Indoor sports photography: Any advice / settings for indoor sports. Using a 24mp (non full frame )camera and Sigma 18-250 f3.5 lens. Most photos are to dark regardless of settings.

Jfholly

Any advice / settings for indoor sports. Using a 24mp (non full frame )camera and Sigma 18-250 f3.5 lens.
Most photos are to dark regardless of settings. I-phone 6 plus seems to do a better job.
Thanks in advance. Jim H

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Jfholly wrote:

Any advice / settings for indoor sports. Using a 24mp (non full frame )camera and Sigma 18-250 f3.5 lens.
Most photos are to dark regardless of settings. I-phone 6 plus seems to do a better job.
Thanks in advance. Jim H

That is a very slow lens - at 250mm it's maximum aperture is F6.3. If you are using a D7200 and shooting raw, you may be able to get away with using ISO 3200, but much higher will bring on distracting noise. You should also turn on the Anti Flicker mode if you are shooting at 1/125 or shorter.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

My daughter uses a D7500 at iso 6000 in gym situations.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

Jfholly wrote:

Any advice / settings for indoor sports. Using a 24mp (non full frame )camera and Sigma 18-250 f3.5 lens.
Most photos are to dark regardless of settings. I-phone 6 plus seems to do a better job.
Thanks in advance. Jim H

Sorry but that is not the lens for what you are trying to do. Even with fast glass, which this lens isn’t, indoor sports is tough. If you want to do this (and it is fun) invest in one fast lens and see how it works out.
...Cam

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Jfholly wrote:

Any advice / settings for indoor sports. Using a 24mp (non full frame )camera and Sigma 18-250 f3.5 lens.
Most photos are to dark regardless of settings. I-phone 6 plus seems to do a better job.
Thanks in advance. Jim H

A camera and lens is a system with unique characteristics. And a camera is much more than the MP of its sensor. It is hard to give good advice with only partial information. More information on the actual camera model would be helpful.

lbrande

For ice hockey I use a 200mm f1.8 with a 1.4 extender and a 70-200 f2.8 on my cameras. I always set white balance first using the ice or a grey card. I cannot recall the iso, but usually 800 max rarely above. Check "Hockey Girl" and you can see some captures of a player in motion.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

lbrande wrote:

For ice hockey I use a 200mm f1.8 with a 1.4 extender and a 70-200 f2.8 on my cameras. I always set white balance first using the ice or a grey card. I cannot recall the iso, but usually 800 max rarely above. Check "Hockey Girl" and you can see some captures of a player in motion.

Those were taken in 2011. You certainly would have benefitted from the low-light capabilities of today's cameras. Based on the cameras of 2011 perhaps ISO 800 was a good max. I wouldn't suggest that individuals continue to hold to that same standard.

ELNikkor

What I do in that situation, is set the ISO to variable up to max, and the shutter speed to a constant 1/500 to stop the action. On "aperture preferred", I'll set to 5.6, if I have a 5.6 lens. That way, at least the photos will be exposed correctly, and the action will be mostly stopped. (If the photos are too dark, change the exposure compensation to "+.7"

Jfholly

The camera is a Sony A77 II, Good Point about the slow lens. I have a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 that I will try and see how that works. Thanks all.

lbrande

SteveR wrote:

Those were taken in 2011. You certainly would have benefitted from the low-light capabilities of today's cameras. Based on the cameras of 2011 perhaps ISO 800 was a good max. I wouldn't suggest that individuals continue to hold to that same standard.

Since my daughter doesn't play any longer, I use the cameras for other pursuits. FYI...many of my shots were taken with a 50D, or a 5D mkii since the 1DX mk 1 or 2 were out of reach.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

ELNikkor wrote:

What I do in that situation, is set the ISO to variable up to max, and the shutter speed to a constant 1/500 to stop the action. On "aperture preferred", I'll set to 5.6, if I have a 5.6 lens. That way, at least the photos will be exposed correctly, and the action will be mostly stopped. (If the photos are too dark, change the exposure compensation to "+.7"

If you can shoot at 5.6 and 500th/sec you have to be in much brighter venues than i ever find. That is brighter than any gym or field house in my town. I need 2.8 to get any shutter speed close to freezing action. My starting point is ISO 1600.
...Cam

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Indoor sports can be one of the most difficult corner case environments if the gym is not well lit, which is the norm with HS sports. Assuming that you cannot use flash (which is the norm), you’ll need SS anywhere between 1/250 to 1/500 and apertures in the f2-f2.8 range. ISOs of 6400-12,800 are common with FF and a stop less with a good low light/high ISO crop camera. Shoot raw and use effective noise reduction in post processing.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

lbrande wrote:

Since my daughter doesn't play any longer, I use the cameras for other pursuits. FYI...many of my shots were taken with a 50D, or a 5D mkii since the 1DX mk 1 or 2 were out of reach.

My primary camera in 2011 was a D7000. As I recall I pretty well kept the ISO around 800 or below as you did. One year, however, we were coming home from California past Donner lake and it was dusk, pretty low light. It was a beautiful shot, and I had to handhold it, so I cranked the ISO up to 2400. Surprisingly the shot turned out pretty well. That was the highest I ever shot back then, however.

Photoguy120

One of the trickiest light issues in the gym where my daughter attended was not only light level but the color. There was a variation from “white,” blue, even pink that was visible to the naked eye. Drove the sensor nuts. Canon f2.8 glass, 1000th, and as high ISO as needed. By all means shoot RAW. Some lighting sweet spots in gym helped but many shots made their way to that big bit bucket in the sky.

Jeffcs Loc: Myrtle Beach South Carolina

First if your going to shoot “indoor sports” your going to need good glass your current lens is way to ssslllooowww recommendation nikon 70-200f2.8