Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (
More info?)
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Steve Cutchen <maxfaq@earthlink.net> wrote:
> How to shoot volleyball action shots. I put this together for my
> daughter's volleyball club. I'd appreciate reviews, additions,
> corrections...
Couple of points:
- Megapixel:
The difference between a 2 and 4 MP camera is ... just a 20%
border round the image. It doesn't even double the size ---
that would need a 8 MP camera (and 4 times the memory for
the pictures!)
Oh, a 1024x786 monitor is 0.8 MPs, a *huge* 1600x1200 monitor
shows less than 2 MPs! A 1600x1200 (2MP) image printed will
have photo quality (300dpi) @ 5x4", and good quality
(200dpi) at 8x6". Compare to 4MP (8x6", 11x9") --- not
that much difference.
=> Do not fret over MPs. Fret over optic quality, low light
autofocus capability, low high-ISO noise and fast AF/fast
shutter instead.
- "Set [ISO] as high as your camera will let you."
Some cameras give unusable images at high ISO values. So some
testing should be done beforehand.
- If your camera supports it, set the apperture to f/2.8 (or
whatever the largest apperture is). Let the camera set the speed
--- unless you drop below, say 1/80th, then you have to force
the camera. So you need a camera that will allow you to override
it on time and apperture --- not all point&shoot cameras do that!
- I don't think you'll need much of a monopod, not at 1/80 or
1/125, unless you have a 35mm equivalent of 80 or 120mm zoom.
The problem is more the rapid movement of the players, where
a monopod won't help. (neither will an image stabilizer ---
it can dampen _your_ movements, not _players_ moving).
- Use wide angle. Most cameras have no fixed apperture: what
starts at f/2.8 is f/4.7 at the tele end, 1.3 stops higher.
Were you to shoot at 1/80s at the tele end, you could do 1/200
at the wide end --- or drop down one ISO step (if your camera
is extra-noisy) and still use 1/100s. You might need to
get closer to the field, but since most P&S cameras don't have
a wide 'wide angle' (and even the DSLRs strain against
the non-full-sensor sizes), this should be OK.
- Additionally, "wide angle" reduces the impact of camera shake
and can sometimes reduce the impact of player movements.
- pre-squeeze basically lets the autofocus run (very slow)
and does the light metering (extremely fast). Some cameras
allow manual focussing, focussing with a pre-set range (fixed
focus) or prefocussing by setting a distance, so the autofocus
is deactivated. Doing this can help, if you can set the focus
easily and exact enough.
- some P&S cameras (and most DSLRs) can shoot series of images.
If the series has 3 or more frames/second, you can get lucky and
get that exceptional shot. But it eats memory (and battery ---
always bring spare batteries and more memory) and you'll have
to sort out many mediocre pictures. This can be a problem
since it's less fun than shooting and wading through 500 pics
to get the 20 really good ones is time consuming. But it _can_
give you the one very special picture, if you are lucky.
-Wolfgang
/www.pearlandjrs.com/prep/phototutor.htm
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