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Photography Question 

MICHAEL K. PARTON
 

INDOOR BASKETBALL SHOTS


HI
I AM USING A MINOLTA 50 D 35 MM
AND WOULD LIKE TO SHOOT INDOOR BASKETBALL I'M USING 800 ISO FILM
WHAT SHUTTER SPEED SHOULD I USE OR SHOULD I SHOOT AUTO SPORTS I WOULD RATHER NOT USE A FLASH AND I CAN USUALLY GET ON THE SIDELINES


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February 03, 2006

 

Samuel Smith
  well michael it will depend on the speed of your lens.
sports mode might get some good shots or you could use shutter priority and see if you can get at least 1/500th.
hth,sam


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February 05, 2006

 

MICHAEL K. PARTON
  thanks sam

I took some this weekend using 1/125th

and 1/250th with an aperture opening

f 8 my lens is 28-100mm. I had plenty

of light but it was still blured I

think I will try 1/500th next any

help about the aperture would be helpful


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February 06, 2006

 

robert G. Fately
  MIchael, when you say "you had plenty of light" it demonstrates a mistunderstanding - may I try to assist? Allow me to give you a little primer:

Proper exposure depends on four things - how much light is in the room, how sensitive the film is, the lens speed and the shutter speed.

You cannot change the light in the gymnasium (effectively, anyway) - it is what it is.

You decide how sensitive the film is by choosing the ISO - ISO800 is pretty sensitive - ISO 1600 is twice as sensitive (meaning it requires half as much light to properly expose it). We'll get back to that.

Shutter speed, I guess you already know. Just remember that each shutter speed is 1/2 or twice its neighbor - 1/60th is half as fast as 1/125th, which is half of 1/250th, etc.

Lens speed is aperture - the f-stop - which is the measure of how much light the lens is letting pass through it. Like shutter speeds, each full f-stop is 1/2 or twice its neighbor - so f2.8 lets in twice the light of f4, which is twice f5.6, etc.

You want to freeze motion - thus you need a fast shutter speed (this is why Samuel suggested 1/500th second). But this is only one part of the "proper exposure equation".

If your lens was actually set to f8, then you should open it further (assuming it is faster than that - and f8 is a pretty slow aperture). If you open it to f5.6, you can shoot at 1/250th. If you open further to f4, you can shoot at 1/500th. If you can open to f2.8, then you can shoot at 1/1000th of a second, and that should freeze any reasonable motion.

I hope that helps - good luck next time.


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February 06, 2006

 

Samuel Smith
  very good explanation bob,i was hoping he had a lens that was at least f4.most people don't include enough info when a question is asked.
thanks,sam


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February 06, 2006

 

MICHAEL K. PARTON
  Hi Sam and Bob

Sorry about not having all of the info
on the camera and lens. It is the Minolta 50 QD and the lens is
28-100mm
f/3.5-5.6 AF D

Do the numbers you gave me still apply? For shooting indoor basketball
I'm a real newbe at this.

Thanks for all of your help

Mike


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February 07, 2006

 

Samuel Smith
  hey michael,
that's a pretty slow lens.at 28mm you can shoot wide open at f3.5 which will let in the most light and the 1/500th
shutter speed and get some decent shots.but you won't be able to isolate any players because when you use it at 100mm,f5.6 won't let in enough light for a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action.
you will probably have to go with 1600 speed film or get a faster lens.
and yes the numbers still apply.
pictures you can still get are out of bounds plays,foul shots,huddles and timeouts.and most of the time when the whistle blows players will freeze,just be ready and stay away from fast action.
hth,sam


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February 07, 2006

 

MICHAEL K. PARTON
  thanks for your help sam

that lens is the one that came with the camera and I won't be able to get a new one for a little while. what I was wondering is if the 1600 speed film would let me shoot at 100 mm and
freeze any action?


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February 08, 2006

 

robert G. Fately
  Michael - here's how the whole ASA/ISO numbering system works:

The system is arranged so a number that's twice a large implies a sensitivity of 1 f-stop (that is, it takes 1/2 the light to properly expose).

So, ASA 1600 is 1 stop faster than ASA 800 - meaning that if you were able to shoot at 1/125th of a second with 800, you can go to 1/500th second with the 1600 speed film.

Again, assuming the lighting in the room and the aperture remain the same, then what we're talking about here is that using 1/500th second shutter speed lets in half the light of 1/125th, but that's okay becuase the film is twice as sensitive. Got it?

Now here are the caveats: first, of course, you get more grain with higher ASA film (or noice with higher ISO settings on digital). Second, there is no guarantee that 1/500th second will be enough to completely freeze motion at a hoops game - that part depends on:
a) how fast the player is moving,
b) what angle he's moving in relation to you (i.e. - if he's moving across your field of view, you need a higher shutter speed than if he's moving straight towards or away from you).

You could even try to "push" the 1600 film to 3200 (giving you one more stip - to shoot at 1/1000th second in my example here) and that could help.

Just know that when you see those glorious shots in Sports Illustrated etc. the pros who took them had huge arrays of flash lights secured in the rafters above the house lights, controlled by radio remotes on their cameras. That way, they get the benefits of using flash without anyone on the court or stands noticing.


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February 08, 2006

 
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