Shooting indoor soccer - out of focus issues

Bought a Nikkor 1.8 50 mm to shoot my son's indoor soccer & hoops games with my

D50.

 

The lens is fast enough to shoot using aperture priority at 1.8-2.5 which gives

me 1/125-1/320 shutter speeds. However it seems as though many of the shoots

are out of focus; not blurry though.

 

I'm guessing this is due to shallow depth of field?

 

I switched the focus from dynamic to single (center) & it didn't seem to help

much, actually maybe a little worse.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I sure wish I could afford a longer 70-210 range fast lens; they are so bloody

exspensive!

 

Any suggestions for a tele extender that is good & resonably priced?

 

Thanks

Can you show some sample images? usually the shallow depth of field will give you soft

images but not blurry images.

 

Is your focusing point on the subject? Can your camera/lens keep up with the fast moving

subjects?

 

You can check the used market for a longer lens. I wouldn't recommend a tele extender

for

your 50.

 

I'm sure others with more experience than me will chime in.

yep, depth of field so shallow definitely makes focus critical, while things are changing so fast on the court! What ISO are you set at? You might want to try using full manual, as opposed to Aperture priority, and set the ISO at between 800-1600, depending upon how poorly the gym is lit (typically, these gyms are really crappy, light-wise). I'm shooting indoor soccer, and am using a 50mm 1.4 and an 85mm 1.4, typically between f2 & f 1.6. I nixed using my 70-200VR, for two reasons: I only get f2.8, and this much reach in what seems like a small space gets to be slow & cumbersome--the smaller primes do much better, at least for me.

I just got back from a day at the gym, and was getting decent results with the following:D2x @ 1/320, f1.8, ISO 1250. I also seem to get better results focus-wise, using group dynamis focus mode, or even closest subject priority.

These of course are just my opinions, but you might want to plat with similar settings to see if you like what you see.

How do I post? I added two examples to my workspace.

Gary -

 

I looked at both of the images and noticed two things:

1. They are in focus - Just not on what you want...:-) Try switching to continuous © on the camera body and a single point focus - I usually use the center point. One potential problem is that the 50 mm is not long enough to be able to center or highlight a single player.

 

2. There is definitely some motion blur occurring. I'd recommend pushing the ISO to 1600 and going in shutter priority mode with a minimum of 1/320.

 

Dave

Ditto to Dave--look at the image & you'll see something in focus... I forgot to mention the continuous focus setting--that's a must with things moving so much.

David's reply is dead on, I use continuous and the center focus point on my D200.

This what I did this weekend . 70- 200mm f2.8 fill in flash 250th sec f 5.6 1600 ISO.

made sure subject in the middle on frame .<div></div>

Thanks, I'll give that a try for my next shoot.

 

I do think a longer lens would allow me to more precisley pick my object to be in focus.

 

Only other lenses I have is the Kit 18-55 3.5-5.6

& 55-200 4-5.6 VR.

 

Both to slow as far as I can tell.

the indoor season is well upon us and the constants of lousy lighting and ISO grain are ours to deal with!!!

 

I've shooting mostly HS basketball, some ice hockey and on my D70S I set: ISO 1600, continuous AF, and 'C' shooting mode, manual 1/320 & f2.8 using a 70200 2.8 Sigma and Tamron 2.8 17-55, and sometimes Nikn 50 1.8. With the 50 I open up to 2.0 or 2.2. I think 1.8 has just too narrow DOF for sports action. At 2.8 with the others, and a D70s ...well, there's quite a bit of noise to clean up with Neat Image.

The other 'kit' lenses you have are not much help for inside shooting, at all. The 50 is good for under or left/right about 10' from the basket. Sit on floor, set a lower than middle focus point and shoot verticle. And, whatch out for loose balls!! Those basketballs are hard!

 

The tele converters slow down AF, you loose 1 1/2 -2 stops of aperture, usually recommended for lenses longer that50mm - maybe 85 and up. I attached one to my 70-200 and AF was much too slow for shooting youth soccer, outside. Almost doubled my blurry rejects!

 

So, start saving your nickles & dimes and get some 'good glass', as they say. The Sigma 70-200 f2.8 is about $800 vs Nikons $1600, which does have VR. But I've read that that is not much help shooting sports action. There's also a Sigma 50-150 f2.8 that has nice range and good optical quality, which, I think is around $400. My, maybe, next lens is the Nikon 85 1.8.

 

Regards

Steve Hopkins

At say about 5 yards the difference in DoF between f/1.8 and f/2.2 with a 50mm on a DX format camera is about 6 inches (~2ft 6in vs 3ft), but it will give you 2/3rds stop of shutter speed which may be more important in marginal conditions.