7 replies to this topic

[prooferz]

What are the best ways to take action shots and ensuring the sharpness at the same time as speed? I have Nikon D3100 and Nikon Nikkor 50mm f1.8 G AF-S Lens and I'm an amateur who's very much into taking action shots of fights like boxing, kickboxing, mma, e.t.c. 

 

I often find myself not capturing the exact moment in the photo although while in the frame it seems that I do and it's not easy to adjust the focus and often good shots have to be discarded because they're lacking sharpness.

I take photos in whether pre-set sport mode or shutter priority.

 

All advice would be much appreciated.

[TBonz]

I've never shot those particular sports, but have shot many sports...I'm sure some of the folks here will be able to give you some suggestions...can you post some examples of what you have taken so we can work from that point?

[Russ]

You've got a good lens for it (not that I've tried it), it's a fast focussing, good low-light lens.

If you see the shot in your viewfinder, then you haven't shot it! The viewfinder blacks out when it takes the shot. So you need to anticipate more is my guess.

Try the camera in manual mode, with auto-ISO set, or even manual ISO too, as your lighting isn't changing.

 

Are you using AF or manual focus?

[Afterimage]

50mm's isn't a really long lens. Perfect if you are ringside but lacking unless you are right on top of the action.

 

Assuming the 50mm lens is sufficient you need to set your camera into burst mode (CH in Nikon terms) and anticipate the shot. The D3100 has a reasonable frame rate (5fps, I believe) so what you are looking for is the moment just before the action starts. The split second you see your subject cranking back for a punch or kick start shooting. Use short controlled bursts, don't "spray and pray"... shoot 3 good frames and recompose... shoot again. Don't fill up your buffer because that will be the exact moment something awesome happens and you'll be ticked you missed it because the camera wasn't ready.

 

Also learn the D3100's AF inside and out. This will be critical for capturing the action, in frame and tack sharp. Set up the right number of AF points, choose either the AF-C or AF-A zone control based on your preference. I often set my focal point to one of the "Rule of Thirds" coordinates so I nail composition but you might just want to leave it centered... much better to have exciting action with mediocre composition than perfect composition and miss the action.

 

Lastly make sure you are shooting at 1/250 of a second or better if possible. 1/100 just isn't fast enough for quick action. Take into consideration your lens' f/stop (and how that impacts depth of field) and ISO vs. noise. A little noise is better than a blurry shot!

 

Hope this helps!

[TBonz]

I agree the 50mm might work if you're close to the ring...In my opinion, you might get some movement at 1/250.  Different sport, but you can see in the following photo (at 1/250) that there is a fair amount of movement in the bat and the ball:

 

 

In the following, there is still a bit of movement on the ball at 1/1600 but it is significantly less...the ball is moving faster in this photo as well so that makes a bit of a difference...

 

 

I settled on a minimum of 1/1000 unless I'm in really poor lighting.  I'll take 25600 ISO over anything less than about 1/500...part of that is me and part of that is the sport that you're shooting.  I'm guessing fighers or their punches won't move quite as fast as a 90+ mile per hour baseball that is slightly blurred at 1/1600...

 

1/1000 can definitely stop a person in mid-air:

 

 

Still, one or two examples of what you've shot will help us see where the problems might be and give you some additional pointers to getting better action photos...

[Russ]

1/1000 didn't stop him, the guy standing right in front of him did!

[TBonz]

The guy didn't stop him as much as the guy "changed his perspective"! 

[Chrisf]

For your situation it seems as if you would need to set your shutter speed to at least 1/1000 to freeze action  and aperture to f-8 to get good dof. Auto iso might also be a good option to consider if you know your cameras limits/ have an idea of noise tolerance. I would recommend using af-c 21- or points and use the center point since it the most accurate. Remember also when doing action shots that if you don't get the composition perfect in the shot there is a chance you can fix that via pp.