Just got Nikon D50! Need help!

[wltrumpet]

Hey all,

Just purchased a Nikon D50 to capture shots of sports for my college's paper. Took to the basketball game today, seriously straight out of the box, and was disappointed with the results.

Everything is blurry.

I'm at the very bottom of beginners when it comes to digital SLR so you will have to be patient with me when explaining ISO and aperature (I probably spelled that wrong).

Can anybody give me some advice on how I should place my settings to shoot basketball pictures? I placed my settings today on the automatics sports setting (the little running guy) and it still blurred.

Feel free to post any help on this board or e-mail me at bcongelio@wlsc.edu

Thanks!

Brad C.

[deckcadet]

Hey all,

Just purchased a Nikon D50 to capture shots of sports for my college's paper. Took to the basketball game today, seriously straight out of the box, and was disappointed with the results.

Everything is blurry.

I'm at the very bottom of beginners when it comes to digital SLR so you will have to be patient with me when explaining ISO and aperature (I probably spelled that wrong).

Can anybody give me some advice on how I should place my settings to shoot basketball pictures? I placed my settings today on the automatics sports setting (the little running guy) and it still blurred.

Feel free to post any help on this board or e-mail me at bcongelio@wlsc.edu

Thanks!

Brad C.

I think you should learn some basics of exposure first. You need a high shutter speed to stop motion, and if you can't use flash, then you'll have to bump your ISO to a higher setting, and possibly buy a faster lens.
I assume you bought the kit lens 18-55 dx with it. That or the 18-70, 55-200, or 70-300 will all be too slow.
You might want to try the 50mm f/1.8 or 85mm f/1.8 depending on your focal lengh preference.
The good news is the D50 is very good with high ISO noise, so you can shoot at higher sensitivities with less problems, so long as you expose properly.

The only one at fault is you, but only because you were working past the limits of your camera/lens combination, just remember that Discovering that one lens does not fit all is the first step in the expensive addiction known as Lens Lust Disorder.
Your camera in sports mode probably boosted the ISO to 1600. Your shutter speed depending on the situation, should be over 1/60 sec. to stop motion. I generally aim for 1/125 or more, especially when using a non-VR telephoto.
With flash you can generally use around 1/60-1/125. in my experience anyways.