Looking for tips on indoor sports action shots?

Buchanan0204 · 10 Dec 2012 at 03:17

I'll be photographing some badminton which is obviously indoors and in pretty poor lighting conditions. It's dim to stop the players getting dazzled by bright lights.

I'm looking to take action shots, mid air smashes etc where they swing the racket extremely quickly and move very quick.

Any tips? I can be as close or as far away as I like.

I'm a beginner and don't really understand aperture no matter how much I read up on it. I understand though I will need a high ISO and a fast shutter speed.

Cheers all for tips.

gary996 · 10 Dec 2012 at 09:49

Also a fast lens

iamtheoneneo · 10 Dec 2012 at 09:55

fast lens, something with reach maybe - alright saying you will have a high shutter count, but if your lens is naff your not going to get very far unless you pump the ISO to unacceptable levels.

Nexus · 10 Dec 2012 at 13:19

I think a 'fast lens' is just going to do a complete flyby on the OP though if he doesn't understand aperture.

londonbairn · 10 Dec 2012 at 13:38

What equipment you using?

cokebottles · 10 Dec 2012 at 13:40

Aperture is the the "hole" in the lens that lets the light through. You can change the size of the hole. You do that by altering the F number using your camera to different values eg. F7.1, F5.6, F2.8. The smaller the number, the bigger the hole (aperture). So F1.4 lets in more light that F5.6 (a lot more!).

The bigger the hole, the more light that can enter the camera. The more light you can let in, the shorter exposure time (therefore faster shutter speed) you can achieve to make a well exposed photograph. That's why lenses with high maximum aperture numbers (lets say F2.8 and below) are often called "fast lenses".

Different lenses have different maximum apertures. So if you see a lens called Canon EF 85mm F1.8 it means its an 85mm which can achieve a maximum aperture setting of F1.8. You may notice a basic lens like the Canon EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 has an aperture range noted. This means the maximum aperture is variable, and changes as you zoom.

You want a lens with a low F number to allow you to open up the aperture a lot, so you can gather as much light as possible in the poor lighting conditions you are predicting. This is more important with sport because as you rightly understood you will need a fast shutter speed (shorter exposure time).

Fixed focal length lenses (ones that dont zoom) are sharper and generally have larger maximum apertures. Depending on how close you want to be a 50mm F1.8 or 85mm F1.8 lens might be a good place to start.

Raymond Lin · 10 Dec 2012 at 13:40

As you need something in the region of 1/500th of a second, i would expect something that looks clean at 3200 ISO with a lens of sub 2.0 aperture would be required.

To do this on a budget then there is not substitue than the 50/1.8, otherwise you are looking at some serious kit.

Buchanan0204 · 10 Dec 2012 at 17:25

cokebottles said:
Aperture is the the "hole" in the lens that lets the light through. You can change the size of the hole. You do that by altering the F number using your camera to different values eg. F7.1, F5.6, F2.8. The smaller the number, the bigger the hole (aperture). So F1.4 lets in more light that F5.6 (a lot more!).

The bigger the hole, the more light that can enter the camera. The more light you can let in, the shorter exposure time (therefore faster shutter speed) you can achieve to make a well exposed photograph. That's why lenses with high maximum aperture numbers (lets say F2.8 and below) are often called "fast lenses".

Different lenses have different maximum apertures. So if you see a lens called Canon EF 85mm F1.8 it means its an 85mm which can achieve a maximum aperture setting of F1.8. You may notice a basic lens like the Canon EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 has an aperture range noted. This means the maximum aperture is variable, and changes as you zoom.

You want a lens with a low F number to allow you to open up the aperture a lot, so you can gather as much light as possible in the poor lighting conditions you are predicting. This is more important with sport because as you rightly understood you will need a fast shutter speed (shorter exposure time).

Fixed focal length lenses (ones that dont zoom) are sharper and generally have larger maximum apertures. Depending on how close you want to be a 50mm F1.8 or 85mm F1.8 lens might be a good place to start.

Thank you very much, that's an excellent description and has helped me a lot.

Buchanan0204 · 11 Dec 2012 at 00:24

Can anyone recommend me a lense at a sensible price for a Nikon D3100.

cokebottles · 11 Dec 2012 at 00:31

Buchanan0204 said:
Thank you very much, that's an excellent description and has helped me a lot.

No prob buddy.

On a Nikon you will do much worse than a Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 DX lens. This will give you a fast aperture with a "standard" field of view. You then also have the 50mm F1.8 G and 85mm F1.8 G.

D.P. · 11 Dec 2012 at 04:03

cokebottles said:
No prob buddy.

On a Nikon you will do much worse than a Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 DX lens. This will give you a fast aperture with a "standard" field of view. You then also have the 50mm F1.8 G and 85mm F1.8 G.

The 35mm will be far too short for indoor sport, the 85mm f1/8 G will be much more suitable.
The 50mm may work if the OP could get up right close

cokebottles · 11 Dec 2012 at 09:07

I suggested the 35mm, as the OP said it's badminton and he can get as close as he wants. So using a 35mm court-side to get full/half body shots is quite feasible.

Energize · 11 Dec 2012 at 18:50

I need f/1.8 for ISO 3200-6400 at 1/500 on my D5100. Indoor sports has to be the most expensive thing to photograph! For an f/2.8 zoom I'd probably need a full frame.

I mainly use the 35mm prime.