Wrestling: Second time shooting wrestling; first time was during a break while taking photos for the high school orchestra's winter concert. Just took a few practice shots at that time...

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

Second time shooting wrestling; first time was during a break while taking photos for the high school orchestra's winter concert. Just took a few practice shots at that time so I could get a feel for what gear I would need.

Have been struggling with noisy photos and not-so-sharp photos, so I've made a few changes and thought I would try shooting wrestling again. I shot sitting on the gym floor, at the front of the stands, about 15-20 feet back from the edge of the mat. The circle is another 10-15 feet from the edge.

After they finish the JV/FS meet, they turned off all of the lights except the ones directly above the mat for the varsity meet. Looks great if you're a spectator, but I was not impressed and mildly horrified about the lighting change.

First 2 photos - Nikon D810; second 2 photos - Nikon Z6
started with a 70-200 f2.8, but couldn't fill the frame so I switched to the 300 f2.8
ISO 12,800 SS 1/1000
high ISO NR - high

Any constructive critique welcome. I would like to improve my skill/technique with low light action/sports.

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tshift Loc: Overland Park, KS.

Chicago312 wrote:

Second time shooting wrestling; first time was dur... (show quote)

Indoors is so tough. They don't look too bad. Think the 300 was a little better. Keep trying. I am going to go as soon as the basketball games resume LOL. Keep posting. Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Thanks BE SAFE!!

Tom

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Chicago312 wrote:

Second time shooting wrestling; first time was dur... (show quote)

Great job getting low to eye level. I see a little yellow cast from the halogen gym lights. Maybe white balance? Looks like the Z6 handled high ISO just fine!

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Chicago312 wrote:

Second time shooting wrestling; first time was dur... (show quote)

Fine action shots 🎖️🎖️🎖️🎖️🎖️

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

They look good. My comment (after shooting at least a hundred matches) is to be careful sitting near the mat - the perspective is great, but it’s hard to move quickly when 500 lbs of heavyweight wrestlers come barreling toward you. i Typically use a FF (for high ISO noise), a 70-200 f2.8 wide open, 1/500 (if possible) and auto ISO. In dim HS gyms, it’s not unusual to see ISOs in the 10,000 range.

rickberns Loc: Conroe, Texas

Chicago312 wrote:

Second time shooting wrestling; first time was dur... (show quote)

Stephen,

Your Z6 did way better than the Nikon D810! The last 2 photos (Z6) was it paired with the 300mm f2.8? I'm curious to know whether 70-200mm or 300mm was used.

Have you tried the 'standard' setting under 'high ISO NR'? It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison of the 'standard' vs 'high', I believe the 'standard' setting doesn't over process the jpeg image where they look over smoothed. I think you beautifully captured the action.

Be safe,
Rick

Grahame Loc: Fiji

You're doing well.

What AF mode were you using this time, and did you find you had better results with the Z6 than your first attempt?

From my observations of these and the previous ones you could consider the following;

a) Change to 'Standard' high ISO NR from 'High' as already mentioned, you may find the increased detail favorable to minimal noise.

b) As the images you have posted so far show no signs of 'subject motion blur' consider dropping the speed slightly and closing down the aperture to slightly increase DoF maintaining the same exposure.

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

tshift wrote:

Indoors is so tough. They don't look too bad. Think the 300 was a little better. Keep trying. I am going to go as soon as the basketball games resume LOL. Keep posting. Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Thanks BE SAFE!!

Tom

Thanks Tom,
I had a quiet Xmas. Hope you had a great one! I agree, the 300 was better and indoor sports are a lighting nightmare. I can't wait for spring
Have a Happy New Year
Stephen

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

mikeroetex wrote:

Great job getting low to eye level. I see a little yellow cast from the halogen gym lights. Maybe white balance? Looks like the Z6 handled high ISO just fine!

Thanks Mike,
Still working on white balance - had a bit of a time trying to adjust white balance at the gym, so ended up doing everything in post. I'm glad you think the Z6 did well with the lighting. I think I will be using it for the remainder of the season instead of the D810.
Have a happy and safe New Year
Stephen

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

jaymatt wrote:

Thanks John!
Have a Happy New Year
Stephen

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

joecichjr wrote:

Fine action shots 🎖️🎖️🎖️🎖️🎖️

Thanks Joe,
Much appreciated. Have a Happy New Year
Stephen

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

TriX wrote:

They look good. My comment (after shooting at least a hundred matches) is to be careful sitting near the mat - the perspective is great, but it’s hard to move quickly when 500 lbs of heavyweight wrestlers come barreling toward you. i Typically use a FF (for high ISO noise), a 70-200 f2.8 wide open, 1/500 (if possible) and auto ISO. In dim HS gyms, it’s not unusual to see ISOs in the 10,000 range.

Thanks TriX,
I'm hoping in the future to sit a little closer - I was sitting kind of far (at the bottom of the stands, about 20 feet away from the mat), so my 70-200 was too short and I had to resort to the 300mm f2.8 I brought with me. I was shooting 1/1000, but may try a lower SS, though some of these HS wrestlers move fairly quick. And, yes, I certainly would not want 500 lbs of wrestlers falling on top of me - I don't move very quickly these days.

Definitely shooting FF and I was using auto-ISO, but got frustrated with the camera underexposing at times, so I just set it at 12,800.

Have a Happy New Year
Stephen

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

rickberns wrote:

Stephen,

Your Z6 did way better than the Nikon D810! The last 2 photos (Z6) was it paired with the 300mm f2.8? I'm curious to know whether 70-200mm or 300mm was used.

Have you tried the 'standard' setting under 'high ISO NR'? It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison of the 'standard' vs 'high', I believe the 'standard' setting doesn't over process the jpeg image where they look over smoothed. I think you beautifully captured the action.

Be safe,
Rick

Thanks Rick,
I think I will be using the Z6 for indoor sports for the rest of the winter season. May have to get a second one (either Z6 or Z6ii) as I will "retire" my DSLRs until outdoor sports resume. I think the Z6 may have done better because - newer processor, better low light capabilities, only 24MP instead of 36, and it has face/eye detection AF (which I think I was using correctly). Definitely had a higher percentage of sharp photos. I don't think I will even bother to submit the D810 photos to MP.

I used my 70-200 initially, but was unable to fill the frame given the distance (about 20 feet) I was from the mat. So I shot about 90% of the meet with my 300 f2.8. I used both the D810 and Z6 with the 300.

I have not tried the standard/normal setting under the "high ISO NR". The next time I shoot (after the holidays), I will do a side-by-side comparison and see how it looks - I will post to UHH.

Have a safe and happy new year.
Stephen

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

Grahame wrote:

You're doing well. br br What AF mode were you us... (show quote)

Thanks Grahame,
I was using AF-C mode - these wrestling photos are from the same set of photos as the blurry ones I submitted in the other post. I am trying to learn how to increase my percentage of keepers.
I did use my Z6 for basketball - using AF-C and wide-area (S) - poor results relative to my D810.
I did a little research and used the Z6 for wrestling - AF-C and wide area (L) - trying to utilize the face/eye detection - and much higher percentage of keepers - better than the D810.

I will change my high iso NR to standard/normal - will do a comparison and post to UHH.
I will try dropping the shutter speed at the next wrestling meet. It is still a fast sport, though not as fast as basketball where even 1/800 seems to have a slight blur.

Have a happy new year
Stephen