D30 and Action / Sport Photography

[Transfix]

Currently I am looking to expand my collection by adding a D30. I shoot a lot of sport and action photography including college football and basketball.

I have been looking for examples of high speed sport related photography from a D30, but I have been unsucessful. If anyone could link me to some examples or offer some feedback that would be greatly appreciated.

Currently I'm using a Canon EF 300 4.0 IS, and will be adding another Canon 70-200 2.8 USM.

Thanks.

[John Kipling]

Check out this link to see the quality of sports photography that the D30 is capable of.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&page=13&message=1585863

Cheers

John

[philgabe]

With a 300mm 4.0 and indoor sports you'll most likely be dissapointed with the D30. It's not that you can't shoot sport in low light, it's just that you'll miss a lot of good shots, and will end up frustrated. Just a word of warning. Other than that, it's a great digital camera.

Cheers.

Philippe

[Asif]

I shoot sport for a local newspaper using the D30. I use the 70-200/2.8 mainly, wide open at f2.8 all of the time.

I still find the focusing average at best and miss the AI Servo AF of my EOS3.

However, when you get a sharp shot, the quality of the images are excellent.

[Transfix]

Well, for the time being I just got an EOS1-V until the EOS1-D price drops.

[nitwit3]

john kipling wrote:
Check out this link to see the quality of sports photography that the D30 is capable of.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&page=13&message=1585863

Cheers

John

Holy vivid Batman!!! Two incredible shots!! I agree with you, the D30 will handle the job...it takes some practice on the timing however.
But what do I know, I'm Nitwit3.

[seattle chronic]

here are a few more action shots with the d30 and the 100-400L...
http://www.pbase.com/chefhutton

[Cecil Walker]

Here's another set of photos that show off the D30's capabilities. All photos were taken with Brandon.ME's D30 and 70-200mm f/2.8L lens on a Bogen monopod.

http://solo2.reptileracing.com

[Martin64]

More sports pictures from the D30.

http://www.buryfc.co.uk/today/view/news_article_detail/0,1563,10422~124024,00.html

[rojoyinc]

Some football shots (Not soccer ;-) real football.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=4292841845

High school game. I've also used the D30 for HS basketball. It can be tricky - light is usually weak so I'm limited to ISO 1600, 250th and 2.8. And get slightly under exposed images. Upping levels makes them useable but pumps up the noise.

[Martin64]

Real footballers don't need padding and helmets, they're not that soft!!

Americam football is just rugby for nancy boys!! :)

Nice pics though!!

http://www.buryfc.co.uk/today/view/
breaking_news_detail/0,1563,10422~129240,00.html

[rojoyinc]

Yeah the problem with people posting "sports pics for the D30" is they are usually daytime sport shots. (not really difficult)

People who ask about sports want to know how it will handle indoor basketball, night time football, Hockey etc.

I only shoot one event of each of these types of games each year for a local high school. When not shooting in pro sports venues the lighting is weak!

I've shot HS basketball at 250th, ISO 1600 and 2.8 and got acceptable results. I hope to try a F2 lens this year. Same with Hockey. I also shoot one gymnastics event in a very dark gym room. I try to get shots during pauses in the gymnists routines.

Football (as I posted the URL to above) was also borderline. I tried to get all my shooting done early in the season at dusk before the sun totally set. Aftwards the fields lights were a bit weak. Some flash fill could be used, but I don't like flash football shots.

The D30 can pull off low light sports shots if you have a fast lens and shoot a lot of shots... to allow half of them to be dumped.

Whether it can or can't isn't really a camera issue. It's an exposure issue. You need at least 250th to stop action to barely acceptable levels, then you need at least ISO 1600 to get enough exposure... and only then if you have a F 2-2.8 lens.

Pro level sports have better lighting in the pro level venues... so you can get the good far more easily. Exposures of 1/500th or even faster at 2.8 ISO 800-1600 are fairly common and make the task much easier.

So when asking "can the D30 do sports"
It's a pretty vague question, as seen above - YES as long as there is enough light for proper high speed stopping exposure.

[Transfix]

Well as stated in my question, my venues are Football (day and night), basketball (indoors), and baseball (outdoors). All these venues are at the college level.

I will be getting a 70-200 2.8 shortly...my questions involve the D30's performance in a wide variety of events (nature and sports).

How many D30 users here are looking to migrate to the EOS 1-D? I'm looking to get a professional digital SLR from Canon to compliment my EOS 1-V.

Thanks.

[rojoyinc]

I don't plan on a 1D unless the image quality turns out to be better than what I've seen so far.
I prefer the D30 images for portraiture.
I don't shoot much in the way of sports, so fast fps and large multi-shot buffer doesn't mean much to me.

[annika1980]

Transfix wrote:

How many D30 users here are looking to migrate to the EOS 1-D? I'm looking to get a professional digital SLR from Canon to compliment my EOS 1-V.

Thanks.

Me too! Of course coming up with the $7K is gonna take some doing. I like shooting sports with my fabulous EOS-1V as well and am interested in how the D30 will do on shots like this one I took at night with the EOS-1V:

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/riggs1.jpg

[Transfix]

What were your settings / Lens for that night game?

on your 1V do you use CF-17 ?

And what was your metering mode?