How do I stop the action when taking action pictures of sports inside a building with low light? I cannot use flash in some gyms. The camera is a Nikon D7500 and the sport is wrestling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Do you have any current examples you can post so we can see what you're using so far and the lighting conditions? Be sure to store the attachment(s).
You might try AUTO ISO with Shutter Priority, start at 1/500 and advance up to say 1/1600, until you find the speed that works. Unless you have a 'fast' professional lens at f/2.8 or wider, the balance between some motion blur and not too high ISO is an artistic decision. Some actual examples will help in the specifics of the discussion.
(1) High or very high ISO values. (6400+?)
(2) Fast lenses (f2 or faster, you may get away with f2.8 lenses)
(3) Take what ever shutter speed you can get.
The blurred pictures were deleted.
The lenses is Nikon DX VR AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-6.3G ED. I was shooting sports in the scene mode and the release mode S.
Try shooting:
Aperture prioroty
Lens wide open
ISO maximum or near maximum
Take whatever shutter speed you can get.
You may need to shoot raw and do some noise reduction when post processing.
Normally indoor sports is the realm of fast (f2.8) to very fast lenses (f2 or faster)
TriX
Loc: Raleigh, NC
Fastest lens you have (a 70-200 f2.8, or a 135 f2 is ideal), wide open or 1 stop down, 1/250 SS, auto ISO and continuous AF tracking. Be prepared for ISOs of 6,400 or higher @f2.8 in dark gyms. Been doing this for years, and dim HS gyms drove me to FF.
TriX
Loc: Raleigh, NC
Karen Frey wrote:
The lenses is Nikon DX VR AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-6.3G ED. I was shooting sports in the scene mode and the release mode S.
Candidly, that lens is not going to be fast enough at night in dark gyms unless you’re willing to shoot at ISOs higher than 12,800. Indoor sports in dim HS gyms is one of the most demanding situations in terms of equipment. If you’re serious about this, at least consider an 85 f1.8 as a minimum.
...if it’s high school gyms you are shooting in you are going to need a f/1.8 type lens in order to get your shutter speed above 1/500...I usually like shooting at 1/800...the nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G (approx. 128mm on your camera) or the 50mm f/1.8 G (75mm on your camera) will work without getting into big bucks...check your preferred zoom range on the lenses you are using now to help you decide...Sigma also makes a 50-100mm f1.8 art lens but I tend to shy away from second party lenses because of the software issues/changes...
Auto ISO and 500 or up on shutter speed will do it
I had that same lens on my old D7500. Unfortunately its very limited for indoor low lighting use and HS gyms are notorious for bad lighting.
I would look for a prime 1.8 lens (you might be able to find a used one at a reasonable price) and I would start out in Shutter Priority mode to start with.
And I would try the Auto Focus area mode on Dynamic and focus tracking to 3 (normal)
JMO.
Karen Frey wrote:
The lenses is Nikon DX VR AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-6.3G ED. I was shooting sports in the scene mode and the release mode S.
This lens is really not suited to this task...much too slow. However, the D7500 does very well at extreme ISOs, so I suggest you try experimenting at 12,800 or 25,600 and a shutter speed at least 1/500. It won't be magazine quality, but with that lens it's the best you can do. You may be surprised how ell it does.
High ISO to get fast shutter speed, 1/500 or faster is better. Shoot bursts to catch an anticipated pause in the action.
That's a darn good sensor in that camera. Don't be afraid to challenge it with a high ISO.
Karen Frey wrote:
How do I stop the action when taking action pictures of sports inside a building with low light? I cannot use flash in some gyms. The camera is a Nikon D7500 and the sport is wrestling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Use M mode and auto ISO. Set lens to minimum fstop and shutter speed where you need it to stop action; at least 1/250.
If that doesn’t do it for you then you need a recent full frame camera; e.g Nikon Z6. Unfortunately you’ll also prefer full frame lens.
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