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Shutter speed question

brandofamilybrandofamily Registered Users Posts: 2,013 Major grins
edited October 6, 2009 in Sports
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I'm looking for some very basic info and can't seem to find it...
What shutter speed is needed to stop motion for the major sports (assuming no flash)
Baseball (thrown ball or hit ball)
Football (runner or passed ball)
Basketball
Volleyball
Tennis

I've been told 1/1600 for baseball, but for the others I've always used a flash. With the purchase of the D3 and it's Hi ISO capabilities I'd like to take a stab at going flashless...
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    TechvTechv Registered Users Posts: 15 Big grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    Some of this will depend on the age & speed of the athletes involved.
    In general (there are never any hard-set rules :) ), 1/1000th of a second is fine for freezing action for most youth sports photography situations. If you are a photographer covering pro or near pro sports, 1/2000 will be better.

    For indoor, you begin to run into an issue with the cycling color temperature and brightness of gymnasium lighting. Invisible to the eye, the lights in most gyms are flickering at very high rates, cycling from orange to green in color and this shows up when you shoot at high shutter speed. Color balance from photo to photo, and even within areas of a single photo tend to vary.

    Whenever possible, it's best to setup strobes when shooting indoor sports ... as long as they're not a danger to the competitors of course (gymnastics, diving and cheer leading events tend to require shooting without strobe).
    website: techvantics.com
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    beetle8beetle8 Registered Users Posts: 677 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    42
    - Keith
    Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
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    brandofamilybrandofamily Registered Users Posts: 2,013 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    beetle8 wrote:
    42
    Thanks for the chuckle... got any useful info for me?
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    SUMGUYSUMGUY Registered Users Posts: 61 Big grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    How long is a piece of string??? I shoot in the worst light possible (pubs,night clubs) with D300. I can freeze action shots 250/320 and no flash. I have never done baseball cause it's not real big in Australia, but I think you could freeze a ball at 1600 no probs...Light pending!



    brandofamily wrote:
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I'm looking for some very basic info and can't seem to find it...
    What shutter speed is needed to stop motion for the major sports (assuming no flash)
    Baseball (thrown ball or hit ball)
    Football (runner or passed ball)
    Basketball
    Volleyball
    Tennis

    I've been told 1/1600 for baseball, but for the others I've always used a flash. With the purchase of the D3 and it's Hi ISO capabilities I'd like to take a stab at going flashless...
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    beetle8beetle8 Registered Users Posts: 677 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    Just that there is really no silver bullet answer to your question, which was my intent with that answer. Other than some kind of either smart ass answer like mine, or BS answer. Or without a doubt answers like 1/2000, 1/2500 - 1/800, 1/1250 - 1/800 - 1/1250 - 1/2500 respectively for your listed sports and 1/250 for chess.

    The only legitimate answer is that the SS needed to stop action in a given cirumstance is the shutter speed that succeeds in freezing the action.

    I mean you can't distinguish it by little league, high school, and Pro's can you? Tim Wakefield is a pro that floats a Knuckler in at less than 60mph and Roger Clemens was blazing them it over 90mph.

    In regard to your OP that's why you are not going to find this info other than speculation and wide gaping guidelines that will have large amounts of exceptions.

    This best answer for the question you ask will be provided by you after taking lots of bad pictures and learning that for each and every situation you will need to evaluate your aproach to getting the shot you want, and that sometimes you will have to try for a different shot because the one you want is not practically going to happen.
    - Keith
    Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
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    rainbowrainbow Registered Users Posts: 2,765 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    When I shoot HS volleyball and basketball, I try to get from 1/400 to 1/800. Guessing that I will be at ISO 1600 and f/2.0 at many gyms.

    Hope this is useful as a starting point for you.
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    toragstorags Registered Users Posts: 4,615 Major grins
    edited October 6, 2009
    I think the answer is going to be found on the floor where you are shooting.

    You're going to have to magnify on the lcd & read your histogram.

    Available light, how far away are you for fill flash, do you need fast fps.

    You may find that each venue has sweet spots & they may not be to your liking, but you may get your best shots there.

    The more you shoot trail & error, the more you appreciate how courteous we are in our answers to that question.

    Good luck & keep shooting...
    Rags
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