So Close Yet So Blurry

[GB1]

Trying to shoot indoor volleyball, but I am just getting way too much softness and blur. Some of it can be attributed to lack of exp. But shooting at max ISO/ASA just produces terrible quality, and shooting wide open makes it almost impossible to get the right focus/depth. I don't think SI will be hiring me anytime soon. Not sure what to do about it ...

Here's some of the ones I wish I could have gotten. Missing out on some great possibilities, I think

[SmartWombat]

Hmm, I'd ask over in the Sports forum

[SmartWombat]

From a critique viewpoint, you've nearly got the action, and nearly got the lack of blur.
In the excitement you seem to have lost the horizontal/vertical in some of the shots.
On the serve your timing is a little off, if you were trying for the actual impact with the ball.
Same for the spike/block, you've missed the contact of the shot and missed the contact of the block, which is why it just looks blurred.
I think the blur isn't too bad if you catch the action at the right time.

I can't tell for sure because you stripped out the EXIF information.
But you do need to increase the ISO and shutter speed even more, I think.

[caleb]

if you shoot from bleachers, the super glossy floors bounce a good amount light back up into the players + the extra distance will increase dof

[GB1]

Originally Posted by SmartWombat

From a critique viewpoint, you've nearly got the action, and nearly got the lack of blur.
In the excitement you seem to have lost the horizontal/vertical in some of the shots.
On the serve your timing is a little off, if you were trying for the actual impact with the ball.
Same for the spike/block, you've missed the contact of the shot and missed the contact of the block, which is why it just looks blurred.
I think the blur isn't too bad if you catch the action at the right time.

I can't tell for sure because you stripped out the EXIF information.
But you do need to increase the ISO and shutter speed even more, I think.

Paul, Thanks for the feedback, still adjusting my shutter button timing: I'm finding that I should fire before I think I should (!)

True the pix aren't level (easy to happen in the heat of battle): I didn't bother to fix since I don't consider these true keepers.

I think I understand what you're saying about the impact - the ball may freeze for a split second there ... MAYBE, and therefore may reduce the blur. I say "maybe" because it depends on the block: some turn into a mini 'pushing' match and in that situ the ball is indeed frozen (but this doesn't happen very often at this level, as the refs call it a carry), though other times the ball bounces off at almost the same initial speed (I imagine that the ball momentarily slows down as the gals make contact with it, since their hands are softer than say steel, which doesn't give!).

Not sure why the EXIF was stripped but I think I shot most of these at max ISO, which is 1600. Some were shot at 1200 because the quality is better. I may be trying to do something that my equipment can't really handle. I could still get lucky - things could 'freeze' for a split second, but that's a one in a thousand (or ten thousand) chance.

Maybe it's time for the D700 (!)

[DHMN69]

Volleyball seems to be the HARDEST sport to follow with a camera.. it all happens fast plus you have the net that robs focus at times on some of the better spike/block shot opportunities. Maybe it's because I've seen so little of it compared to every other sport, and that makes it hard to anticipate action.

When you ask for critiques/help you should probably include all of your information as well.. as much exif data as you can in the post, as well as the equipment used. In the gym here I've been lucky enough to get a 'SS' of 1/800 at ISO 3200 that didn't seem too underexposed.. I've only shot 6 volleyball matches so I'm still learning as well:

The ball has just a tiny touch of motion/blur




I think that's why you really need to give all information so people can give a critique or help/suggestions. One thing I'm thinking about for the next volleyball I do is changing from center spot to the top spot for focus because of the height of the game.. I tried portrait for a few shots and only the serve shots seemed to really work, and I decided to crop to the vertical instead of shooting it unlike shooting basketball.

[GB1]

Ok fellows, from the top

# 1

F4
1/100 sec
1600 ISO

# 2

f4
1/160 sec
1600 ISO

# 3

f4
1/160 sec
1600 ISO

# 4

f4
1/125 sec
1600 ISO

# 5

f4
1/160 sec
1600 ISO


which I think probably explains most of the problem - the SS was just too slow ! The max aperture on that lens is f 4.0 and the max ISO on the camera is 1600. I had to use Neat Image noise reduction software on them to get acceptable images.

Another game tonight. I'm stuck with the same equipment. Maybe I'll try your idea, Caleb - shoot from the 'end zone' seats which may have better illumination.

DHMN, you shots look good here. I've gotten a few good ones like this too, just not on the batch I posted here. Indeed, this batch was probably my worst and I am not sure why .. a lot of blur possibly because the lighting was dimmer than before (?), so the shutter was slower. Will have to examine the EXIF on the others. And yes, VB is hard to follow - but at least it's exciting to try.

G

[tward88]

I am certainly no expert, but I have been shooting a lot of Volleyball lately.
I think it is going to be very hard to shoot volleyball with any lens that is not at least a f/2.8 because as you noted you can not get the shutter speed fast enough. For me I like to have the shutter up to at least 1/500 and I prefer 1/640.

I went to the D700 about a month ago and though I am still learning, I get a lot more keepers at f/2.8, 1/640 and Auto ISO with a max set to 6400.

If you have a 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8 you might give that a try as well.