Best Settings for Martial Arts / Wrestling

[KBCPhotos]

Looking to take pictures mat side of grappling / wrestling. I have 2 lenses available and prefer to use these vs. purchasing other lenses at this time. I have a 50mm 1.8 AF-S and a Sigma 18-200 AF.

Most of these events take place in a high-school gym. What are some good settings to start with for these photos.

 

[tirediron]

"Good settings" are entirely dependent on the conditions at the time; without knowing any more than you're shooting in a gym, it's VERY difficult to say. Based on my experiences in high-school gyms, I would expect to be using ISO 3200 and hoping for 1/250 at f2-2.8 from the 50mm. The 18-200 is going to be very limiting in terms of maximum aperture.

 

[zombiesniper]

I have limited experience i a gym setting but last time I borrowed a flash because I knew I wouldn't have good enough lighting.
If this isn't an option then for martial arts I'd use the Bruce Lee setting and for wrestling Hulk Hogan.

 

[manaheim]

Gym's tend to be lit HORRIBLY and most camera/lens combinations will have a hell of a time keeping up. If your camera handles high-ISO well, crank it up. You're also most likely going to need far more zoom than you expect, so that 50mm may not do the trick... which is unfortunate since the 1.8 would help with the lighting.

Another trick is to put on a flash, put the ISO up FAIRLY high--- like say 1600. Point the flash at the ceiling, and fire away. You'd be surprised what the high ISO can give you with that, assuming you're not TOO far from the subject.

(*waves to John*)

 

[tirediron]

Heyyyyyyyyyyy it's the window-licking bunny! Long time no talk!

 

[jaomul]

I'd imagine if you use a flash in this scenario you'd be evacuated fairly fast. If you are very close you probably have the best chance of catching some action. Is there auto iso on your camera? If so I'd be in manual with a the largest aperture possible at the focal length required if on your zoom and a ss of 1/250 at least. I took some photos at a boxing match recently and I needed 1/400 Sec. If the 50mm turns out to be a good length I'd set that to f2.8/3.2 and see how you get on, continuous focus mode

If no auto iso I'd try and get a setting as described above with the iso as low as it allows. Set to shutter priority and whatever iso requires, likely iso 3200. The aperture may close a bit if the light fluctuated but it shouldn't change that much. Fast lenses are your friend here, as said above the 18-200 may not be great for these conditions

 

[manaheim]

Of all the potential automatic settings on a camera, the one and ONLY one I tell people to NEVER use is ISO. ISO can have a drastic effect on the quality of your images, and cameras will tend to push it to whatever ridiculously high number it is capable of, regardless of what it can REALLY handle.

 

[jaomul]

Of all the potential automatic settings on a camera, the one and ONLY one I tell people to NEVER use is ISO. ISO can have a drastic effect on the quality of your images, and cameras will tend to push it to whatever ridiculously high number it is capable of, regardless of what it can REALLY handle.

To each their own. I find myself shooting in manual mode with auto iso a lot recently. Optimum aperture, optimum ss, with a hovering iso that can be set to a limit. This can be very handy for shooting moving objects where blur is a no no, but a bit of noise might be accepted

 

[astroNikon]

Of all the potential automatic settings on a camera, the one and ONLY one I tell people to NEVER use is ISO. ISO can have a drastic effect on the quality of your images, and cameras will tend to push it to whatever ridiculously high number it is capable of, regardless of what it can REALLY handle.

You can always set you MAXImum ISO level for AUTO ISO for what you are comfortable with.

Shooting indoor soccer, just in one game my ISO ranges from 1600 to 6400 (set to never exceed 6400) on my D600. It all depends upon which way I'm pointing for the ISO. I'm normally at Aperture f/2.8 and 1/400-500 Shutter.

I never use AUTO Shutter nor AUTO Aperture. I want those settings the way I need them for proper DOF (Aperture) and proper action stopping (Shutter). I'd rather have ISO noise than blurry. But I usually don't have a problem unless there's no lights (outdoor) and it gets late.

Shutter = 1/400 Aperture f/2.8 AUTO ISO = 2500
Stopped the motion, with Ball Blur/motion, and very minor foot motion. f/2.8 Separation with background and max light gathering.

 

[Denon]

I would go for ISO of 1600 and shutter of 1/160 to start with. Grappling is a "slow" martial art so you may have a slower shutter speed than if you shot boxing etc.

As a lens I would choose the 50mm and go for F/2.5 as long as the light allows me.

Good luck!