Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Jim -

You have hit on two (maybe) three - of my specialties ... being a tennis player, myself, and also a photographer, and enjoying the art of getting perfection from my shots of TV (movies, primarily) I have done a lot of experimentation in this area - primarily with bridge cameras, but also, a little, with DSLRS (all brands) and this is the formula I have come up with - over many years. First off, I should tell you my TV (of late) is a 32" wide LCD (don't know the rate of refresh, though, unfortunately) ... and I sit approximately 8' from it. I find I get the very best images when I shoot at 1/20th of a second, using the Shutter Speed priority program - regardless whether it's a bridge or a DSLR. My best coverage with an APS-C or DX DSLR comes with using an 85mm lens, or a 70-300 at the minimum. This approximates to 105 on a 35mm SLR. When using a bridge camera, therefore - I always set the lens at 105. This gives me maximum coverage w/o cropping any of the screen image. When photographing tennis matches, I always try and shoot when the TV camera focuses on the player, just as he (or she) is about to serve - stunning images!!!

schmalen

To get the best results these steps should help:
-Use a relatively late model of flatscreen in HD or better even in 4K
-to take a photo of the screen pause the video. that way you can see whether the image is sharp and clean
-at that stage you can take your photo at any speed as long as you keep the camera stable

jimkh

Christ:

Thanks. I'll try your suggestions tomorrow.

Jim

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Good, Jim ....

Love the tennis .... who's winning?

Haven't had a chance to tune in, lately ... will catch up in a day or two ....

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

BTW, Jim ... the first letter of my last name is T ... thus, Chris T .... don't want to offend anyone, here .... so, if your caps doesn't work on T .... better to just leave it off ....

jimkh

Chris:

Sorry about that. And again thanks for your imput.

Jim

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

That's okay, Jim ....

How did that work out for you?

Is 1/20th of a second - working for you? .... always seems to do the trick for me .... complete scans, you see ...

jimkh

ChrisT:

I missed your reference to 1/20 in your original message. I tried it and it didn't work for me. 1/60 is better. What's best is to carch at changeovers some TV close-ups of action usually slightly slowed. I've been able to get a few player with ball shots - always my preference. Again, thanksfor your interest.

Jim

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Jim ... sorry it didn't work for you. Then, I suspect your TV uses a higher refresh rate than mine. Either that, or the inherent "shake" caused when pressing the shutter release - was felt by the shutter at such a slow speed. The area between 1/30th of a second and 1/15th of a second is a grey area. Most guides tell you not to use anything lower than 1/30th - because of the "shake" problem. But, I found 1/20th of a second perfectly satisfactory for my TV shots - as it allows for a complete scan of the TV picture, without getting into the vibration problem. You might try 1/25th, and see if that helps. If not, stay at 1/30th ... which should null all vibrations caused by shutter-plunging.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

BTW, Jim ... beware of using shutter speeds too high - you will get green banding problems - which are caused by the camera shutter picking up the beginning of the NEXT scan from the transmission, BEFORE it has ended the last scan ... which can totally mutilate the entire image. This is why I zeroed in on the "grey area" between 1/15th and 1/30th ... 1/60th and above always seemed to lead to this problem. Now, I am much more careful. Seems like a great idea of yours, waiting for the slo-mo replays of the action between rounds. I think I'll try that, as well ...
Happy Shooting!!!!