New lens or new body?

[Xavier666]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

 

[ggmab]

I would always go glass first. When you say you had image problems blur, What settings did you have. What was your shutter speed. What was the aperture set to ? ISO 1600 should not produce blur noise maybe but not blur that sounds like shutter speed. I presume you are shooting manual ? What sport are you shooting that may influence your lense choice as well. Also where you are shooting from can influence the lens too.

 

[Mike -]

Shutter speed...NOT ISO is the key to getting good active sports pictures.

Start with about 1000 of a second. if that doesn't suit you, try 1250, or even higher.

Set the ISO to "auto". Note that this highest ISO for your camera is probably about 3200 before the picture starts to get artifacts (lots of extra colors !). Set the "max ISO" to 3200 and let the camera have its way with the rest of the settings.

With your current lens, just about any opening (aperture) should work ok. BUT...if you buy a zoom lens, beware that most zoom lenses have an aperture that gives the sharpest pictures. Normally f5.6 to f11 setting work. Despite some of the "experts", most of my lenses like f8, two like f5.6. You have to experiment.

Experimentation, the key to success.

Mike

 

[chipmaster]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

 

[gidgetto]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

I am guessing that you have bumped up your ISO because you are already shooting at a low f stop and needed to increase ISO to reach the shutter speed and it still wasn't fat enough? I don't think you will see a huge difference with this issue if you choose the d7500, it has a slightly smaller sensor (you probably won't notice) but shoots slightly higher mp. I also doubt that the zoom lens will fix your problems as well. the more telephoto the lens (say at 200) the less light, therefore your shutter speed at the same iso and aperture will be lower if you want the same exposure. I have a Nikon D500 and use a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 to shoot my nephew's indoor hockey and it works pretty well, but not as good as some. unfortunately you will probably have to upgrade to a pro camera to find results similar to the ones you see published.




this one is off my D500, F2.8, shutter speed was only 1/320 iso 250




here is one shot on my old d7100 with Tonika 11-16 f2.8

 

[Xavier666]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

Here is an example of a photo I took with the Nikon 50mm 1.4 on my D7000. I applied NR Lightroom 6. No cropping (in order to give you an idea of the motion blur).

Exif: 1/1000 sec - f1.6 - ISO 1600

I'm looking for a lens that allows me to take nice photos of my kids sporting (badminton and gymnastics)

 

[scokill]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

Here is an example of a photo I took with the Nikon 50mm 1.4 on my D7000. I applied NR Lightroom 6. No cropping (in order to give you an idea of the motion blur).

Exif: 1/1000 sec - f1.6 - ISO 1600
I'm looking for a lens that allows me to take nice photos of my kids sporting (badminton and gymnastics)

This photo is acceptable in my opinion. The issue is that you need to fill the frame as much as possible. The subject takes up 5% of the photo. I used the D7000 for years. It's an OK camera up to ISO3200 but also can go higher. You can't really make absolute statements about what you need because lighting can be very different at different venues. In general f2.8 and larger would be a requirement and then 1/250-1/1000 shutter speed based on the light. ISO would be where it has to be for brightness from there.

 

[scokill]

Shutter speed...NOT ISO is the key to getting good active sports pictures.

Start with about 1000 of a second. if that doesn't suit you, try 1250, or even higher.

Set the ISO to "auto". Note that this highest ISO for your camera is probably about 3200 before the picture starts to get artifacts (lots of extra colors !). Set the "max ISO" to 3200 and let the camera have its way with the rest of the settings.

With your current lens, just about any opening (aperture) should work ok. BUT...if you buy a zoom lens, beware that most zoom lenses have an aperture that gives the sharpest pictures. Normally f5.6 to f11 setting work. Despite some of the "experts", most of my lenses like f8, two like f5.6. You have to experiment.

Experimentation, the key to success.

Mike

Can you show us some examples of indoor action at f5.6-f11?

 

[Xavier666]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

Here is an example of a photo I took with the Nikon 50mm 1.4 on my D7000. I applied NR Lightroom 6. No cropping (in order to give you an idea of the motion blur).

Exif: 1/1000 sec - f1.6 - ISO 1600
I'm looking for a lens that allows me to take nice photos of my kids sporting (badminton and gymnastics)

This photo is acceptable in my opinion. The issue is that you need to fill the frame as much as possible. The subject takes up 5% of the photo. I used the D7000 for years. It's an OK camera up to ISO3200 but also can go higher. You can't really make absolute statements about what you need because lighting can be very different at different venues. In general f2.8 and larger would be a requirement and then 1/250-1/1000 shutter speed based on the light. ISO would be where it has to be for brightness from there.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I'll try 3200 ISO next time.
Would you consider a 85mm 1.8 to be a better choice compared to the 50mm 1.4?

 

[Xavier666]

Shutter speed...NOT ISO is the key to getting good active sports pictures.

Start with about 1000 of a second. if that doesn't suit you, try 1250, or even higher.

Set the ISO to "auto". Note that this highest ISO for your camera is probably about 3200 before the picture starts to get artifacts (lots of extra colors !). Set the "max ISO" to 3200 and let the camera have its way with the rest of the settings.

With your current lens, just about any opening (aperture) should work ok. BUT...if you buy a zoom lens, beware that most zoom lenses have an aperture that gives the sharpest pictures. Normally f5.6 to f11 setting work. Despite some of the "experts", most of my lenses like f8, two like f5.6. You have to experiment.

Experimentation, the key to success.

Mike

Can you show us some examples of indoor action at f5.6-f11?

Unfortunately, I didn't take any shot at f5.6 or higher.

The next tournament is in november. i'll take some pictures at f5.6 and will post them.

 

[scokill]

Shutter speed...NOT ISO is the key to getting good active sports pictures.

Start with about 1000 of a second. if that doesn't suit you, try 1250, or even higher.

Set the ISO to "auto". Note that this highest ISO for your camera is probably about 3200 before the picture starts to get artifacts (lots of extra colors !). Set the "max ISO" to 3200 and let the camera have its way with the rest of the settings.

With your current lens, just about any opening (aperture) should work ok. BUT...if you buy a zoom lens, beware that most zoom lenses have an aperture that gives the sharpest pictures. Normally f5.6 to f11 setting work. Despite some of the "experts", most of my lenses like f8, two like f5.6. You have to experiment.

Experimentation, the key to success.

Mike

Can you show us some examples of indoor action at f5.6-f11?

Unfortunately, I didn't take any shot at f5.6 or higher.

The next tournament is in november. i'll take some pictures at f5.6 and will post them.

This wasn't to you, it was to Mike....

 

[chipmaster]

Shutter speed...NOT ISO is the key to getting good active sports pictures.

Start with about 1000 of a second. if that doesn't suit you, try 1250, or even higher.

Set the ISO to "auto". Note that this highest ISO for your camera is probably about 3200 before the picture starts to get artifacts (lots of extra colors !). Set the "max ISO" to 3200 and let the camera have its way with the rest of the settings.

With your current lens, just about any opening (aperture) should work ok. BUT...if you buy a zoom lens, beware that most zoom lenses have an aperture that gives the sharpest pictures. Normally f5.6 to f11 setting work. Despite some of the "experts", most of my lenses like f8, two like f5.6. You have to experiment.

Experimentation, the key to success.

Mike

F5.6 to F8 is pretty slow and would push SS and Iso way up. Be careful of what you choose to optimize! While lens performance like sharpness are better as you stop down don't forget diffraction can become a limiter. Also shooting with larger DOF sometimes removes subject isolation. Personally find F2.8 to F4 optimal for such shooting. Rarely unless you are peping and measurbating by shooting brick walls and counting eyelashes does it matter you shoot the lens in the best sweetspot.

Variable zooms are jack of all trades and okay optically but usually the issue is slow aperture results in sub optimal SS and ISO as the larger problem than image sharpness ruining the picture.

 

[chipmaster]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

Here is an example of a photo I took with the Nikon 50mm 1.4 on my D7000. I applied NR Lightroom 6. No cropping (in order to give you an idea of the motion blur).

Exif: 1/1000 sec - f1.6 - ISO 1600
I'm looking for a lens that allows me to take nice photos of my kids sporting (badminton and gymnastics)

Similar to others' thoughts, focal length to short --> Variable zoom with more reach or as you mentioned 85 if you know the working distance won't change.

Frame of view: Would be much more impressive to take that shot head on from the far end of the court.

Timing: Need higher FPS, catch the moment when he hits the bird ( is that what they call it? )

SS: Agreed if you want the frozen moment need a crazy 10-12FPS, 70-200 2.8 and a used D3s or something to start with.

Actual sharpness: Looks reasonable, you aren't shooting with motion moving to are away from you or too much side to side, the issue is freezing the swing. Again if you slow down the lens need a bump in SS to compensate. For D3S could go to 3200 and maybe 6400 ISO pretty well, D4/D5 maybe another stop. But you need to get the 2.8 sports zooms if you want to shoot action.

70-200 2.8 VR1 work great with crop bodies and can be had for < 900 as the first lens for a serious aspiring sports shooter.

--
" Today's Pictures Are Tomorrow's Memories "

 

[ggmab]

Completely agree about the subject percentage in frame. For most shots they have to domnate the frame. I used a 85mm Nikon 1.8 prime to start with. Now many people will say primes are limited for sports I shoot Netball. I have a 70 - 200 2.8 my mentor took it off me ! He shoots professionally he said first learn the angles. Zooms are great but can make you lazy, he wanted me to.leatn how to work the court and event with the limitations of a prime. The range of the lense made me think of every shot. I had to wait till the subjects hit that zone for best possible images. I had to plann each quarter on my position and what players I would work on. Primes will work but they require planning and thought. Though depending on your access to court side it will dictate their success too

 

[Peter in Canberra]

I am guessing that you have bumped up your ISO because you are already shooting at a low f stop and needed to increase ISO to reach the shutter speed and it still wasn't fat enough? I don't think you will see a huge difference with this issue if you choose the d7500, it has a slightly smaller sensor (you probably won't notice) but shoots slightly higher mp. I also doubt that the zoom lens will fix your problems as well. the more telephoto the lens (say at 200) the less light, therefore your shutter speed at the same iso and aperture will be lower if you want the same exposure. I have a Nikon D500 and use a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 to shoot my nephew's indoor hockey and it works pretty well, but not as good as some. unfortunately you will probably have to upgrade to a pro camera to find results similar to the ones you see published.


here is one shot on my old d7100 with Tonika 11-16 f2.8

look at all those lights ...

the crappy ice rink in Canberra doesn't have that many lights I can tell you

 

[Peter in Canberra]

Completely agree about the subject percentage in frame. For most shots they have to domnate the frame. I used a 85mm Nikon 1.8 prime to start with. Now many people will say primes are limited for sports I shoot Netball. I have a 70 - 200 2.8 my mentor took it off me ! He shoots professionally he said first learn the angles. Zooms are great but can make you lazy, he wanted me to.leatn how to work the court and event with the limitations of a prime. The range of the lense made me think of every shot. I had to wait till the subjects hit that zone for best possible images. I had to plann each quarter on my position and what players I would work on. Primes will work but they require planning and thought. Though depending on your access to court side it will dictate their success too

thanks for this little message.

I've been trying to shoot floorball in generally poor lighting and this suggestion to plan better I will try to put into practice.

 

[Xavier666]

Completely agree about the subject percentage in frame. For most shots they have to domnate the frame. I used a 85mm Nikon 1.8 prime to start with. Now many people will say primes are limited for sports I shoot Netball. I have a 70 - 200 2.8 my mentor took it off me ! He shoots professionally he said first learn the angles. Zooms are great but can make you lazy, he wanted me to.leatn how to work the court and event with the limitations of a prime. The range of the lense made me think of every shot. I had to wait till the subjects hit that zone for best possible images. I had to plann each quarter on my position and what players I would work on. Primes will work but they require planning and thought. Though depending on your access to court side it will dictate their success too

Thank you for your feedback.

 

[gidgetto]

This is Canada, we take our hockey seriously haha. This is an older rink you should see the lighting in the newer rinks or where the pros play.

 

[Xavier666]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

Here is a photo I took during a badminton game. I post-processed in LR6.
EXIF: ISO 1600- f1/4 - 1/1000 (lens: Nikon 50mm 1.4)
If I upgrade to Nikon D7500, would I get a better result?

 

[scokill]

Hi everone,
I got a Nikon D7000. I paired it with a Nikon 50mm 1.4 to shoot pictures of my kids in indoor sports conditions but the results were far from satisfying: a lot of blur, even at ISO 1600. After reading a lot of reviews, I came to the conclusion that my D7000 is perhaps not the ideal camera for indoor sports. That brings me to my question: what would you advice me to buy : either a new body (Nikon D7500) or a Nikon 70-200. Any help is more than welcome
Note: having a Sigma 18-35, I would like to stick with a cropped sensor. So full frame is no option.

Not enough information here to judge what your problem is.

1) What is the sport you are shooting, judging from asking about 18-35 I assume you are shooting really close indoors, what sports what distance and what age?

2) What aperture and SS as another posted mentioned.

What is your hypothesis for the blur, post a picture here. Is it due to out of focus, subject movement, etc. With a 50 shooting say basketball right from the edge under basket the DOF is terrible narrow at 1.4, also primes like the 50 1.4 isn't known to be the fastest to lock or track. Is it tracking or focus the problem or motion blur?

For well lit gyms and shooting kids not moving too fast you could get by with 1/250 or 1/500 and boost ISO to get the right exposure. If the kids are moving really fast then as other poster said faster shutter speed can freeze, but if it is focus no about of ISO or SS will fix that.

Much more needs to be shared or thought thru to decide what to invest. But no question a prime to shoot sports is an insane approach unless you will accept only getting action shows for a very narrow range of distance, or plan to have three bodies with three primes on them.

Here is a photo I took during a badminton game. I post-processed in LR6.
EXIF: ISO 1600- f1/4 - 1/1000 (lens: Nikon 50mm 1.4)
If I upgrade to Nikon D7500, would I get a better result?

The technical short answer is Yes. Higher resolution and better higher ISO performance, better AF and in every way. Would this photo viewed as is benefit?? Probably not. If your goal is to get family snaps and memories then I think you are covered now.