Action Shots...

[d96j97]

Hi everyone...

I am in need of a great photographer's help! My DH and I are combining our Christmas gifts this year and breaking down to get a new SLR camera. We are looking at the Nikon D5000 but are actually clueless if this is the camera we need. I have had quite a few wonderful point and shoot cameras that take wonderful outdoor pictures, but have yet to take a good indoor picture (although I'm kinda picky).

My MAIN question....what are your recommendations for a camera that will take great sport/action shots. I am particularly interested in something that takes NON-BLURRY pictures during my boy's basketball games and cross country meets. I know that someone recommended to me the Nikon, but said that I needed a certain lens. I would LOVE to know the secret to taking an awesome action shot of my boys on the court.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!! Thank you!!!!

 

[fan1080]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the camera will not be the defining solution. The photographer makes the shot, not the other way around. A good photographer can get a shot in just about any situation, with many different cameras, including some point and shoots.

If you really want an SLR, you will need to learn about exposure, and how shutter speed, aperture, ISO and lens help in various situations.

If you have the time and budget (you can literally spend thousands of dollars on fast zoom lens alone) to learn about an SLR, any of the leading brands is a good choice. If you don't have the time or budget for an SLR, stick to the leading brands high end P&S.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[mom2rtk]

Most cameras will do well outdoors in good light, like at a track meet.

If you are photographing sports, then it's important to have something with no shutter lag. I think any of the DSLR's should work for that.

Basketball is another matter. I think it's one of the harder sports to photograph. You are usually not close enough to the action for your flash to hit the subject. And you are indoors, typically under flourescent lights. At least with a DSLR you CAN upgrade your lens later if you like, perhaps to the relatively inexpesive "nifty fifty" 50 mm f1.8 lens. Those can be had for around $100.

I'd be curious to hear what some of the more advanced photographers here suggest for basketball photography.

 

[lap3]

Taking pics of a cross country meet shouldn't be a problem because there should be ample lighting for that...you just need to practice your panning. Basketball, however, is a bit tougher. Having a lens with IS (Canon) or VR (Nikon) will help a lot. I would suggest investing in good glass rather than spending it on the camera body. Having a good lens will make the difference and achieve the shot you're looking for.

 

[disneyboy2003]

My MAIN question....what are your recommendations for a camera that will take great sport/action shots. I am particularly interested in something that takes NON-BLURRY pictures during my boy's basketball games and cross country meets. I know that someone recommended to me the Nikon, but said that I needed a certain lens. I would LOVE to know the secret to taking an awesome action shot of my boys on the court.

The 1st step to getting non-blurry indoor / sports pictures is to get a DSLR. As mom2rtk suggested, any brand's DSLR should be good enough to help you out, whether it be Nikon or Canon (the 2 biggest brand names in DSLR) or Sony, Pentax, Olympus, etc. (buy a Canon! )

The next step is to get a lens with a large aperture (small f-number). A large aperture lets in more light into the camera, and as a result, you can use a faster shutter speed. The faster shutter speed is key to sports photography! Look for lenses with apertures with an f-number of 2.8 or smaller. Yes, the 50mm f/1.8 is the cheapest at $100.

Other options include: (1) 50mm f/1.4, which lets in 2x more light than the f/1.8, but costs $400, or (2) 100mm f/2, for $450. These are all "prime lenses", meaning they don't zoom. Theses lenses are fixed at their respective focal lengths (ie. 50mm or 100mm). If you're willing to spend lots more money, you can buy zoom lenses that have large apertures (small f-numbers). The best/worst example is the 70-200mm f/2.8, which costs $1700. That's what the pros use, and you'll have a lot of camera dads & camera moms surrounding you and drooling over your equipment!

Actually, before you head out to buy all this equipment, be sure to add an Intro to Digital Photography book to your shopping list! Just go to your local bookstore / library, and there are literally TONS of intro books available. I'd hate to see you spend $$$$ on all this equipment, only to keep your settings on "Auto". While "Auto" is pretty good for easy daytime shots, it doesn't do so well with low-light / indoor / sports photography. For example, the camera doesn't know that you want to take pictures of your child's basketball game, so it won't automatically set the camera to the faster shutter speeds. A small $20 investment in a digital photography book will give you vast improvements for the $$$$ you spent on equipment.

The key to sports photography is faster shutter speeds (to freeze the action), larger apertures (to let more light into the camera), and higher ISOs (lets your camera sensor be more sensitive to light). So the slowest recommended shutter speed would probably be around 1/500 sec. The apertures you'll need are f/1.4 - f/2.8. And your ISO should be at minimum ISO 400, although ISO 800-1600 is probably ideal. Again, all this'll be covered in your Intro to Digital Photography book.

I don't have kids' basketball pictures, but I do have some Harlem Globetrotters pictures when they came to town last year. I used a 100mm f/2.0 lens for these photos. Hope your kid's basketball games AREN'T like these! :

​

Hope that helps!

 

[mom2rtk]

I struggled through years of basketball photography challenges. I got a few shots with a good flash,but was never happy with the results. I just got my first low aperture lenses this year (50mm f1.8 and 30mm f1.4), so I'm excited to try them out at my daughter's first basketball games in a couple of weeks!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I hope that guys camera in the bottom picture is ok!

 

[MICKEY88]

Taking pics of a cross country meet shouldn't be a problem because there should be ample lighting for that...you just need to practice your panning. Basketball, however, is a bit tougher. Having a lens with IS (Canon) or VR (Nikon) will help a lot. I would suggest investing in good glass rather than spending it on the camera body. Having a good lens will make the difference and achieve the shot you're looking for.

I'm fairly certain that IS won't help with moving subjects... so it comes down to a fast lens, and high iso for indoor basketball..

 

[mom2rtk]

I hope that guys camera in the bottom picture is ok!

I had the same thought! I'd like to know how that turned out...... I thought at first I must have been mistaken, and maybe it was a bucket of confetti.... but then I looked again........

 

[dmccarty]

Good advice so far except for buying Cannon! Buy Nikon instead.

Reading some of the advice might seem overwhelming but you can a decent DSLR and lens(es) and learn how to use them.

DSLR's are just computers to which you mount a lens. Computers increase in function and drop in price or the price remains the same. Lenses do NOT change very much over the decades. The big changes to lenses after Auto Focus have been motors, vibration reduction and tweaks to the optics.

Put your money in a decent DSLR that will get the job done but put more money in the lens.

I have wanted a 80-200F2.8 lens for almost 20 years but never needed it enough to spend the dollars. In that time Nikon has had around 5 lenses that are 80-200/F2.8 or 70-200/F2.8. The latest 70-200 lens is about $2,000. I can buy a new 80-200 lens for about $1,100. For me the newer lens just is not worth double the money. If I had bought the 80-200F2.8 lens I wanted back in the 90's I would still be happy.

Lenses don't drop in value either over time unless a newer, updated lens is announced. A DSLR will drop in price pretty quickly as better cameras are announced. I still have and use the lenses I bought for my film camera's back in the 90s. I have only bought one lens since selling my film bodies to go digital.

As others have mentioned your biggest problem is going to be the low, horrible light in the basketball court. The track events should be fine if you keep the shutter speed up around 1000. My old and sold D200 would not even with good fast lenses take photos of my kids basketball games. It was just too dark. I hope my D700 will have a fast enough ISO but it is going to be interesting.

A problem with taking photos of sports events is access. Its hard to get a great photo from the stands if someone stands in front of you. Or you are sitting very far away and your lens is not long enough.

A D5000 is a decent camera with a small sensor aka DX. I would look at getting a 50mm/F1.8 and or the 85mm/F1.8 lenses They have a chance of working in the gym. Maybe. There are F1.4 versions of the 50mm and 85mm lenses but the 85mm is much more expensive. The 50mm/F1.4 is not too bad money wise but it just might not make a difference for you.

If you have a store near you the rents equipment it would be a good thinkg to try before you buy. You could see if the lenses I mentioned will work for you. There really is no way to say until you try the equipment out at the location.

Then there is the photo processing software....

Later,
Dan

 

[bob100]

I'm fairly certain that IS won't help with moving subjects... so it comes down to a fast lens, and high iso for indoor basketball..

I believe it was in the context of shooting sports at a distance so having IS on a 200 or 300mm lens makes a big difference. sure, fast glass and high ISO and long focal length is a winning combination - but expensive!
Canon

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

All of today's dslr's are reasonabley fast as far as shutter lag....even fps(most new camera's ar coming out with 4/5 fps)
If you want to shoot sports, you need fast glass. That is basically the bottom line. People can talk about iso and shutter speed, but in the end; without fast glass, you won't be very happy with your results.
IMHO if you really are serious about this, invest 1k in a good f2.8 zoom lens(canon and nikon both have a flagship 70-200 lens that is to die for) Don't forget to check sites like Nikonians, they have a great buy/sell/trade forum where you may find something at a reasonable price.

my .02

 

[MICKEY88]

A problem with taking photos of sports events is access. Its hard to get a great photo from the stands if someone stands in front of you. Or you are sitting very far away and your lens is not long enough.


Later,
Dan

the key to that is arriving early and getting front row seats, it also helps to be friendly with home team fans,, several times I just nicely asked if I could squeeze in, so I could get good shots, and the fans were always helpful, part way thru the season last year, people started saving me seats...LOL

 

[MICKEY88]

I believe it was in the context of shooting sports at a distance so having IS on a 200 or 300mm lens makes a big difference. sure, fast glass and high ISO and long focal length is a winning combination - but expensive!
Canon

actuallly for HS basketball I used my 28-75 2.8,,,, longer lens was too much for a small gym

 

[wenrob]

[/CENTER]

This gave me heart palpitations!

 

[MICKEY88]

All of today's dslr's are reasonabley fast as far as shutter lag....even fps(most new camera's ar coming out with 4/5 fps)
If you want to shoot sports, you need fast glass. That is basically the bottom line. People can talk about iso and shutter speed, but in the end; without fast glass, you won't be very happy with your results.
IMHO if you really are serious about this, invest 1k in a good f2.8 zoom lens(canon and nikon both have a flagship 70-200 lens that is to die for) Don't forget to check sites like Nikonians, they have a great buy/sell/trade forum where you may find something at a reasonable price.

my .02

a 70-200 is too much lens for most of the HS gyms I've shot in...

 

[MICKEY88]

This gave me heart palpitations!

I had thoughts of an upgrade compliments of the globetrotters..

 

[disneyboy2003]

I hope that guys camera in the bottom picture is ok!

I had the same thought! I'd like to know how that turned out...... I thought at first I must have been mistaken, and maybe it was a bucket of confetti.... but then I looked again........

This gave me heart palpitations!

I'm not sure of the details of what happened. I was only in the audience.

This woman photographer was going around the stands taking pictures of people and taking pictures of the Globetrotters. I don't know if she's a local photographer or if she's with the Globetrotters themselves.

But, yeah, she got SPLASHED with water. Goes to show...not only do you need FAST glass, you also need FASTER reflexes.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

a 70-200 is too much lens for most of the HS gyms I've shot in...

I think it would be great for those shots that you want to fill the frame with one or two players. I would think that focal length would be decent in a school gym. You only need so many wide shot of the game imho.

 

[Golf4food]

I think it would be great for those shots that you want to fill the frame with one or two players. I would think that focal length would be decent in a school gym. You only need so many wide shot of the game imho.

But then there is the fact that many are of the opinion that actions shots are better off shot a little loosely and then cropped later so the wider angle is not a bad thing.