10 replies to this topic

[OTRTexan]

Probably took a thousand shots that day, and this is my favorite. Wish i would of had a faster lens to use different settings so it wouldn't of been so grainy. Looking at the folder now, it was well over a thousand shots.

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[K-9]

Nice capture. You can never take enough shots during sporting events, as each frame can be critical to a great shot. It's the one genre where burning through frames is the norm. A fast lens definitely helps.

[OTRTexan]

That was an experimental day for me. I can't tell you how many different settings I tried. Was in manual for most of the day. I did not have a fast lens. That was taken with the cheaper nikon 70-300 that I borrowed from a friend. The gym had some skylights that had me adjusting constantly. Some of my favorite shots composure wise, came out terribly grainy because I was pushing the iso. Eventually I'll own a fast zoom, but have considered buying an 85mm f1.8.

[Thumper]

I think you did just fine. Most days are experimental for me. I followed my stepson around for an entire softball season, and I never turned out a single picture (out of literally thousands) that was as good as the one you posted above. But it gave me a chance to try so many different things. It was a wonderful learning experience. (The problem was that once I had my problems worked out, the season was over. . ).

One thing you might consider to get you into a faster zoom is to buy used/refurbished from a good dealer. I bought a refurbished first gen Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 from B&H for a LOT less than a brand new 2nd gen 70-200 f/2.8. It's a great lens, and B&H gave me a one year warranty on it.

[Russ]

Yeah generally you need at least f2.8 and ISO6400 to shoot at 1/500s in a reasonably well-lit gym. An 85/1.8 would get you lots of good shots I'd say.

[OTRTexan]

I looked at a nikon 70-200 f2.8 used on b&here for $1500. But since I can get a new tameron foe the same price that gets awesome reviews, I'd probably go that route. The 85mm would be great for portraits as well, so think it might be fill a good spot in my gear.

[Russ]

Yeah get both, why not?

[TBonz]

Yeah generally you need at least f2.8 and ISO6400 to shoot at 1/500s in a reasonably well-lit gym. An 85/1.8 would get you lots of good shots I'd say.

 

Gyms vary - even two schools within 3 or 4 miles from each other here have lighting that is a bit different.  I can get ISO 6400 with f2.8 and 1/1000 in both although one I have less editing to do than the other...In that one, I CAN go with f4 but that is a stretch...I'd really need to up the ISO if I were going to use f4 in there regularly.  But, that is the same with the field lighting here...Some fields I actually need to bump the ISO over 6400 for shooting away from the center of the field (with f4 or f2.8)!

 

I prefer to keep my shutter speed at 1/1000 if at all possible and deal with the grain...it isn't too bad at ISO 6400 if you don't have to crop too much.  Most folks are not going to print larger than 8x10 and I've blown up cropped ISO 6400 images larger than that with good results...

[Russ]

With which camera Sportz?

[TBonz]

I've blown up cropped images to 8x10 or larger from D90s, D7000s and D600s...Shooting an outfielder with a 70-200 sometimes requires a pretty significant crop...same with some of the other long shots I get from time to time...

[Russ]

D90, cool, thanks.