bratz4us Loc: New Hampshire

My Children are In Tae Kwon Do...Soccer..Basketball
What are best setting for Fast action Shots That will be Great?

I use a Nikon D50 plus a Nikon d3000 Plus a Nikon Coolpix P80

I want to get Good shots n take out the blurry crap i usally get..lol

Any Help would Be Appreciated

OLDCOOT

A lot of this is going to sound very basic, but anyway.
Pre- set your exposure and focus if possible.
The best motion stopper is a flash-1/2000 of a second speed- if you can't do that use the highest shutter speed and widest aperture you can get away with.
Use a tripod if possible.
Panning with the motion results in a blurred background, often very desirable in motion shots.
The bigger the aperture the more critical the focus will be, the smaller the depth of field.
I hope that this helps.
Brodie

bratz4us Loc: New Hampshire

Thanks I am New To This so Not Sure How To Do it As My Nikon D3000 Is New To Me But Thanks Very Much

I have been Upping the ISO But then Pics are much to bright..

bratz4us Loc: New Hampshire

Ok Under My setting under iso sensitivity settings I can set Min Shutter SPEED to 1/2000 is That it??? Sorry I am Not Sure Of this..

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Hi Bratz4, my sons are soccer players and I shoot photos for both of their soccer teams. I have a canon but the principle will be the same. I use a manual mode and mainly concentrate on my shutter speeds. I like to stop the action not have any blur to it. Most of their games in high school are from 5pm to 7:30pm so as the evening goes on it becomes necessary to up my ISO and lower my shutter speed.
Some things to think about are...based on what time of day your games are, go with a high shutter speed. Mine is usually set at 1/1000 to 1/1250 ISO 100-200 during the day. My lens is a 70-300mm and has a variable F stop from f4- 5.6 so I concentrate on my shutter speed and ISO. Late afternoon, I may do shutter speed of 1/800-1/1000 and ISO at 200-400 and early evening I am usually at 1/400-640 and ISO at 800 or more.
Something else to think on is where your focus is concentrated. I use my center focus point only. It helps to know the game and to try anticipate where the action is going to be at any particular moment. I don't use a tripod but have on rare occasion used a monopod. Tripods are not easy to move around the field or to get out of the way quickly when the play ends up near you or right at you. You have to be ready to move especially the bigger they get:). By having the center focus on only, you eliminate the possibility of focusing on the tree or player behind where you wanted the focus. Next point, practice practice practice... I shoot in short burst of 3-4 shots per shoot, because you will probably end up with some good shots and gently pan with your players or wait until they move to a certain area you anticipate the play will end up in. You can see when players are about to do a head ball or slide tackle so you can be ready to get the shot by reading the body language and the play going on at the time. Here are a few examples ...good luck

bratz4us Loc: New Hampshire

WOW AMAZING SHOTS LOVE THEM <3

Thanks so much yes her soccer games just ended but they are from 4 to 7 pm Basketball starts soon n will be indoors of course..TKD will also be indoors Tomorrow not sure Lighting as Never been to this location Thanks for the help :)

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Thanks....Indoor is definitely harder so I guess it depends too on what type of lens you have. I am looking at a 70-200mm f2.8 lens which is considered a fast lens since the aperture is lower allowing more light in which would help for indoors. I would try lowering the shutter speed to about 1/640 and bumping up the ISO (600 to start) and keep playing with those settings, lowering the shutter speed and upping the ISO until you get some decent shots with gym lighting which is the worst! I have done some BBall shots too and its way harder I think then soccer:) Get as close as you can but you will still have to use a post processing program to lighten the photos some. One other thing you probably are aware of is not to use a flash even if you are tempted...would be bad to blind the shooter on a winning shot...you wouldn't be very popular..LOL :) Good luck can't wait to see your shots.

bratz4us Loc: New Hampshire

Don't use my flash On M seriously?? If I don't it's Black photos!
Tomorrow Is TKD So hoping to get good shots..My lens is 18-55mm My larger Lens for my D50 I have 70-300mm or28-80mm

Wes Loc: Dallas

We shoot sports but we're fortunate to have video. We use white balance inside the gum and the camera does all the work for us. It also helps that we have professional cameras.

369Kae Loc: Peru,IN

Very nice shots!

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

LOL...seriously, flash is not a good thing for any sport and some may tell you that you can't use it. I just wouldn't unless they are just standing and not doing their routines especially at belt testing time (my sons did TKD too). I'd use your 70-300mm get as close as you can so you can use the 70mm length to 135mm set your ISO to 600-800 or above for a test shot shutter speed to 1/320. Below are some of the BB shots and the information on settings. I still had to lighten them in post processing the trick is to get light enough shots that the noise is not so apparent and use a de noise program to get rid of some of the noise due to the high ISO's. It's a fine line to walk I know. That is why I am going for the 70-200mm f2.8 lens because of all the sports shots I take and the low lighting settings more control over the aperture. Getting tired of walking that line...:)

F4.5 1/320 at 70mm ISO probably 800-1000 not sure


f4.5 1/320 at 100mm ISO same as above but notice more noise because I had to zoom in a bit


f5.0 at 1/320 at 165mm

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Thank you...

WildBill Loc: South West Florida

DO NOT use a flash for indoor sports. You will be the enemy of everyone on the team. I have seen parents verbally attacked by teens for using a flash and I am in Utah.
Unfortunately, I too am canon (maybe the indoor sports theme is the reason). The one lens I use consistently is the 85mm f1.8 but Canon makes this lens for indoor sports and I am not seeing that the Nikon version is for anything other than portraits. They advertise the AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G, the AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED for low light sports.
http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Camera-Lenses/Sports-and-Action/index.page
all 3 lenses are over $1700 dollars each. I have issues with 1.8 occasionally with the lighting in some high school gyms so not sure you would be exceedingly happy with f2.8. The photos I saw of basketball here look like they are nice gyms (not the 1920-1960's gyms my daughter plays in). I would want to try the 85mm prime before I went to a f2.8 lens but you may have all newer gyms where your photographing and the 2.8 may be just fine. Rent a lens or two and visit some schools before you decide.

WildBill Loc: South West Florida

One last note, the Prime lens will allow you to shoot shutter speeds twice that of the f2.8 lenses mentioned. If you want stop action, crisp bright photos, seriously consider the prime lens. Bonus, it is cheaper. :)

WildBill Loc: South West Florida

Indoors and poor light with fast action means you are going to get noise. What lens you have will determine how much noise. Turn your ISO to 800 (you may have to go all the way to 1600 for a good shutter speed but try an avoid it), aperture to smallest number you have (largest opening) then play with the shutter speed to get good photos. If you get the shutter to 1/1000 then you can play with the ISO and f-stop to try and reduce noise and then reduce shutter speed to compensate for the darker photos. You will learn the gyms and which settings you can use but I go in with little expectation and get in a better mood turning the ISO down to 400 rather than getting upset that I had to turn it up to 800. If you get the Prime lens I mentioned above, never turn the shutter speed below 1/800 or the ISO above 400 because no matter how bad the gym is, you will never need to. My 85mm f1.8 has performed beautifully at 1/800 and ISO 400 under the worst lighting so an f 1.4 should do better.