Sports Photography

[bramos1005]

Hello everyone,
I am using a Nikon D40x with a kit lens. I am new to the photo world. I am taking pictures of fights and fighters as they train. It's not a job, but we would like to use the photos for the company I am part owner of.
When I take the pics I get a lot of blurring from movement. What should I do, or purchase to help solve this issue. Any and all help is great. I have tried the sports setting but the results were not that good. I know it might be me. However I would like to know what I can do to help this.

Brandon

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Crank up your ISO and set your aperture as wide as it goes.

 

[ann]

the faster the shutter speed, the sharper the image. as suggested you may need to adjust the ISO with the lighting conditions and to ensure you can increase the shutter speed.

rule of thumb. shutter speed should be faster than the longest focal length of the lens your using.

 

[smyth]

you can do what those above mentioned, but really that kit lens is pretty crappy, and it's slow glass. you might have better luck with the 50mm f1.8 prime lens, which is relatively unexpensive. This will allow you to get more light onto the sensor, and use faster shutter speeds, and allow you to freeze the action.

of course the only downside of that would be that you will have to focus manually, as the D40 does not support auto focus for that lens.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/247091-GREY/Nikon_2137_Normal_AF_Nikkor_50mm.html

 

[bramos1005]

Thanks everyone for those ideas and the speed of your responses. I do need a good lens. What lens would work well for a sporting event?

 

[smyth]

you really need a fast lens, i.e. a lens with an aperture of f2.8 or larger. (remember, a smaller number is a larger aperture)

 

[bramos1005]

What about this lens? What do you guys think of this lens?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=381797&is=USA

 

[firemedic0135]

I dont think that would be fast enough either unless you have alot of light.You should look into a lens that has an aperture of at least 2.8 and 1.8 would be even better so you dont have to crank up the iso too much.If you can get away with it you may want to try a flash but you flash a fighter in the eyes and that could turn out bad, for you and the fighter .

 

[JIP]

What about this lens? What do you guys think of this lens?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=381797&is=USA

That would really not be the lens for you to buy. If you are shooting boxing inside under bad artificial lighting you will need a fast lens. If you are just shooting training you shoould probably be able to get close so really a 50mm1.8 might work very well and be affordable for you http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/247091-GREY/Nikon_2137_Normal_AF_Nikkor_50mm.html.

 

[bramos1005]

so what is a good affordable lens for shooting in a sports event? For the training pics, the 50mm seems like it would fit the bill. I will be at an IFL event in august, so I am trying to see how much I need to save and what would be good for me.