 William Gracia |
Indoor Sports Photography I am struggling to find the right balance in producing good action shots indoors. I use a Nikon D70 with f2.8 70-200mm lens. I use continuous mode so flash is not an option. I need to use a shutter speed higher than 640 for which I need a very high ISO(and produces too much grain).Over the last few months I have tried different settings but end up with very grainy and low light images. Would shooting in RAW or changing the white balance settings do the trick or any suggestions? Thanks
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Mark Feldstein |
Well Will, if grain is the problem my suggestions (that may solve a number of related problems) would be to first drop your ISO to something like 250. Then drop your shutter speed to around 125th. You don't need particularly high shutter speeds to stop action. Even 1/125th of a second will do for most sports shots. While I only shoot film, I stop a lot of action using Tri-X pan shot at 250 ISO and a hand-held 105mm lens off a Nikon F-2 with a motor drive. As you may know, that's a fairly heavy rig. Next, check your camera support. It's difficult to hand hold a long lens while trying to avoid camera shake like a 200mm at 1/125th. Try using a monopod or the head of the person sitting in front of you and pan with the action if you're not doing that already. ( Usually if you buy them enough beers they won't feel a thing or won't mind...or both.) If you shoot raw, make sure you adequately cook your pixels before eating.
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Kai Eiselein |
Will, You didn't say what sport you are shooting, but you definately don't need that high of a shutter speed. I shoot volleyball and basketball anywhere from 1/160 to 1/400 with and without flash depending on the gym. I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like you are just "shotgunning" for a useable shot by depending too much on continuous advance. Slow down, learn the sport, anticipate the action...then shoot. You can speed up your flash recycle time by using an external battery pack, such as Quantum. Dial down the flash to the minimum output you need. I find I can get 2-4 sequential shots this way. Noise issues: I shoot for newsprint, so I don't worry too much about noise. I shoot at 1600-3200 regularly, strictly in jpeg format. I use NeatImage to clean up any unwanted noise, then adjust the image further in PhotoPaint. Furthermore, underexposure really ramps up the noise, over expose a hair, then adjust during post processing.
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Oliver Anderson |
Yes....Mark is correct on the buying beers to use the guys head in front of you.... I make it a point to stand on my head now at least 1 hour before each homegame to create the correct amount of flatness needed to facilitate the 500mm Canon lens the wealthy guy behind me brings. We have a symbiotic relationship that will continue for years to come....
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William Gracia |
Thanks everyone.I AM doing this wrong (I'm even drinking the beers myself!). Have a basketball tournament this coming weekend and will put all your tips to practice.Cheers!
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