new 500D owner, new to DSLR, new to photography, NEED ADVISE! :)

[IntrigueR]

Hello all,

I guess every photographer has to start somewhere... and this is where i am starting from... hehe

need some advise, I have just bought a EOS 500D with 18-55mm IS kit lens...
i tried to shoot my family playing badminton but however, there seems to be alot of motion blur.... cannot seem to be on focus...

any tips on how to take better motion pics?

I would like to take a pic of them "smashing" but because the motion is too fast, i can't seem to get a nice shot... all blur... i tried playing with the shutter speed, but it comes out too dark...

i tried to heighten the ISO all the way even to 3200 but still dark cos shutter speed too fast...LOL... i know i'm wrong somewhere but i really would appreciate any advise from the gurus here~

Even taking a speeding car on the roads, or turning on my tap, but want to take the droplets of water and not the entire water flow....

I suspect all these has to do with shutter speed, but all comes out very dark lei...

Any advise please?

P/S: Sorry for the long noob post.. hehe...

Cheers everyone!

 

[orionct]

think it depends on sunlight, if it is under good sunlight, with faster shutter (1000 or above), it still able to capture. but if it is under very dim condition, try to do it with tripod, because a little shake on your hand is not able to capture.

what mode are you using? usually i use AV, if it is M, u need to adjust your shutter speed until you see your exposure is near the center. under dim/or indoor condition, i think the shutter speed might need to be ard few hundred or below, so it still hard to capture good motion picture.

another thing is increase your exposure, so your photo look brigther.

 

[Rashkae]

What mode are you in? Full manual? If yes, don't touch manual unless you know what you're doing. Switch to shutter priority mode, and set your ISO to 1600 or even 3200. Then just aim at the badminton court area and half-press the shutter. It will meter the light there and in your viewfinder you'll see the suggested shutter speed. If it's slower than 1/250s, you may want to consider renting a larger-aperture lens.

 

[IntrigueR]

thanks for all the advise!

i just started so i am not into the M mode yet... mostly on the aperture priority mode....
lol, then i tried to go into the shutter priority mode to shoot the badminton players... yes i did play around with the exposure too... had to go all the way to +2!
get slightly noisy too.. will try to post the pics tonight to get some comments...

 

[Nikonnew]

thanks for all the advise!

i just started so i am not into the M mode yet... mostly on the aperture priority mode....
lol, then i tried to go into the shutter priority mode to shoot the badminton players... yes i did play around with the exposure too... had to go all the way to +2!
get slightly noisy too.. will try to post the pics tonight to get some comments...

If all else fail, switch to sports mode and shoot away. For family shots like this, don't beat yourself up for not using A mode or M mode, or what you have, get the shot first. Canon put it there for a purpose

 

[Lomographer]

cos you're using A mode, probably,

which is set at the aperture u want, and the camera adjusts the shutter speed

and since ur kit lens is not that good in low light, the camera may have to conpensate by setting a longer shutter speed

rendering you unable to take fast action photos of them smashing

those lenses which are at f/2.8 and below will be ideal for indoor low light spots

there is a cheap alternative, 50mm f1.8 II from canon.

great lens for a great price

 

[nakashimamika]

Aperture priority is the way to go for now, so you are on the right track. To avoid camera shake (blur images), u need good breathing technique and a minimal shutter speed.

A general guideline will be the inverse of the focal length u are using. Example will be if you are shooting at 55mm and using 500D (crop factor of 1.6x), you will need about 1/80 or 1/100 shutter speed to be safe. Of course, people with steadier hands can do it better.

For now, use Aperture priority (A) and adjust the ISO accordingly. Once you understand the basics of photography principles and outgrow your kit lens, you might wanna invest on other faster lens like the tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or the 50 f/1.8 from canon.

 

[IntrigueR]

thanks to all advises...
i have the 50mm f1.8 II lens... i just thought it was good for portraits... didn't use it for the badminton shots...

i will try it the next time and see how it goes....

appreciate your advise and help guys!

this is what makes a forum a forum

Cheers!

 

[LomoPhotographer]

Congrats in your buy!

 

[Cartman2000]

For indoor badminton court conditions, you will probably require a faster lens.

Outdoor your kit should do fine even at 500 iso

 

[IntrigueR]

What is a faster lens?
How do i identify a faster lens?

Hmm... i'm such a noob lol...

 

[Rashkae]

What is a faster lens?
How do i identify a faster lens?

Hmm... i'm such a noob lol...

1. www.google.com
2. what is a faster lens
3. Read and learn.

 

[kaiflux]

Google is the best.

Find out what is aperture, exposure, the settings to use.
what is ISO and how it affects your picture.
Read the camera manual too. LOL. people always leave that out, but you could really learn a lot from that.:bsmilie:

 

[Ouverture]

Even with a fast lens like F1.8 or 2.8 and ISO max out, I think you will still struggle to get good sharp pictures of sports action like badminton, esp when you want smashing shots...and you can't control and preamp the sudden movement of the players.

The reason is simple. Not enough light.

Expensive cameras and lenses are there for a reason, have super fast AF and can track the objects accurately. That's why you see all the big cameras and super long lenses at sporting events and they also have to use external flashguns in some occasions to snap the shots they want.

Night safari is another challenge for many photographers, even with the most expensive gears, you will still be hard to get a clear shots most of the time...due to insufficient light.

Probably you may want to shoot some nice HD video footage of those smashing actions instead with your 500D.

 

[wildsoyabean]

Even with a fast lens like F1.8 or 2.8 and ISO max out, I think you will still struggle to get good sharp pictures of sports action like badminton, esp when you want smashing shots...and you can't control and preamp the sudden movement of the players.

The reason is simple. Not enough light.

Expensive cameras and lenses are there for a reason, have super fast AF and can track the objects accurately. That's why you see all the big cameras and super long lenses at sporting events and they also have to use external flashguns in some occasions to snap the shots they want.

Night safari is another challenge for many photographers, even with the most expensive gears, you will still be hard to get a clear shots most of the time...due to insufficient light.

Probably you may want to shoot some nice HD video footage of those smashing actions instead with your 500D.

for sports i usually switch to manual focus. to cut out focusing time. if u use a high enough f stop. there will be enough depth of view.
oh ya have u tried using flash? flash helps especially when subject is close to u.

 

[IntrigueR]

wow i really have alot to learn... okok
i google and wiki...
i will read the manual too... apparently, i'm guilty of leaving that out as well hehe...

 

[Cartman2000]

for sports i usually switch to manual focus. to cut out focusing time. if u use a high enough f stop. there will be enough depth of view.
oh ya have u tried using flash? flash helps especially when subject is close to u.

Do note that other users of nearby courts may find it irritating when you fire your flash off in those large halls that house several indoor courts.

 

[IntrigueR]

Hi guys,

I've posted the photos in facebook... link is as follows:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=92392&id=786542928&ref=mf

I wouldn't dare ask for comments, but I would like to seek advise on how to improve these shots..

Thanks in advance to all!

Cheers~

 

[orionct]

Hi guys,

I've posted the photos in facebook... link is as follows:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=92392&id=786542928&ref=mf

I wouldn't dare ask for comments, but I would like to seek advise on how to improve these shots..

Thanks in advance to all!

Cheers~

hi intrigue, just saw your photo in facebook, seems like many photo oof ..a bit blur, think is hand shake + high movement from the object + dim indoor cause it ...:think:

but frankly speaking it is not easy to capture good photo if your object moving too fast + dim + without flash setting.

 

[IntrigueR]

hi intrigue, just saw your photo in facebook, seems like many photo oof ..a bit blur, think is hand shake + high movement from the object + dim indoor cause it ...:think:

but frankly speaking it is not easy to capture good photo if your object moving too fast + dim + without flash setting.

ya lor... precisely that's why i'm not at all satisfied...
need to know how to take such shots... guess need $$$ lenses and $$$ flash!!!

hehe...

Photography is fun...