Badminton anyone?

mgardner wrote in post #8991324
If your staying with an aperture of 2.8, you will only gain one stop. In other words you will go from 1/30" to 1/60". You need about three more stops than that.

Really? even with ISO 3200? Is that why you mentioned my 50mm 1.4? but 50mm is so limited to shoot sports...

Once we get all three values, then we can figure out what will work and what won't. Take that picture (or use a meter if you have one) at ISO 3200 and f/2.8 and tell us what shutter speed yields a properly exposed image.

After that, the calculations are easy.

Just out of curiosity, which mode should one usually shoot with when shooting sports? for my instance I guess... Av or Tv? or manual?

Joonrhee, good try, badminton is hard to shoot.

The stadium you were shooting in looks pretty bright for a badminton stadium, so you should be able to get some god shots.
You need to use the fastest shutter speed you can to stop the motion blurr. Some blurr in the racquet, hands is ok but you want to get the face sharp as a point of focus.

If you know how to shoot manual do it, you will have better control.

I will run you through what I do when shooting a sport like this.

In Manual, first thing you need to do is set a high ISO on your 50D that is 3200, then set your apeture at 2.8 or 1.4 with your 50mm.
Now change your shutter speed to obtain the correct exposure it will be somewhere around 1/320th maybe a little higher or lower. You will have to change the shutter speed if you move to a new shooting position or the light levels change.
Setting your exposure up this way will give you the fastest shutter speed in the light you are shooting.
Use the AI SERVO focus to track the players using one of your focus points (try to focus on their head), and use high speed shutter. When the player is about to hit the shuttle press the shutter for a quick burst of say three shots. Also use the IS on your lense if using your 70-200.

OR you could use AV mode set your ISO to 3200 and your Apeture to 2.8 or 1.4 with your 50mm. The camera will automatically decide the fastest shutter speed available while maintaining the correct exposure. Use the AI SERVO to again track the player and use high speed shooting. And again use a quick burst of shots when the player is about to hit the shuttle. You will not need to change a thing if you move or light levels change as the camera will change the shutter speed for you to maintain the correct exposure. And use the IS on your 70-200.THIS WAY WOULD BE THE EASIEST FOR YOU IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE MANUAL PROPERLY.

Because you will not be able to achieve a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action(in both manual and AV) you will still get blurr in the hands, feet and definately the racquet. The only way you will get the player, racquet fully frozen is at a slower point in the action eg when they come in to the net to play a drop or lift or when they are serving.

The gear you are using is perfecty capable for sport your lenses are fantastic for this stuff. I use pretty much the same gear as you. Same body and 70-200 2.8 but the non IS.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you. Will be shooting heaps of badminton next year once the season starts up so keep your eye out!
Any questions PM me and will get back to you when I can.

Cheers
Daniel

Daniel, why do you recommend using IS? It seems to me if he achieves shutter speeds necessary to minimize motion blur, camera shake won't be an issue.

Goatydude. Thank you very much for such thorough explanation!! It was not confusing at all and very helpful just like mgardner's advices. Thank you both very much!!

Why, to make sure things are steady.

If he shoots at 200mm he is going to need at least 1/320 for a steady shot if shooting hand held, although everyone is different depends on how steady you are or if you have some support.

Generally you need the equivelent in shutter speed as the length of your lense. ie if shooting full frame and shooting at 200mm you would need 1/200 to stop/minimise blurr from handshake/slight movement. Because he is shooting with a 50D he will need 200x1.6(1.6 being the multiplication factor of the sensor size) which equals 320 or 1/320. Which indoors my guess he will be very borderline in achieving, may achieve more may achieve less (last time I shot badminton 1/320 was all I could achieve, depends on the light levels) If he uses a shorter length say 70mm well he just wont need it. Someone will flame me here for a poor or just plain wrong explanation, never said I was an expert, but works for me.:p

Anyway if your going to pay the big bucks for the technology why not use it when it can help get that steady shot in borderline/tricky conditions.

Cheers
Daniel

I agree with your explanation. I actually forgot about the crop factor.

By way of example, the last five photos at the bottom of the attached link were all taken in the following ranges:

1/500-1/640
1600-2000
f1.6-f1.8

I was using the Canon 1D Mark III with the 85mm f1.2 lens.

I'm not saying they are great photos but they might give you an idea of what's required to capture fast action in poor light.

https://photography-on-the.net …10000&highlight​=Badminton

rab wrote in post #8996887
By way of example, the last five photos at the bottom of the attached link were all taken in the following ranges:

1/500-1/640
1600-2000
f1.6-f1.8

I was using the Canon 1D Mark III with the 85mm f1.2 lens.

I'm not saying they are great photos but they might give you an idea of what's required to capture fast action in poor light.

https://photography-on-the.net …10000&highlight​=Badminton

Wow... 1/500-1/640... that's nice. Which mode were you mainly shooting with? Av or Tv? or manual? I'm assuming you didn't have to go higher on ISO since your lens accomodated up to 1.2 for faster shutter speed?

rab, good job! lighting must have been pretty good. Hard sport to shoot that net is just in the wrong spot.

goatydude wrote in post #9000209
rab, good job! lighting must have been pretty good. Hard sport to shoot that net is just in the wrong spot.

Light was pretty poor actually. Only half were on to conserve energy or rather money!

joonrhee wrote in post #8998327
Wow... 1/500-1/640... that's nice. Which mode were you mainly shooting with? Av or Tv? or manual? I'm assuming you didn't have to go higher on ISO since your lens accomodated up to 1.2 for faster shutter speed?

Only Tv, and didn't go lower than 1.6. Very little depth of field with 1.6 and even less at 1.2.

we recommend using M mode for badminton.

in an indoor gym, the lighting is pretty constant near the ground. experiment and find a ISO/shutter/aperture that gives a good exposure and stick with it.

using M has the advantage that the shutter speed and aperture will be predictable. if there are sudden bright spots like if the shot happen to see a light, it won't make the subject totally dark. where if you use Av/Tv mode, it will close up the exposure and the subject will be underexposed.

in most local gyms, you should expect to use f/2, ISO3200, and depending on the gym itself, shutter speed from 1/250 in dark gyms, to 1/640 in brighter ones.

in international stadiums, there is an extra stop or two of headroom.

badminton shooting is fun but very difficult as the action is super fast, and the gyms are usually super dark. it stresses both equipment as well as the photographer's skills.

our recommendations for lenses for badminton in local gyms are always primes. primes that will do f/2. the best that we have found are: 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, and 135mm f/2L. you cannot go wrong with any of them.

keep trying!

Great info. Thank you very much!! Will definitely consider your recommendations next time.