Help with sports photography

[hockeynut]

My son plays ice hockey and at the level that he's playing now it's very very fast sport. I want to take picture for me. I was looking at the Nikon D-40 and I was wondering if anyone knows if this camera would be able to take action pictures without blurring.

Thanks for any input

[mn shutterbug]

In my opinion, it has more to do with the lens and the person behind the camera, than the camera itself.

[Photo-John]

hockeynut-
It's true - technique is more important than the camera. But fast, action sports is one subject where a better camera can make a difference. That said, we can help you tune up your technique, whatever camera you have. After all, people were making great sports photos before the pro digital SLRs we have now existed. I used to shoot motorcycle racing with a manual focus Canon A1

What camera do you have now? Maybe we can help you get better photos with your current camera and you can save up for something better than the D40.

For some technical advice, you might want to post on our Sports Photography Forum. And you should also take a look at the action photos page of my Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera Tips article. That article will help anyone take better pictures - no matter what camera they're using.

Hope that helps. You've come to the right place for either advice on what to buy or advice on how to take better pictures. Stick around!

[mn shutterbug]

And you should also take a look at the action photos page of my Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera Tips article. That article will help anyone take better pictures - no matter what camera they're using.

Photo-John, that was interesting. The one thing I do find annoying with these cameras is, you can't lock the exposure without locking the focus. It would be nice if they could be operated independently of each other. For instance, lets say you run into a polar bear sitting on the ice, on a beautiful day, in the middle of nowhere. You sure don't want to expose for the white of his fur. It would be nice to be able to expose on the medium blue sky behind him, but what is that going to do for the focus?

[Photo-John]

I got someone else to read my article!

You have a good point there. The trick is to get to know your camera well and use the exposure compensation, if you've got it. What I'd do is lock my focus point on the very edge of the polar bear, so that the exposure is getting more sky than bear. That should do the trick. And one of the great things about digital cameras is we get instant feedback. So you'll know right away if your exposure was a good one or not. I started learning and refining these techniques back before digital, with a Yashica T4 Super 35mm point-and-shoot camera. It basically worked the same way, but without the benefit of an LCD for instant feedback, or exposure compensation. Shooting a lot, shooting variations on every important photo, and paying attention to how your particular camera responds will help you to fine-tune your method to get the most out of your camera.

[SmartWombat]

The one thing I do find annoying with these cameras is, you can't lock the exposure without locking the focus.

My two P&S, the Minolta A1 and the Konica-Minolta A2, both have physical manual focus rings plus full manual exposure - and manual zoom.
My wife's Panazonic FZ25 has manual focus and manual exposure too, though not as easy to use.
Does that mean they're not P&S?

[freygr]

My son plays ice hockey and at the level that he's playing now it's very very fast sport. I want to take picture for me. I was looking at the Nikon D-40 and I was wondering if anyone knows if this camera would be able to take action pictures without blurring.

Thanks for any input

Yes is the answer. But if you just use the auto settings you will not get the sharp as tack photos that the Nikon Lenses can give. There are two things that can affect not getting a good sharp action photo shutter speed, and the amount of light. If you shooting indoor sports a fast lens is a must no smaller than an F 2.8. Unluckily the fast 2.8 lenses telephotos cost a lot!

[mn shutterbug]

My two P&S, the Minolta A1 and the Konica-Minolta A2, both have physical manual focus rings plus full manual exposure - and manual zoom.
My wife's Panazonic FZ25 has manual focus and manual exposure too, though not as easy to use.
Does that mean they're not P&S?

Yes, my Panasonic FZ7 also has manual overrides, but manual focusing doesn't work as well now as it did 15 years ago.

[Photo-John]

Yes, my Panasonic FZ7 also has manual overrides, but manual focusing doesn't work as well now as it did 15 years ago.

That's because you're using a compact digital camera that isn't really meant to be focused manually. If you had a digital SLR, manual focus would work fine.

[JSPhoto]

OT could probably help you out with the D40 question, but my guss is that the AF is too slow and you'd have to shoot manually focusing it which could be pretty demanding with hockey.
There are some hockey threads in the sports forum, have you looked through those yet?

JS