Need indoor gym sports advice

[mikedewitt]

Using Digital Rebel. Have trouble freezing action in Gym lighting. In all modes I have tried, the shutter speed is so slow that the images blurred during action shots. Tried Tv, Av, ADep, P and the Auto modes. Tv seems to work best and that best aint good enough. I really need some help here. Any indoor sports shooters here that can shed some light on the subject? (sorry, I just couldnt resist it!) :?:

[Jon]

You've got 3 options:
1) Use a higher ISO setting (with the firmware hack you can get 3200 ISO)
2) Use a faster lens
3) add light
TV is the way to go - pick the fastest usable shutter speed and let the aperture fall where it may as the subjects move in and out of hot spots.

What specifically are you shooting? If it's something occurring in a limited area (gymnastics), using additional lights on light stands may be an option. For something like a basketball game, you'd need to use a strobe for the additional light.

[mikedewitt]

It's volleyball Jon, but Basketball season is around the corner. I'm not familar with firmware, so any info would be appreciated, as would a strobe recommendation. I appreciate your time to provide advice more than you know.

[Jon]

I'm not a DR user, but the firmware hack has been discussed a number of times in the EOS forum. As for strobes, my first suggestion would be to check with the coach(es) about whether they'll bother the players. Are you working from the sidelines or in the stands? The Speedlite 550EX or 580EX should have enough power to handle most of your shooting with a 100-200 mm lens and ISO 400.

[mikedewitt]

I work from the sidelines. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Spoke with a friend of mine who recently retired after 30 years with the paper. He sympathized. Said that gym lighting is the bane of all shooters regardless of lens speed and concurred with your flash advice and assessment. Thanks Jon.

[robertwgross]

One small additional problem is color balance. In many gyms, the ceiling lights are really bad for color whiteness. If this is noticeable, then set a custom white balance when you get there.

---Bob Gross---

[KartGirlsMom]

I am most definatly not a pro, but have taken many a indoor sports photo. I agree with what everyone else says. You are going to need atleast a f2.8 lens, preferrably faster to have any shot (get it, that's a pun :-) ) of getting a good indoor sports photo. Most sanctioning bodies do not allow flash photography.

[mikedewitt]

At least f2.8 is right. Flash is not an option is right. Looking at faster lenses is definately the ticket here. I've been working with the camera in manual mode, and may be seeing soem results. I'll post my findings as soon as I'm confident that I've figured some thing out. Thanks.

[Reminisce]

Yep as mentioned there are things you can do. Im assuming you are using the kit lens, which is not a good lens for any kind of indoor photography (I learned this the hard way yesterday but I managed).
You're going to need a good fast lens as mentioned, about f2.8 or so to compensate for the below-average light. I'm planning on picking up the Fifty as my first lens (50mm f1.8) which I have seen in action and takes absolutely fabulous motion and low light photos.
The only downside is you'll need to move in on the action to get what you want since it is a prime lens, but assuming you are working with the kit lens (18-55), its the same thing really, plus you have a 1.6x crop so its effectively zoomed in a bit more than a 50mm on a non-cropped cam (pros correct me here if I am wrong).

[mikedewitt]

Thank you, thats definately the direction I'm going to go. I sure appreciate the the advice.