High school field house setting

[donaldg]

Having difficulty getting consistently clear pics with my new 2.8/70-200 IS inside different event centers taking volleyball pics. Shooting a new 20d.

I have had some luck using Tv 400/1600 ISO, but other times with the same setting I get blurred hands and other fast moving objects.

Need some help y'all.



Don

[sashman]

First of all, get a clue on what and how you are doing, what do those ISO, 1/400, Tv, Av, P, and auto things mean on your camera. Understand what happens in the camera, it shouldn't be a black box for you, understand what's inside it and how it works.

And regarding your query, shooting sports events require sensitive film, fast shutter speeds and bright lighting, so no wonder you have to set ISO1600 high sensivity "film", 1/400 seconds shutter speed in Shutter Priority "Tv" mode in order to obtain bright and sharp shots.
Well, you could have read this from the manual or any decent book on the very basics of photography.

[Rufford]

Hey Don,

I understand your frustration here. High school gyms are notoriously poor lit. What you may want to give a try is this: instead of using tv 400, give the AV section of the dial a try. This will set your aperture at whatever you want and adjust the shutter according to the cameras meter. If you set your lens at f2.8 you will get the fastest shutter speed your camera thinks it can give you.

The problem may not be your choice of settings though. The gym you're shooting in may just be too dark for an f2.8 lens. If you have a faster prime, you may want to give that a shot. Even at 1/400 you will see some blur on things that are moving really fast. It's not uncommon at all to get some blurry shots. Even you moving while pushing the shutter will cause blur.

Don't be afraid to ask questions here, you can really learn a lot. Most people are more than willing to help other photogs out.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions,

Rufford


sashman: Try to be a little more understanding with people, will ya? When you first started shooting you probably didn't know the ins and outs of your camera either.

[ponder]

Donaldg,

I used to shoot a lot in poorly lit fieldhouses when I was in high school shooting for the newspaper and yearbook. I used to shoot almost everything with flash and 400 ISO film as there was no such thing as digital back in those days. You might try using a flash instead as the higher the ISO the more grainy your image will be especially at 1600 ISO. Flash for a volleyball game or basketball game will really make your images pop with the added contrast and the action stopping ability too.

Good luck and try posting some of your image to the contest site in the future.

Ponder

[sashman]

ponder: The flashes in your days were much more powerful, than those found integrated in modern cameras for many reasons (power requirements, heat dissipation, size constraints). So donaldg, use an external sync'd flash.