At 03:57 AM 12/1/98 +1300, "Dwight Atkinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>I am an amateur photographer with a Nikon N90s. I have been concentrating
>mostly on sports photography of my three nephews and have mostly been
>shooting Little League baseball. My oldest nephew has just started playing
>JV basketball, and another nephew is about to start Junior High wrestling.
>Since I assume flash photography will be prohibited at both events, I am
>looking for a fast Zoom. I'm considering a Nikkor 80-200 f2.8, and would
>appreciate any comments or suggestions. I'm hoping that this lens with 800
>film will be ok for indoor existing light sports photography. Any advice
>would be appreciated. Thanks.
You probably could use a flash at these events. I just got done covering an
amateur wrestling event this weekend and the flashed photos were much better
than the non-flashed photos.
The problem with indoor sports is a light issue. Most high-school gyms are
poorly lit. I typically shoot Fuji 800 and push process (over develop) it for
an effective 3200 speed. You need 3200 speed film to get 1/250 @F2.8 in many
gyms. Some gyms might let you get that at 1600. The second problem with gym
lights are they have a horrible color balance.
80-200mm is a good focal length for these sports. As the players are near you
in basketball or if you can shoot from the mat edge, 80mm is sufficient. If
you need to shoot an adjacent mat, or mid-court basketball, the 200mm end is
sufficient.
Other options would be the 85mm F1.4 and the 105mm F2 lenses. They buy you a
couple of extra stops which will help you get away with slower films because
3200 speed films are pretty grainy.
Now to the flash.... There are two ways to use a flash: as a primary light
source and as a fill flash to the ambient light. If you use the flash as a
primary light source, you will get dark backgrounds, washed out foregrounds and
what looks like a big cone of light. I personally find it unattractive. The
flash duration is pretty long and you can get ghosting due to player movement
even at 1/250.
My preferred way to use a flash is as a fill. I still shoot at 3200 and dial
my SB-26 back to -2.3 EV. This creates a small, fast pulse of light that will
help freeze the action, balance and pop the color and improve the overall
crispness. For basketball, I might even dial back all the way to -3.0. The
-2.3 is what I use for football.
So here are my settings for Basketball/Wrestling:
80-200 F2.8D
SB-26 dialed back between -2.3 and -3.0
Fuji 800 @3200 and push processed
If you want to see some wrestling examples using this technique, look at
http://www.mpgn.com/~rwm/portfolio/sports/indoor/index.html
Rob
