I have a Nikon D80 and am trying to shoot action shots of my daughter playing in door volleyball, but because of the lighting it is not as fast as I need it. Does anyone know what I should do with the settings in order to adjust the lighting?
Well, since I assume you can't add lights, you will need to work with the camera settings. A flash isn't going to do you much good unless you can get close enough, and would probably be distracting to the players anyway. So try the following: Step 1: Increase the ISO. Depending upon how dark it is, you will likely need to change it to ISO 400 or 800. of course the higher the ISO the more "noise" in your photos, but I really don't think it will be noticeable for you. Step 2: Switch your camera to Shutter Priority mode (S on the mode dial) and set the shutter speed to at _least_ 125. (Ideally at least 200, but the faster the shutter speed, the smaller the aperture, the less light available). I don't know what length lens you have, but if it is the 80mm kit lens, you should be fine hand holding the camera at a shutter speed of 125. (Anything from 60s and slower will give you camera shake in the photo). Hope that helps. Sometimes you just don't have enough light. :-(
Hi Melissa, welcome to the forum. You can increase the ISO or get a faster lens. A 50mm f1.8 is around $120 new and comes with a 5 year warranty. That works out to be a short telephoto and should still give you a reasonable depth of field from 20 or more feet back. A 1 stop increase in ISO will give you the same increase in shutter speed: 100to200 = 1/60to1/125. A decrease in aperture number will do the same: f3.5 to f1.8 = 1/60 to 1/125. If you do both then you could go from 1/30 to 1/125. The lower the ISO you use the better your photo can be. I say can because a really under exposed shot done at 600 will look worse than a properly exposed shot done at 800. There are also several ways to counteract noise after the fact as well but it's easier if the noise isn't there.
Also, you'll probably have to change the White Balance to "tungsten", I think. It'll get rid of the yellowish cast on the pictures.
I don't think this will do anything for your lighting but it can help with focus. I set my focus to dynamic range and focus area on wide. Helps me in some situations.
I would also try ramping the ISO up to 1600 for a few shots just to see what the outcome is like. I've got a photo of a VW Baja that I accidently shot on 1600 but I still love it so much its been printed and put up in my house. I am a VW fanatic though! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=297890&id=678371815
