Basketball tournament with out strobing

[burstintoflame81]

You could try getting a Canon 85mm f1.8. Then borrow another SLR, or rent one. Keep one with your 50 f1.8 on it for closer shots and keep the other with the 85mm on it. Then crank the ISO up to 800. I have never done this type of shooting before, but without the strobes, its my understanding that you are left with two choices, faster glass, or higher ISO.

 

[iAstonish]

I shoot NCAA basketball as well. I use ISO - 3200, Shutter Speed - 1/500 for the most part.

Pictures can be viewed on my flickr.

 

[NateWagner]

Now, I may be mistaken, but...

Isn't the general focal length/shutter speed rule only for camera shake?

What I'm getting at, is say you have to have 1/250 shutter speed to meet the rule, but if the subject were moving at a speed that could typically be frozen by 1/100 the 1/250 would still freeze the subject. Correct? or would you have to increase the shutter speed because the subject is moving (if albeit somewhat slowly).

 

[burstintoflame81]

Now, I may be mistaken, but...

Isn't the general focal length/shutter speed rule only for camera shake?

What I'm getting at, is say you have to have 1/250 shutter speed to meet the rule, but if the subject were moving at a speed that could typically be frozen by 1/100 the 1/250 would still freeze the subject. Correct? or would you have to increase the shutter speed because the subject is moving (if albeit somewhat slowly).

Its just a good rule of thumb. For instance, stopping action and being as sharp of a shot as you can get, are two different things. Even if you don't have motion blur of your subject, you could have camera shake and the pic looks fine on your 3" LCD but then when you blow it up you realize its a little soft. Atleast thats my take on it.

 

[NateWagner]

right, I know the rule of thumb... but that's not what I was asking.

What I was asking is whether the shutter speed/focal length rule accounts only to camera shake, and has no bearings on to whether or not a certain shutter speed freezes a moving subject.

In other words.. say a subject can typically be frozen at 1/100 and you're shooting with a 200mm lens.

Now, according to the rule you would need to shoot at 1/200 or 1/250. However would the shutter speed need to get faster because the subject is moving? thereby compounding the shutter speed you need to make up? or would the 1/250 shutter speed work for both because it's above both typical requirements.

 

[Overread]

The rule of thumb has no effect on the motion of the subject and applies only to countering the handshake of the person holding the camera.

When it comes to moving subjects the general advice is to shoot as fast as you possibly can! Those who work in a dedicated area can often come up with rough estimations for the speed you need to be above and some have been quoted in this thread - 1/450 or faster for many moving subjects - and I know that speedboats its 1/1000sec idealy from one shooter. There are however lots of things to consider in this as well - panning can let you shoot slower, but still capture frozen motion - whilst some subjects (like cars, bikes and propeller planes) often demend that your shutter speed not go over a certain speed otherwise you lose the blurred motion on the moving parts

 

[NateWagner]

ahh, that's what I thought.

Thanks for the verification.

 

[burstintoflame81]

right, I know the rule of thumb... but that's not what I was asking.

What I was asking is whether the shutter speed/focal length rule accounts only to camera shake, and has no bearings on to whether or not a certain shutter speed freezes a moving subject.

Yes that would be correct. But what I was trying to say is that unless you were purposely going for a soft focus, for some sort like foggy effect or something, why wouldn't you want your shot to ALWAYS be as sharp as possible?

 

[NateWagner]

I agree, going for as fast of a shutter speed as possible is typically idea.

But, consider this,

a person is moving in a relatively low lit place. If I know that I can reliably shoot at Shutterspeed/Focal length then I will quite possibly save the extra shutter speed in order to keep my ISO lower.

 

[burstintoflame81]

I agree, going for as fast of a shutter speed as possible is typically idea.

But, consider this,

a person is moving in a relatively low lit place. If I know that I can reliably shoot at Shutterspeed/Focal length then I will quite possibly save the extra shutter speed in order to keep my ISO lower.

True, if you can hold perfectly still that would be ideal. My explanation was conditional on the fact that there is camera shake and while the 1/focal length deal is a ballpark number, you may be able to go slightly lower, or if you can be perfectly still while shooting, it wouldn't matter much.