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hi guys!

we're recently covering a badminton cup (yesturday and today 1pm ---> later):). i'm using my 50mm lens as thats my only lens with large aperture. my photos doesn't seem to 'snap', the best i can achieve is the photo below, is this good enough?



more photos here: http://www.myphotodb.com/gallery/thumbn ... p?album=52


any tips or workaround for this? i'm using only the available as my light source as flash will distract the players

I guess that kind of depends...are they good enough for what? Are you shooting them for the local paper, for fun, to give to the families of the players, to sell later on? It makes a big difference.

The photos all look slightly overexposed to me. Sort of washed out. I think that it is probably crappy existing light. Should be fixable in PP.

I agree that this particular pic isn't really sharp. Is this being shot at the widest aperture? This lens seems to work best at 2 or 3 stops higher than the widest. I think that there are some others that can give you much better info than me, this is just for starters.

dooda wrote:I guess that kind of depends...are they good enough for what? Are you shooting them for the local paper, for fun, to give to the families of the players, to sell later on? It makes a big difference.

The photos all look slightly overexposed to me. Sort of washed out. I think that it is probably crappy existing light. Should be fixable in PP.

I agree that this particular pic isn't really sharp. Is this being shot at the widest aperture? This lens seems to work best at 2 or 3 stops higher than the widest. I think that there are some others that can give you much better info than me, this is just for starters.

thanks for replying!

sorry, actually by good enough i mean, are the photos sharp enough, i know its not sharp, and i want to ask for some helps/tips as to how to go about it using the 50mm lens. most of the shots, i used f2.8, then i tried using shutter speed priority, ISO 640.

will try out --->

This lens seems to work best at 2 or 3 stops higher than the widest.

later.


any other tips?

From looking at the bat it would appear that you used a slow speed on this shot - it might be an idea to increase the iso to accomodate the aperture you want to use and the speed to catch the action.

sirhc55 wrote:From looking at the bat it would appear that you used a slow speed on this shot - it might be an idea to increase the iso to accomodate the aperture you want to use and the speed to catch the action.

thanks for the additional insight!

i was tempted to increase the ISO while shooting, but at the back of my mind, NOISE prevented me from doing so. so, i just sticked with ISO 640. For let say, 4r or 5r prints, do you think they (photos at ISO 640 or 800) will come out 'ok'?

 btw, what do you guys recommend AF-S or Af-C when shooting these types (badminton) of shots? I'm also using Dynamic AF area switch to the right (on portrait shots, its the one of top).

Really depends on the lens! If it's a slow-focussing lens, then AF-C might have it hunting too much. Otherwise AF-S, but I'd be tempted to go with manual focus, as long as you have the time.

In terms of ISO vs noise, a blurred or otherwise crappy shot will always be worse than a noisy shot. Just make sure you don't underexpose, or the noise will see much worse.

I think the speed of your 50mm should be OK.

A bit of blurring around the racquet head or hand should enhance the shot anyway.

F2.8 or wider will help to isolate the subject against the background.

Make sure you have WB and exposure set OK and get as close to the action as possible.

Then, post some more pix!

i tried Af-S and AF-C, i think AF-C works well with action shots, you have to do some panning. I only use Af-S when the player is standing still. i got mixed results, dont know why, even though i got heard the beep (focus locked), sometimes the pix doesnt come out sharp at all.

will try to post some pix, if i can find one thats is acceptable.


thanks a lot guys!

if i remembered correctly, i used 1/125 f1.8 ISO1600 for the two shots above, ISO1600 ---> super noisey!! that's why i posted only the small version of the pictures here.



The shot below, did a little PP, and USM

From my experience of using this lense for film focus is both fast and very sharp (at f2.8 and up) .. i'll let you know how it goes on the d70 in a few days. As for the shots above all could do with a bit of warmth, try Saturation set to + and color mode IIIa. Unfortunately the light in the room looks pretty bad and you get a fair amount of motion blur at 1/125 (plus the grainy ISO1600!) which works well in some shots (1 & 3) and not at all in others (2) ... I know its poor form but maybe you could use the flash at 1/500 .. at least for "friendly" matches?

I would prefer the wider aperture at lower ISO as the grain I find is a little distracting compared to the softness of wide Apeture. That is subjective though.