Girls volleyball with new camera

Mitchell

Just took my new D2X out of the box yesterday and my daughter asked if I would take some pics at her volleyball game. This is a bad combination! Complicated new camera with multiple focusing options, the worst indoor gymnasium lighting I have ever seen, and 10 year old girls who are just learning how to play volleyball.:dunno Needless to say, I didn't get very many keepers. Just got a lot of stares at this monster of a camera held by some guy who didn't look like he knew what he was doing!:huh

Steve Cavigliano

Mitch,

Ya done good This is probably the toughest condition to shoot. Action in a poorly lit gym. I think you did well for your first time. Believe me when I tell you that it does get better

I don't know what lens(es) you used, but this looks like it was the place for fast glass. I was going to add a point in Ben's VB thread but I didn't Basically, as you progress up the educational ladder the lighting gets progressively better. High School gyms are usually better lit than Grade School or Jr High gyms. College gyms are lit better still. The lighting in the gym you were shooting in looks like it was in the EV6-EV7 range. This means that even using ISO1600 and an F2.0 aperture you'll be able to get speeds of
1/250-1/500. Use an F2.8 aperture and you're down to 1/125-1/250. It's tough to freeze motion at speeds lower than 1/400, or so

Volleyball is a good sport for lower speeds though. It's usually possible to catch players at the top of their jumps and get sharp results even at 1/125. This speed won't freeze the ball or other moving players, but it can work. The best solution is to pick up a F2.0 or faster prime. I don't know how the Nikon's 85mm F1.8 range suits you, but if this lens is anything like it's Canon counterpart it will give you better results.

Other ideas you may, or may not, find useful:
Do a manual WB - it will speed post processing and your review images will look better in the LCD.
Use RAW - it will help you fine tune WB and allow you to "push" marginally under exposed shots during conversion.
Concentrate on one area of the court - especially with younger players, as they don't do much around the net and seem to chase the ball around more than older players Plus, you can set your focus area and switch to MF. So anytime there's action in the "area" all you have to do is fire away.
Use bursts- stay with your target and shoot 2-6 frames. You will not only catch more action, you will have a better chance of getting sharp results. Maybe not in the 1st frame or two, but most of the others should be.
Use Focus Tracking or AI Servo - I don't know about Nikon's version of AI but it seems to work better if the subject tracks parallel to the lensface. It's tougher with the action coming right at you

Good luck and please share some shots from her next game

Steve

Mitchell

Steve,

Thanks for your great comments. Nikon does make a highly rated 85mm, f1.8D which would probably be a big help for me. Do you think this would have enough reach to make it a worthwhile purchase?
You are right about the gym lighting at this level of play. I kept looking around to see if the few lights were actually turned on!

mereimage

Cav....
Good advice.......................................Mereimage

Steve Cavigliano

Mitchell wrote:

Steve,

Thanks for your great comments. Nikon does make a highly rated 85mm, f1.8D which would probably be a big help for me. Do you think this would have enough reach to make it a worthwhile purchase?
You are right about the gym lighting at this level of play. I kept looking around to see if the few lights were actually turned on!

Mitch,
On my 20D I get a 135mm FOV with the 85mm. Perfect for any shots on the end of the court I am shooting from. Not enough reach for the other end of the court though On your camera, the FOV would be more like 120mm's. So if you position yourself well, the focal length should be just fine. If not, look for something in the 100-135mm range with a max aperture of F2.0. I know the Nikon 135mm F2.0 is a nice piece of glass, but it's almost 3 times the 85mm's price :uhoh Does Nikon offer an F2.8 100mm?

Steve

Mitchell

Steve,

The Nikon 105mm, f2 is about the same price as the 135mm, f2. Both of these would be nice to own, but I can't really justify the expense right now. I suspect the 135mm would be my first choice. I'll keep my eyes open for an irresistable deal on the net.

Thanks