Set up help

[anderson8923]

Would like some feedback on a camera set up for shooting gymnastics. Does anyone have a set up they use while shooting gymnastics. I am shooting a Canon Rebel xti with a Canon 70-200 f2.8. I know every lighting situation is different, but if anyone has a base they start with that would be great. Thanks.

[Kristian]

Av-priority set to lowest possible aperture, ISO 800 as a start, AI Servo.

F/2.8 might not be enough, so you should get yourself a prime some time ( 85 f/1.8, 100 f/2.0, 135 f/2.0, 200 f/1.8 ). It really helps.

[bwolford]

I shoot gymnastics a LOT. that F2.8 is sweet, but I find myself using my 100mm F2.0 and my "manual" zoom to get the best results.

I try to keep ISO to 800 and set as low an apeture as I can to shoot around 200-320.

Brice

[Lacks_focus]

Gymnastics is very hard to shoot for all of the things you've mentioned. The light is often poor and inconsistent. Some gyms have windows making it even worse because as the day goes on, the available sun light drops and the settings you were using are now out the window! Gotta keep checking your light. Even some of the uniforms make it difficult. My daughter's last gym team had black leotards with gold sequined long sleeve arms! Not so good!!! This year, her team will have medium toned red, white, and blue. Should be better. I use the center-weighted meter mode, or spot when I had my 1n film body. Not sure what the XTi has for modes. I stay away from the multi-segment mode. I think it helps to get the subject properly exposed without much regard for the often bright walls in the back ground. I have only shot film for gymnastics, so I can't help you with WB. I used Fuji films with the "4th color layer" for indoor sports. The white balance was pretty decent. In any case, I would just scan the negs and use PS to adjust just like we do with a digital camera. I have shot youth hockey in digital, and I personally find AWB works pretty well in that situation. I don't see why it wouldn't in gymnastics as well. I know it is probably more accurate to use a custom WB, but in the inconsistent light, I would never remember to update it! The other big issue is timing. Like any sport, you should be familiar enough with the routines to anticipate what's next and when to pull the trigger. I am shooting my daughter's first meet of the year this Sunday, so I'll have my first go at it since switching to digital... More to follow, I guess.

I am surprised to see aperture priority recommended though. I just assume that in sports, you would naturally use shutter priority or manual. Is there a reason? Is it just open the lens and let the cam set the fastest shutter it can? I may give that a try!

Oh.... DISCLAMER! I am just your generic gym dad that has a kid to shoot! As you certainly know, they don’t have meets often enough to get much practice. Hockey is every week, so I am more comfortable with that. One idea I have is to attend her new home gym on some regular practice nights to shoot a few pics. I hope to get better at my timing this way. Her new gym seems more receptive to that sort of thing than her old gym was. Maybe you could try the same thing. That could be a good way for us armature shooters to get better at this.