Olympus E500 : Indoor Basketball Shots

[ellenw]

I just stepped up to my first DSLR.
The Olympus e500 came with a 2 kit lens set.
I am trying desparately to learn how to take indoor shots using the 40-150mm lens that came with a range of 3.5-4.5
I set my camera on M - - ISO anywhere from 400 on up, with the stop way down at 3.5 and speed ranging from 1/250 - 1/800
I cannot seem to get quality shots: some too dark, some way too blurry, color only fair when I open up and adjust in Photoshop, and without exception, I of course get more noise than I want.

I am new to all this - so any suggestions on shooting indoor high school basketball would move me farther along than I am -

I seemed to do OK outside - but only had it for a week before it got too cold and indoor sports started.

[JSPhoto]

Hi EllenW

Sounds like you need to use an external flash. For indoors you really need an f2.8 or faster lens. Otherwise, with a f3.5 -5.6 lens you need more light and the only way to do that is with flash. The built in flash, if your camera has it isn't large enough to do the job so you need an external flash on the hotshoe or a strobe set up high to get enough light.

JS

[ellenw]

Thanks JS
I guess I woul dhave to go with an external flash as this for me is only HS basketball games

Being in the stands or sidelines is as close as I get - - so will an external flash help with getting the players when they may be up to 20 ft away?

[SmartWombat]

You have reached the basic limitation of indoor photography, not enough light means either:
Slower shutter speeds and blurred pictures (but less noise at low ISO).
Higher ISO speed and more noise (but not as much blur with faster shutter speeds).

There are tools like Noise Ninja that can reduce the noise in the image.
But you don't get something for nothing, you lose some sharpness too.


20 feet? That should be no problem, but it depends on the flash.
The more power, the farther away it will light up the players.
Or the higher your f/number can be (therefore better depth of focus) at a given distance.

Power is indicated by the guide number (GN) and basically the bigger the number, the further away you can be (and the more like a little sun your flash is!).

I hope you're allowed to use flash during the game, sounds like the only solution.

[JSPhoto]

Thanks JS
I guess I woul dhave to go with an external flash as this for me is only HS basketball games

Being in the stands or sidelines is as close as I get - - so will an external flash help with getting the players when they may be up to 20 ft away?

Depends on the Guide # of the flash, higher the Guide # the farther the reach. Most external flash will do very well up to 40 feet or so. The Olympus flash should work great on your camera, it did on my old Olympus C2100UZ.

JS

[ellenw]

Really appreciate the help here I suspected this after some web searching , but being a newbie, wanted to find some experts to get me moving.....

When you refer to the Pylmpus flash - - I presume you mean an external flash they have available as an option and not the built in flash?

also - Here is before and after(after Photoshoping)

[JSPhoto]

Yup, the optional flash. I had one, the old FL-40 I beleive...that was 3 years ago though.
PS did an OK rescue there. I had a couple of those tonight when my flash didn't fire at the right time....I PS'd them and sent em off to the paper

JS

[ellenw]

THANKS - - I am off on the hunt for the flash......... ...

BTW - - Please give me some hope that there isn't a high learning curve to using these external flashes.......I would love to get some decent pictures before the end of the HS season here!

[SmartWombat]

I just surfed for E500 and flash.
Looks like the E20 flash will work in the Auto TTL mode, which ought to get you good exposures without the learning curve.
Same for the E36, which is more powerfuil and has a tilt and swivel head. Not that it matters for sports, but for other indoor shots you can bounce the light off walls/ceilings for portraits to soften the light.

E20 has a guide number of 20, and E36 you can probably guess has GN 36

[JETA]

Hi Ellen & welcome!

I came here a few months ago to figure out what was wrong with my football shots. $6000 later I've got all the kinks worked out. ;)

[livin4lax09]

ahahahahaha.

This is why I love having you around JETA. Always to the rescue, with optimistic advice too!

[livin4lax09]

Really appreciate the help here I suspected this after some web searching , but being a newbie, wanted to find some experts to get me moving.....

When you refer to the Pylmpus flash - - I presume you mean an external flash they have available as an option and not the built in flash?

also - Here is before and after(after Photoshoping)

PS did an ok job like JS said, but you really need to nail exposure. If you start shooting higher ISO's, you'll notice a lot of noise popping out when you lighten those dark shots in PS. Also, brightening an underexposed shot just makes things look unnatural. I'm sure you noticed, with the redness of the faces.

[ellenw]

Wow - ok - this is all great stuff

I am going for the flash for sure - but tonite I will just take some more shots and suffer through......

Let me ask , after surfing for information to educate myself - is the investment to step up to a lens with a f2.8 capability a good investment for me right now?

Or should I be able to handle the overexposed pictures with the flash?

What exactly will a f2.8 capability buy me that the flash would not ?

( I am getting this low f -stop - big opening for light thing down bit by bloody bit - so now am trying to see what I get by adding that kind of lens to my pack of goodies)I see with the E-500 I am locked in on sourcing the lenses to the ZUIKO's - correct?

I live in the boonies , so not many places to go take a class, but sooner or later I think I will have to do something like that - - maybe when Nikon classes come to NY or Boston?

[JETA]

ahahahahaha.

This is why I love having you around JETA. Always to the rescue, with optimistic advice too!

I'm here to serve Livin!