MMA FIGHT

[kazcwezs66]

Hey everyone. ill be watching an indoor fight from the stands fairly far away. im bringing my xsi with the 55-200 is lense. if i were shoot in manual modes what do you think would be best for clean crisp action shots as far as apeture and shutter speed? the cage should be well lit. i could shoot in the action mode but i would prefer to use manual. i just want the pictures to look good and not miss shots playing around with the settings. thanks!

[RickyH]

If shooting on M, Its all going to depend on the lighting in the building. The more light, the quicker shutter you can use (which is best). Also, if you are going to be fairly far away, shooting through the cage is going to be difficult. I've sat cage side in the photo pit for several shots & typically use a 70-200 from right there for tighter shots. If you've got an option, I'd get closer.

[timberlakephoto]

the biggest problem with mma is the cage, you need to be close enough to the fight to blur the cage, this requires being much closer.

Lighting is very spotty at fights, rarely what would be ideal for us.
I used to fight so I've always been able to shoot from up close, but last year I shot one at a large venue in Denver & didn't feel like moving away from where my friends had seats, the pictures were poor & it wasn't worth the effort.

Where are you planning on shooting? I've shot a lot of venues, may have a tip or a guy to talk to for you to help get a bit closer.

[sant430]

the biggest problem with mma is the cage, you need to be close enough to the fight to blur the cage, this requires being much closer.

Lighting is very spotty at fights, rarely what would be ideal for us.
I used to fight so I've always been able to shoot from up close, but last year I shot one at a large venue in Denver & didn't feel like moving away from where my friends had seats, the pictures were poor & it wasn't worth the effort.

Where are you planning on shooting? I've shot a lot of venues, may have a tip or a guy to talk to for you to help get a bit closer.


proximity is soooo important with cages.....try to get as close as you can....

[ChrisRabior]

You're going to have a hard time.. do the best you can, but don't be too disappointed if you don't come back with shots like what you've seen from SnapLocally or any of the other great MMA shooters on the forum.

What you really need is a seat right against the fencing of the cage, with a nice fast prime to beat the crappy lighting. The 55-200 is from 2 to 3 full stops too slow for what you'll be doing.

+1 to what timberlakephoto said. You're probably going to be disappointed with the results and put it away halfway through. Unless you get some sort of vantage point that looks over top of the cage, you'll be shooting through a cage that's within your lens's focal range.. so manual focus might serve you best.