Can't get my priorities straight

Going to try some shots at my daughter's volleyball game tonight and I'm not sure which would be the best priority setting for my 20D - Aperture or Shutter. I've played around with both Tv and Av settings, but not experienced enough to know which is better light-wise for an average indoor gym.

I realize I can try both settings tonight and use the more appropriate one next time, but I am trying to maximize the amount of time I get to watch as well as learn to take decent pictures.

Manual.

Find a shutter speed, aperture and ISO combination which work (bearing in mind you will be shooting moving subjects), then stick with it. Lighting is unlikely to change during the course of the game, but the colour and brightness of subjects in your field of view will. Shooting manual in this situation will ensure you have consistent exposure regardless of whether you're shooting someone dressed all in white or a player wearing a black uniform.

nvm.

You will need to stop the action so shutter priority (Tv) is better here and set a fast speed of 1/500th., letting the camera decide the f/stop.
However you will need to set the ISO much much higher than in good light outdoors - the gym lighting will be way down on outside! - this will depend upon the maximum aperture of your lens (this is why Canon make all these f2.8 zooms and f1.2 prime lenses.............)
Set the ISO to at least 800, or 1600 even.
It's all a balancing act, you may need to drop to 1/250th. if the light is low or you have a 'slow' maximum aperture lens; but be prepared to discard lots of images.

PS. Advice given previously above is good, but I get the impression that you aren't happy away from the semi-auto modes and may struggle to balance all the variables using manual.

Omaru wrote in post #8560941
nvm.

???

dawgfan wrote in post #8560984
???

I was about to suggest something like this:

Tv Mode, 1/125th, use flash, 2nd curtain sync.

But I realized you'll be shooting inside a gym and I wasn't sure if flashes were allowed.

Sorry. I just got it as nevermind...I'm a newb on too many fronts.

i really don't get why so many people are afraid of shooting in manual... that's what i do 99% of the time, and 100% of the time when the lighting is not changing (like this situation)

Not afraid of manual...I was advised to use one of the above settings. While I am learning, I tend to follow the instructions friends or forumites are willing to toss my way.

Years ago I had a Minolta SRT-201 that was fully manual and did fine with it. Too bad I did not retain the knowledge into my senior years.

PaulB wrote in post #8560972
I get the impression that you aren't happy away from the semi-auto modes and may struggle to balance all the variables using manual.

Possibly, but in a situation like this I personally find the opposite to be true and manual to be the simplest way of doing things. The lighting is consistent, as are the shutter speeds you need. Aperture is probably going to be more determined by the lack of light and the lens' capability than having a choice about the DOF.

Find a decent exposure, stick with it and you don't have to worry about, say, using Exposure Compensation when different subjects trick the camera's meter.

in a situation like this, whichever lens you use, you want to have your aperture wide open (since you'll probably be far enough and having a too narrow DOF is not a problem) and a decently fast shutter speed to stop motion so you just set those right away. so then the only thing you really have to change is your ISO, and you can just do that by seeing what your meter says and firing off a few practice shots. problem is, you probably have to have your ISO really high to be able to use a fast shutter speed and in turn, you might be unhappy with the results...which is why sports photographers use cameras with good high ISO performance and also long lenses with large apertures, which amounts to lots and lots of $$$.

so what'd you end up doing?

Wow. What a complete failure. I'd have done better to go auto and get some decent shots...but I'm trying to learn the correct usage of my camera. I set it on manual and played with settings during the game that preceeded ours. I started with an ISO of 3200, 1/500 at f/2.8. Everything appeared too dark so I progressively adjusted my way to and ISO of 200 so I could see images. The stupidest thing on my part was setting at 1/30 and f/2.0 and not realizing I couldn't steady it...duh. Needless to say it was a disaster. Looking forward to our next game Tuesday and I'll try a couple of lenses and obviously more settings.

Do you find that your on-camera images appear dark during the shoot , then you lighten with software after that fact?

Use that 85, spin that flash up and pop pop -- im sure you'll be able to use flash =/ 800/1600 iso will do alright. if u got some basic editing software just turn the clarity down in it a little. should look good -- u won't be sitting on the bleachers I suspect?

I'd go with M also, take a couple test shots. If it's not working out spin it too TV. You'll be able to figure it out in time for some good shots =)


I shot in gyms a lot back when I first started shooting with my little xti. no one ever bothered me when I used flash. Hell most people were afraid to question me.

Max ISO, Manual all the way, and consider manual focus, too.

You may be surprised........

I find in difficult lighting situations manual is the best way to go. The semi auto settings cause the camera to jump around too much, and you will find that different colors will cause the settings to change.

Use your 85 or 50 wide open. I also pick a decent shutter speed to capture the action and adjust ISO for the correct exposure. Maybe start around 1/250 or 1/320. If there is enough light to shoot at ISO 400, maybe go up to ISO 800 and shoot with a faster shutter speed.

With a 20D I would try not to go above ISO 800 unless it's your only option to avoid too much motion blur. Remember that noisy pictures are usable, blurry ones are not.