HELP__Low light action shot while not using my flash?

franchise · Sep 6, 2005

Low light action shot while not using my flash? Help, can it be done.

My camera -- I have a Nikon D70 digital SLR. Using the Nikon 70-300mm lens.

My problem -- At a recent gymnastics competition (my daughter) the lighting was not very good and out of consideration of the gymnasts flash photography could not be used. So do to my limited knowledge of setting my own shutter speed or aperture I was limited to just putting my camera on the pre set setting such as action or night. Almost all of my shoot came out blurred. Can anybody here offer suggestions to make my next situation like this more successful?

Thanks in advance

Randog · Sep 6, 2005

This is a hard one. The problem here is that you need a fast lens to shoot in this low light condition with out a flash. First you need to support the camera some how either by a tripod or maybe an isle support. There are many ways to do this second part but I would suggest that you set your camera's ISO setting to 400 or more. I would then switch the camera to AV mode "aperture priority" and set the aperture to the largest maximum F/stop eg. F4.0 and let the camera choose the speed. However youre probably going to need more speed to catch the action so you may want to go to full manual again here you are going to want to choose your largest maximum aperture and your fastest speed for the light conditions, possibly anywhere from 125 to 500 depending on the light. Without a flash and indoors with low light action shot is going to be hard for it not to blur or be too dark. This is my humble opinion; maybe one of the pros could answer this better.

ajmall · Sep 6, 2005

i'm no pro but a fast lens and minimum iso of 400 is a must for indoor action shots. either a 2.8 telephoto or short zoom which are great for all round photography as well as indoor action. or alternatively, nikon have a 1.8 50mm and 80mm lens which is a lot cheaper than the previously mentioned and are crisp lenses. the 50mm and 80mm don't forget will effectively be 75mm and 120mm respectively due to the 1.5x magnification factor so you can get closer to the action.

a possible way round it without buying another lens would be to keep the lens at the shortest focal length to enable to the widest aperture and simply crop the images where necessary afterwards. obviously this would reduce quality for prints and enlargements but it's a compromise.

240shorty · Sep 6, 2005

I don't personally shoot a Nikon, but I've had similar troubles with poorly lit gyms and basketball shots. It's easy to get blur-free shots that are underexposed or properly exposed shots that are blurry. I use manual settings. Max ISO, Max aperture, and the slowest shutter speed without blurring. Not sure what those are off hand. I've found the Auto settings even for action or night don't quite cut it in reduced light action shots. Next time try to arrive early and get some practice shots in on the other gymnasts or warmup. I'd err a bit towards underexposed if I had to. These can be edited later on the computer. You'll never fix a blurred shot. Best of luck.

LWW · Sep 6, 2005

This is a case where having a good old fashioned 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 around would do wonders and they are available CHEAP anywhere, especially the 1.8's.

They are also a verrry decent lens as far as quality goes. For well under $100 you can have the 35mm equivalent of a 75mm 1.8 which would be a fairly expensive lens.

Another good choice would be a 35-70mm 2.8 but it's going to cost a good bit more. If you don't mind spending $500 or so a used 80-200mm 2.8 is also an awesome choice but indoors at those speeds it's going to be a little unwieldy

I would try a monopod on a 50mm 1.8 shoting at ISO 400 and f2 or 2.8. This should get you 1/60 and maybe 1/125 shutter speed which should be fast enough and with the monopod you would still be able to stop down farther when you wanted to.

I hope this helps.

LWW

ksmattfish · Sep 6, 2005

To freeze a running, swinging, leaping, etc... gymnast you will need a very fast shutter speed. Probably 1/500th at the minimum; maybe even faster. As you increase your shutter speed you'll need to compensate somewhere else to get the correct exposure.

Open the aperture up more (low f/#). Zooms are usually very slow (f/4+), so get a fast prime lens (f/2 or less).

Increase ISO.

Increase ambient lighting.

Use a flash.

Try to shoot at the peak of the action. Sometimes as people are leaping or flying through the air there are moments when they slow down, particularly when they are changing direction (such as the moment between going up and coming down). Learn to anticipate these moments.

will turner · Sep 6, 2005

if you are using digital you could set a high iso etc... and a fast shutterspeed so it underexposes the shot but there is no blur, and you can fix it in photoshop, but that is a last resort.

jstuedle · Sep 7, 2005

My experience tells me that underexposing at max. ISO is asking for a lot of noise. I shoot a D1X and reduce the noise by using an EV of +.03 at max. ISO. The D1X's max. ISO is 800. (without the 1-2 stop boost) Your camera can shoot at 1600 max. with as much noise as mine at 800, so it's an advantage. The only way I have had ANY luck shooting inside gym's is with a 80-200 f/2.8, or a 300 f/2.8. VR will not freeze motion, so that is not an advantage for sport shots. I think with the higher ISO you can shoot at, you are gaining a stop on me, so your 70-300 at f/5.6 winds up a full stop slower than I can shoot at. I only have about a 20% sucess rate in our poorly lit gyms, so I would expect your rate to be in the 5% range, or 1 in 20 shots being acceptable. That is providing your gym is as well/poorly lit as ours. A few of our gyms permit flash during events, you might give that a try. You will need a good zoom flash to give you some range.