Sports photography

cowbungus

New member
Hi Gentleman... well I currently am shooting a D-300s... in some of the high school gyms I have been 3200 ISO just isnt working when I am trying to use 1/500 with my 85/1.4 or the 50/1.4 sometimes the shutter speed drops to about 1/320 well if I pan and am lucky the image might be useable. I am looking and talking to others about the D-700 or of course the D3s.. I also have a 70-200 /2.8 vr not the II version.. what is your opinion of the these cameras? I am retired and shoot grandkids and of course my home town kids, football , basketball etc.
Thanks in advance.
 

M.Hinch

Senior Member
Are you shooting in shutter priority, if not you may want to try. I have a d90 and I use it for sons soccer. Shutter priority, iso 200, auto white balance ( you may want to change this) depending on type of
lighting in the gyms, release mode (continuous 3-4.5) Hope this helps.

Michael
 
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Browncoat

Senior Member
....sometimes the shutter speed drops...

I'm with Michael on this one. Which mode are you shooting in? When you're in an environment with poor lighting, it is vital to control the amount of available lighting for decent shots. This usually means the use of flash, controlling shutter speed, or both. For sports, generally you want to freeze the action, which means high shutter speeds...which does not go well with poor lighting.

Flash will freeze action at lower shutter speeds, but if you're shooting from the stands, using even a good external flash (not the camera pop-up flash) probably won't have enough power to reach a basketball floor.

You have some fast glass, so that's not the problem. Try using Shutter Priority (S) or if you're comfortable, Manual (M) mode to keep your shutter speeds consistent.
 

cowbungus

New member
Well yes I do shoot in shutter pro. at 1/500 with the 85/1.4 sometimes my f stop is about 2.0 and rarely get to the 2.8 thats at usually 2500 iso and in a very poor light gym kicking up the ISO to 3200... thats max on my d-300s.. shoot usually about 500-600 shots a game for basketball... the d-700 would probably allow me to shoot 6400 as compared to 3200 on the 300s.. the D3s who knows.. Im just trying to get a little better f stop and DOF.
Thanks
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
Flash will freeze action at lower shutter speeds, but if you're shooting from the stands, using even a good external flash (not the camera pop-up flash) probably won't have enough power to reach a basketball floor.

.

You may want to try the SB-900 which packs a pretty good punch --zooms to 200mm. There are places on the web where you can rent photo equipment. In my film days when I was shooting basketball games (I'm dating myself here. . .sigh), I had to use a flash and loved the freezing effect.

Best Regards
 

cowbungus

New member
yes I have a sb-900... but if our teams get into the playoffs.. cannot use a flash..
Ill figure out something.,.. Captain NM.. been up there many times, when we were in Ruidoso. Im just west of ya north of Lubbock. Do you know a Lady by last name of Kveton?
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
Howdy, neighbor! You're just the down the road from me. I don't know anyone with the last name "Kveton" unless it's a typo and you meant "Keeton"?

I forgot about the no flash rule at playoffs. I guess it would be distracting to the players.

Do you have noise reduction software?
 

cowbungus

New member
Helen...well this lady was from Abernathy and lived in Captain for years but that's all I remember about her. Oh yes I am using Topaz and also Photoshop CS5. the D3S would be nice but whew pricy for me as just a hobby.. well I do a lot of collages which would help out on income. I am retied from the Lubbock Fire Dept. Been doing this sports stuff since back in the early 80's gosh all film then.. I used 1000 ASA as we called it then with a little pop of a flash when we could use it and it worked perfect.
 
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cowbungus

New member
Hi Michael.. no filter at all... now the gym I am referring to is old back into the 50's in my home town.. our new gym will not be finished this basketball season.. some of the newer gyms have lighter colored floors, better and newer lighting which makes sometimes up to 2 stops difference..my home town gym has a very yellowed and nearly brownish floor which makes reflected light impossible.. the the old metal hylade lights are all sorts of different colors as I have caught their cycle..and using 1/500 or so its easy to catch in light in its cycle of nearly off..lol we all have seen this type of lighting especially when the picture was taken with a wall close into the background with this type of lighting.
 

RBshooter

New member
I shoot a lot of indoor low-light fast action sports (Racquetball) in the most lighting challenged venues on the planet. I recently upgraded to a D700 from a D300s just to get the higher ISO quality. I shoot manual with fast glass (50m 1.4 prime & zooms that include the 35-70m 2.8 & the 70-200m 2.8 VRII). If I anticipate the shot just right I can get away with 1/250, but usually try and shoot at 1/500 at minimum. I always shoot in RAW and use a Color Checker Passport which has been a god-send for the crummy WB in the various court venues and the different lighting. I have had very good results with the higher ISO capabiity of the D700. Even at 6400 ISO the noise is very good. IMHO, the D700 is a huge improvement over the D300s for my low-light indoor fast action sports shooting needs. My next body will be a D3.
 

cowbungus

New member
Thank you for the reply.. well, ill get that the light you shoot in could be a challange. My basketball is about the same, however some gyms at the high school lighting isnt that bad I use about 2500 ISO with the D-300s but some I need 6400 to get a decent DOF with the 300s is impossible.. that is why I have looked at the D-700..the D3s is out of my league.
The Lens I use most of the time are 50/1.4,,,, 85/1.4 have the 70-200/2.8 but I couldnt use it because of the ISO I need to shoot.. yes 1/500 usually 1.8 to maybe 2.0 if im lucky. with the D-700 that should be about 2.8 to 3.5 I hope.. Thanks again
 
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