OK I shoot a girls game last night in the our local dungeon. They replaced the lights on one end of the floor ONLY over the summer and now it is not pitch dark it's just dark on that end. I was determined to shoot without auxiliary light (read as on camera flash dialed back or bounced off the ceiling). I'll leave it up to you do I need to invest in some AB's and pocket wizards. I have really liked some of the image that have been posted recently using strobes so I may make the move anyway. But I'm interested in what you think about these D200 shoots done at H.3 (ISO 1600+.3EV). I shot in manual at a speed of 200 and at f2.8. I could not shoot with the D2h last year because the noise was terrible above 1000 ISO. I think the D200 did a better job on the noise level. No noise reduction was used. Your opinions appreciated.

I think you have a lot of noise in those images, but if they are going to be published in a newspaper there shouldn't be much of a problem with them. I downloaded neat image last night for noise reduction, it did the trick for my images that I had the same problems with, I'm sure you have heard of this program if you haven't already used it. Over all its a good shoot, just lots of noise you can tell you had your ISO cranked.

Larry those turned out nice considering our gym. You caught some nice action. I didn't get much from the boys game earlier in the week. I was lazy and didn't put up lights, just bounced off the ceiling. I'll try to post some when I get to the office on Monday. The noise isn't bad with iso cranked up. Noise Ninja would clean them up nice, or you could just convert to black and white and make it look more like grain. That would take care of the color issues we have in our yellow dungeon. Nice shots though.

I've never used a noise program guess I need to try one. I grew up in a time when our fastest film was ASA 400 and we pushed it to the limit just to get the image. We didn't worry that much about the grain because there just wasn't a lot we could do about it. I was pleased that the D200 did a better job handling he higher ISO's than the D2h has been doing. Now bring on the D300 and lets see how far Nikon has come.

I like the shots. Like everyone else, the noise can be an issue.. I have used the trail versions of Neat image and Noise Ninja. I personally like Neat image.

Phil

Larry the D200 definitely is an improvement over the past Nikon's. The noise isn't near the issue it was with the D1 or the ancient NC2000e. That was a fun brick (I say brick because it was better as that than as a camera). Lovely magenta cast and you couldn't shoot above 400 iso unless you wanted noise the size of basketballs. When you pick up the D300 let me know. I'm anxious to see one up close.

Hey Larry, nice to see you shooting some more sports :) Those below remind me of the original 1D body at 1600 noise wise, it was no big deal for the paper, the noise only showed on large prints 8x10 or bigger.
NeatImage allways helped the prints though :D

JS

Larry, you might consider using small flashes and RF remotes over the big strobes for BB. I have been using a pair of Sunpak 383s with Elinchrom triggers that have been great for most everything I do with indoor sports. They do have a couple of advantages over the bigger brothers:

1. No AC power cords.
2. Small enough to fit in your gadget bag.
3. My entire setup was a little less $ than a pair of ABs.

They really can get the job done when properly used. Here is a shot from a regional cheer competition I worked today for the paper. They had to light pretty much the entire floor from one side. I had them set at 1/2 power which gives me about a 1 second recycle time. :)

This looks great to me Daniel. I have been thinking about getting a couple of Vivitar 283's but wasn't sure how I would trigger them. I'm not familiar with the Elinchrom, where can I get some info on them?

I'd hesitate to buy any Pocketwizards for another month or so to find out what the exact scoop is going to be on the radiopoppers.

The Elinchrom Skyports are available from B&H. I got mine from Adorama and there are other reputable dealers that carry them. They are a bit less than half the cost of PWs and 100% reliable. You might want to consider the Sunpaks if they are still available. Main thing you want for remote flash is manual power settings. The Skyports have an issue with the very low trigger voltage of the Vivitar 285HV model, but the 283s seem to work fine. You would want the Universal set because the RX model triggers are proprietary to Elinchrom strobes. For more information on small flash check out my buddy David Hobby's blog at www.Strobist.com.

Thanks Daniel, I'm very interested and want to find out all I can about affordable ways to get decent light for my indoor sports at our local gym.

I'd hesitate to buy any Pocketwizards for another month or so to find out what the exact scoop is going to be on the radiopoppers.


Sorry but I'm in the dark here can you explain.

Larry,
Check here, this should explain it: http://www.radiopopper.com/faq.php

John