lens? Want to eliminate a physical problem with the lens as a source.

[ungers6]

I've never had issues with the lens before, but maybe that's it. Usually I would be the first to admit user error (shake) but I actually had my elbows resting on a wooden structure and was using a fast shutter speed. In some of the pics, the blur is only on the edges of the photo, or it's uneven across the horizontal plane. (one player is blurred, the guy next to him is not. Both are moving)
I'll take everyone's suggestions and go out and shoot again next week and see what happens. Could it be that the lens wasn't focusing fast enough?

[WooD]

I added the correct EXIF info. Shooting at 1/800 f/5.6 you should have had a nice sharp image.

Gotta be camera shake.