need help to take a good light picture in gym room

[Naruto]

Hi,
I have a Canon XTi 400D.
My lens is Canon EF 28-135 mm IS.
Last week, I came to an event which is Midwest Kendo Tournemant and try to take some good pictures. But they are really bad. It was in a gym ,the baseket ball court, of a high school. I tried to use Tv mode to take sport picture (at 1/200), but then it's really dark even there are many light sources in the gym. I tried with increase the exposure but it still not work.
My question is is it the limit of the lens I have? Will a L lens be better? What should I do to have a better light? I don't think the flash will work here because the gym are large and the distance to the court is far.
Best regards,
Thang Nguyen

 

[Jaszek]

look at the aperture. It depends what L lens also. YOu can get the 50mm 1.8 for about $80. since the aperture is so large you can get good low light pics

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

It would help diagnose the problem if we could see some images.

Although our eyes think that gyms have plenty of light...they usually don't.

I'm guessing that if you used Tv mode and set 1/200...you aperture value would be at max (4-5.6) and probably flashing at you in the viewfinder. This would mean that your lens's max aperture isn't big enough for that shutter speed and the amount of light...so you would end up with underexposed images.
You could have put the camera into Av mode and set your largest aperture (F4-5.6) the camera would then give you the fastest shutter speed that will get you proper exposure...the problem would then be that the shutter would most likely be too slow and you would get blurry images.

One solution would be to raise the ISO. This will give you faster shutter speeds in Av mode or give you more exposure in Tv mode (at max aperture).
The trade off is that you get more digital noise but that is probably better than blur or dark images.

My question is is it the limit of the lens I have? Will a L lens be better?

Not necessarily an 'L' lens...but a 'faster' lens will help. A lens with a larger max aperture. As mentioned, the 50mm F1.8 is less than $100. The 70-200mm F2.8 L IS, would also be a good choice but it probably costs twice what your camera cost.

 

[Samanax]

The EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens really isn't good for indoor photography, you need something with a bigger aperture opening. Depending on how far you're shooting from you might be able to use a prime lens (fixed focal length) as they tend to have large aperture openings (between f/2.8 to f/1.2).

There are some zoom lenses that have a fixed aperture of f/2.8 that may work but it really depends on the amount of light you're working with.

 

[Naruto]

This is the my first post, and I really like this forum. Just in a short time I got a bunch of answers. It's amazing :thumbup:. I know my gear is not good enough. I did try with my friend camera which is Nikon D80 use fixed lens 85mm. It gave amazing quality pictures. Now I understand more about what appenture is good for

Thank you so much for your answers

 

[Samanax]

For more information about aperture, read this.

To learn more about exposure, read this.

Digital Photography Tips For Beginners.

 

[Dantheman4334]

This is the my first post, and I really like this forum. Just in a short time I got a bunch of answers. It's amazing :thumbup:. I know my gear is not good enough. I did try with my friend camera which is Nikon D80 use fixed lens 85mm. It gave amazing quality pictures. Now I understand more about what appenture is good for

Thank you so much for your answers

you can try shooting in raw next time. It will allow you to bump up the exposure a stop or two, though it will give you some grain.

 

[Naruto]

I am thinking buying the Canon 50mm f1.4. But some of review I read about this lens say that the focus points will die soon after the warranty expire. Do you have any experience about this?
Oh, and I don't sure if it's good for sport like my case or not?

 

[Samanax]

The focal/focus points are in the body, not the lens. Not sure what that review is talking about.

 

[Naruto]

The focal/focus points are in the body, not the lens. Not sure what that review is talking about.

It's about the auto-focus function on the lens. I found it quite common on Amazon review.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Standard-Medium-Telephoto-Cameras/review/product/B00009XVCZ/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar]Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras[/ame]

By the way, do you think is it good for my case about which is sport in door?
There is another one which is Canon 85mm f1.8. This one has same price.

 

[Big Mike]

I know several people who have that lens and I've never heard of a problem with it...I wouldn't worry about it.

The 85mm F1.8 is also a good lens and will give you more 'reach' than the 50mm....so if you can't get close to the action, then it might be the better choice.

 

[Samanax]

I know several people who have that lens and I've never heard of a problem with it...I wouldn't worry about it.

All my Canon shooting buddies have the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM and none of them have had any problems with this lens. I plan to pick one up soon (I have the EF 50mm f/1.8 II and just want something a little more durable).

The 85mm F1.8 is also a good lens and will give you more 'reach' than the 50mm....so if you can't get close to the action, then it might be the better choice.

A few of my shooting buddies use this lens more than anything they own. They swear by it. I plan to pick one up after I get the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.

 

[Naruto]

Hi,
I have a question about the appenture.
A term I usually heard about is stop point. What does it mean? Is it the point where the appenture open at the defined setting for examp f/8, f/11?
Thanks,

 

[Katier]

For martial arts I think you really need to get as close to the mat you can. I'd probably use a single on cam flash to try to freeze the movement with the shutter running at the fastest synch speed.

 

[ShutterSpeed]

i've become convinced that even the 1.8 aperture isn't enough for a lot of locations - without using too much ISO.
Personally, I prefer to keep ISO at 200 or less and if the lighting is really good 400 at max.

however, my 1.8 lens just isn't cutting in locations that are clearly well lit....i'd like to go to the 1.2..but those are expensive...so i've got a long range goal right now to get the 1.2 for settings just like that.