Indoor issues

[CES322]

I find I still have some problems with indoor shots, especially sports/action shots. Please help! A lot of times I cannot (as in I am not permitted to) use flash photography.

Camera Model Canon EOS 30D
Shooting Mode Sports
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 400
Lens EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length 109.0 mm
Image Size 800x533
Image Quality Fine

[zona5101]

Yup, gonna have to increase the shutter speed and with the lens you have that's most likely only going to come from an increase in iso. +2 stops in iso put you at 1600 with a shutter speed of 1/250. That should stop most motion blur in the majority of the shots. Of course the trade off is more grain and noise. If you don't already have a decent NR program check out the community edition of Noiseware...

last link on the download page (thanks to SusanH for turning me on to this link!)
Imagenomic - Imagination at Shutter Speed

[inkista]

Get a faster lens with a larger maximum aperture. If you have a ton of cash ($1500-$2000), an 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM. If you only have a pile of cash ($700-$800), then a Tamron or Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 might do as well. And if you only have a moderate amount of cash (~$400), then the EF 85/1.8 USM or EF 100/2 USM.

With a lens where you can only open up to f/5.6, you're going to have a hard time indoors without a flash with sports to get the shutter speeds you need to freeze the action.

An f/2.8 lens over an f/5.6 lens is a two-stop advantage, which is the same as a 4x bump in iso. (i.e., iso 1600 vs. iso 400).

For now, though, as zona suggests, bump up the ISO to get the speed you need.

[amy_bb]

I wholeheartedly agree with both posts above! I also take indoor shots w/no flash (gymnastics) and I was struggling with the same issues.

I have the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 for my Sony and I love it-definitely worth the investment and I did pay around $700 for it.

I will admit, it is a beast to carry around (this coming from a hobby photographer mom) but if I remember my monopod it's much better. Having the wider aperture has allowed me to really kick up the shutter speed. I shot the last meet mostly at iso 1200 and then used the Community Noisware suggested above to clean up the grain. You may still struggle w/white balance issues in an indoor gym and based on everyone's recommendations here, I've started shooting in RAW ad jPeg so that I can deal with that in PP.

Good luck! We can struggle through this one together!

[wamplers]

In addition to the other comments, which BTW, I agree with, get your camera off of sports mode. There's no excuse not to use M mode when shooting indoors. Bump up your ISO and set your aperture wide open and your shutter to where you need it for proper exposure. You should be able to set it and forget it inside without worrying about background lights and lights reflecting off that shiny floor making your pics too dark.

[MOmilkman]

The only other thing I might add is if you can't afford a more expensive lens. Get closer to the action (if possible) and keep your lens at the short end (28mm) thus allowing you to get the aperture open to 3.5
And yes, get that ISO up there.