Got a SB-600......Volley Ball Thursday night.....help

I am use to shooting with a Sunpak 544 set to 5.6 in Auto mode when I was using

my Minolta film 35 cameras. Before picking up this SB-600, I was just boosting

the power on the D50 internal flash and was able to get some usable shots for

the local Rag.

 

I must say I am not sure where to start with this flash. :confused: I notice

the different modes and would like to stay as Auto as possible, atleast to

start. I see a TTL-BL, but was thinking just TTL mode for starters and then

just let the flash do its thing. I will be using a Nikkor 18-70 3.5-4.5 G ED

lens. Probably 250th on shutter speed, atleast something to not let the

backround go too dark and hold player movement. This gym is quite dark and even

a 1.4 lens would not work well with the apperature I would have to work with.

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated.<div></div>

Shooting indoors you'll want ttl not ttl-bl. Dragging the shutter will help lighten the background but you'll eventually get some ghosting around your subjects if you drag it too far. The flash will freeze the action regardless of the shutter speed. Upping the ISO will help you pick up some more ambient light.

Ditto Paul - TTL, not TTL-BL. You want to be able to manually (or sorta manually)determine the shutter speed to minimize ghosting.

 

With a slow lens and dim gym lighting your choices are more flash, higher ISO or a little of both. As I recall the D50 has good noise characteristics above ISO 800.

 

With a tilt head flash like the SB-600 aimed straight forward there is some risk of redeye. It will depend on your distance, the person being photographed and other factors. If you see too much redeye, trying changing your distance or shooting height a bit and adjust the zoom suitably.

 

The worst redeye effect I've gotten was with a 300/4.5 AI on my D2H with the SB-800 aimed straight ahead to subjects about 50 yards away. Everyone had vampire eyes. I switched to bounced and/or diffused flash which solved the problem, altho' flash output was affect. I had to shoot at full output and wait longer for recycling.

 

At close range, a few feet/yards away, no problem with a 35-70/2.8 and SB-800 aimed straight ahead, with and without diffuser, on TTL.

 

When I've shot indoor school sports - mostly basketball and volleyball - with flash I've very seldom seen problems with redeye regardless of lens, altho' I tend to use nothing longer than a 200mm and prefer a midrange zoom.

 

Parallax may be another factor here that affects results.

Thanks. I will give it a try on TTL. I have delt with red eye before, either removing it with PP or just going B & W for the newspaper. I am wondering if a bounce card might help some?