Taking Indoor Pictures in a Gym

I have a NikonD70 and have been attempting to take pictures of volleyball action in high school gyms with

no flash allowed. I have played with the settings dial on the camera but the pictures then come out blurry.

They are also coming out too dark an I am trying to get some close up shots. As you may have summized I

am a total beginner so if anyone could offer me some "simple" suggestions to try with the Nikon D70 and

lens I would appreciate it. Please help me, but also keep in mind I don't know much about changing

settings etc. Thanks for your patience and help! :)

John,

 

Set the ISO at 800. Then set the camera for shutter speed priority, and set your shutter speed at 1/250 at least. This should freeze most action. Take your pictures in RAW, auto white balance (gym lights can be weird)

 

Hope this helps.

A plain 50mm F1.8 or F2 lens might be tried, instead of a lowly F5.6 kit zoom .:) Also panning with the action helps too. Prefocusing on known points where action occurs, shooting alot of frames are ancient methods too. Keeping a notebook for each gym visted, its lighting type(s), rules, rulemaker(s) names, helps too. Experiment, experiment!

You didn't tell us what you will do with the fotos. If they're for some kind of newspaper, crank up the ISO and don't worry about noise. Then us the largest f stop you have.

I don't disagree with the previous comments.

 

If you're working with a 'kit zoom' or a short lens like the 50/1.8, volleyball shots are going to work best from behind the net judge (with the zoom in the wide angle end for speed).

 

From that spot, you should be able to shoot some 'down the net' action without having to shell out for exotic glass (though a 50/1.8 helps here....).