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Shooting action in a gym
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May 17, 2019 09:22:47   #
gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast
 
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that, since shutter speed is critical and high ISO creates grain, could you shoot in RAW and purposefully underexpose a few stops to keep your shutter speed up and your
ISO down and then fix exposure in post? I think I’ll try this in some dim light situations and see what happens. How much ISO change equates to an F-stop, or is there a direct relationship? I’m thinking that I could set the shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode and then drop the ISO from metered for my underexposure.

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May 17, 2019 09:32:41   #
via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP
 
Will these people be running around the gym? I don't see that gym action would be a big problem as far as shutter speed unless they are speed lifting! Use a variable ISO and f/8 or f/11 and see what you get, then reset as needed. You'll need sharpness on the subject so opening the aperture too wide may not work, unless your goal is to focus completely on one person working out and then an aperture of f/5.6 or so would work. A non focused background depends on many variables including how far away you are from the subject and how far away the subject is from the background. Experiment.

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May 17, 2019 09:37:02   #
MT Shooter Loc: Montana
 
gvarner wrote:
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that, since shutter speed is critical and high ISO creates grain, could you shoot in RAW and purposefully underexpose a few stops to keep your shutter speed up and your
ISO down and then fix exposure in post? I think I’ll try this in some dim light situations and see what happens. How much ISO change equates to an F-stop, or is there a direct relationship? I’m thinking that I could set the shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode and then drop the ISO from metered for my underexposure.
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that,... (show quote)


There is no substitute for the right gear when shooting action in a gym. I shoot high school basketball and volleyball for my daughters school. My combo is my Nikon D750 and my Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 lens. It works great and I only need ISO 3200 to shoot at 1/1000 sec and freeze the action. No post processing ever needed. With my D850 I have to go to ISO 6400 but still never any noise to worry about.
None of this is easily achieved with a crop sensor body but the D500 comes very close at ISO 3200.

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May 17, 2019 09:57:30   #
bleirer
 
You get noise from the underexposed image that offsets the gains from lower iso. No free lunch. You can reduce the noise to a degree in post.

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May 17, 2019 09:58:39   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
I don't think that is the way to go. I am shooting in an inclosed area tomorrow, a wind tunnel to emulate sky diving. If my theory is correct I will be setting my camera in Shutter priority with ISO on automatic. Aperture about f/5.6. If I have to I will adjust further with the + or - on the exposure dial. I probably will have some amount of noise to deal with in the post production but not as much as your theory. I have different programs to use for noise. My normal goto program is Noiseless Pro.

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May 17, 2019 10:38:41   #
imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida
 
gvarner wrote:
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that, since shutter speed is critical and high ISO creates grain, could you shoot in RAW and purposefully underexpose a few stops to keep your shutter speed up and your
ISO down and then fix exposure in post? I think I’ll try this in some dim light situations and see what happens. How much ISO change equates to an F-stop, or is there a direct relationship? I’m thinking that I could set the shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode and then drop the ISO from metered for my underexposure.
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that,... (show quote)


Assume you are using the crop frame 7200 you have listed and YES to most of what you are asking.

You will need a decently fast lens especially for focusing if not also for shooting - but that will depend on your need for DOF and your noise tolerance AND your specific camera sensor's performance. P/P noise reduction results in some loss of sharpness always.
Sometimes, especially for artistic purposes, some motion blur can be tolerated with a slower shutter speed.
.

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May 17, 2019 11:24:54   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
gvarner wrote:
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that, since shutter speed is critical and high ISO creates grain, could you shoot in RAW and purposefully underexpose a few stops to keep your shutter speed up and your
ISO down and then fix exposure in post? I think I’ll try this in some dim light situations and see what happens. How much ISO change equates to an F-stop, or is there a direct relationship? I’m thinking that I could set the shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode and then drop the ISO from metered for my underexposure.
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that,... (show quote)


I don't think the problem will be ISO here. The bigger issue will be flickering lighting. Using shutter speeds shorter than 1/120 can and often does cause uneven exposure and/or color. I am pretty sure the D7200 does not have a flicker reduction mode.

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Photography-Tips/flickering-lights.aspx

https://usefulphototips.com/2012/07/18/photography-under-florescent/

https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/4115/do-fluorescent-lighting-and-shutter-speed-create-a-problem-with-color-cast

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May 18, 2019 06:13:26   #
jcspics
 
I shoot a lot of Gymnastics Meets and love using my (3rd) Nikon D7200 (yeah I love this body enough to buy three of them). Shooting in a gym means learning your gear. I use one of my Nikkor 70-200mm VR Tele-Zooms at 2.8 with AF-C 21 Focus Points, Shutter Speed of 1/500-1/1000 and ISO of 3200-6400 depending on how much exposure correction you end up needing.

I always use Manual Mode then Manually set the White Balance using a gray card and set for jpeg files (usually the smallest size) to give me smaller more manageable files that don't make me deal with converting during post.

This is one of those times when you really need to "getting it right in the camera" so there is very little to no work in post other than exif data, watermarks, etc...

Practice by tracking and focusing on birds flying so you'll think gymnasts are kinda slow and easy to follow in comparison.

Anyway I hope that this helps you out...

Thanks,
Jim Cameron

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May 18, 2019 06:28:26   #
bsmith52 Loc: Northeast Alabama
 
MT Shooter wrote:
There is no substitute for the right gear when shooting action in a gym. I shoot high school basketball and volleyball for my daughters school. My combo is my Nikon D750 and my Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 lens. It works great and I only need ISO 3200 to shoot at 1/1000 sec and freeze the action. No post processing ever needed. With my D850 I have to go to ISO 6400 but still never any noise to worry about.
None of this is easily achieved with a crop sensor body but the D500 comes very close at ISO 3200.
There is no substitute for the right gear when sho... (show quote)


Your settings say a lot about the low ligh capability of the D750. Thanks for sharing MT.

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May 18, 2019 07:28:27   #
billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
 
gvarner wrote:
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that, since shutter speed is critical and high ISO creates grain, could you shoot in RAW and purposefully underexpose a few stops to keep your shutter speed up and your
ISO down and then fix exposure in post? I think I’ll try this in some dim light situations and see what happens. How much ISO change equates to an F-stop, or is there a direct relationship? I’m thinking that I could set the shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode and then drop the ISO from metered for my underexposure.
I haven’t tried this before but I’m thinking that,... (show quote)

Most of today's digital camera's can handle higher ISO's with much less noise than older models.
When I shoot in a gym the first thing I do is arrive early and have my wife stand in the middle and both ends to make sure my exposures are going to be consistent. I meter her face as reflections from the floor can be misleading to your meter. Once I establish my BASE exposure I go to manual and keep that setting. Depending on the action, if basketball, volley ball or gymnastics I like a minimum shutter speed of 1/1000 sec. I up my ISO to cover that speed, and I like to stop down about 2 stops from wide open to handle multiple players being in one shot.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

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May 18, 2019 07:32:00   #
khorinek
 
Instead of underexposing and fixing the exposure in post, try shooting correct exposure and taking some noise out in post. I shoot BB in a well lit gym at 1/800, f/4, 8,000 ISO with good results.

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May 18, 2019 07:34:27   #
Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina
 
Shooting sports indoors is challenging. Flicker can be an issue as can older dimly lit gyms with lights that force the need for custom WB. DOF can also be a challenge depending on the sport and how close you can get to
The action. Higher ISO capable cameras and fast lenses are helpful but fast lenses can cause DOF issues too.

Being familiar with the sport can help in knowing when to be ready for peak action moments. I would not recommend purposely under exposing your shots. Shooting RAW and be prepared to do some PP.

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May 18, 2019 10:20:26   #
mkting1 Loc: Phoenix, Az
 
Steve Perry Wildlife ebook...explains this exact procedure... and after all shooting sport folks in a gym...has a lot of parallels.. as does shooting young Grandchildren.

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May 18, 2019 10:36:46   #
Gorzek
 
5/18/19
I agree that flicker from gym lighting can be a problem with both exposure and color balance.
Attached is a composite of six exposures combined in photoshop. These are from JPEG files, exposed at 1/320 @ f/ 2.8 with an ISO of 3200. The capture was made with a Nikon D810 and a Nikkor 24-70 mm lens.
I capture both JPEG and Raw files, but have not opened a RAW file in three or four years. I am originally a film photographer. Today, I set my digital camera correctly at time of capture. No need to wast time with RAW images. Don Gorzek- Menomonee Falls, WI



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May 18, 2019 10:44:45   #
Toby
 
I disagree with many of the suggestions here. I use aperture priority at 2.8 if possible. This highlights the subject, few are interested in the rest of the players in the gym. Pick an ISO that is high enough to be sure that the floating (or go to total manual) shutter speed never drops too low (via experimentation). I never let the ISO float.

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