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Tips/Lenses for Shooting Volleyball

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    Tips/Lenses for Shooting Volleyball

    My daughter is starting volleyball this Fall and I'd like to capture the action. The tournaments will all be indoors with what I would guess to be poor to mediocre lighting for photography. I don't have the newest camera on the market and am not sure what lens would be the best "all around" for this purpose. I mainly have prime lenses and just a couple zooms with one being a crappy kit lens. I'll list what I have to work with below. I'm afraid a Nikon 70-200 2.8 is out of my budget and not sure if that would be ideal to begin with.

    Camera Body: Nikon D7000
    Sigma 28-70 2.8
    Nikon kit lens (maybe 17-55 not sure)
    Nikon 35mm 1.8
    Nikon 50 1.8
    Nikon 85 1.4

    Any suggestions on what focal length is best? Any lens suggestions? I know a lot depends on where I'm located in relation to the court, which leads me to believe I'd be better suited with a zoom.

    Thanks

    #2
    I shot sons basketball games with AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G lens. I was on a budget. I would sit on baseline and free throw line on the side. I got some pretty good pics. Would have preferred a 85 mm lens for a little bit closer. You could always rent a few different lens before you decide what to buy. I have used http://www.photorentalsource.com/

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      #3
      Your 85mm f/1.4 would be the one I'd pick out of your current lineup. Gyms look like they're brightly lit, but they are NOT. Very few gyms have enough light in them to get fast shutters with higher f/stop values. You need f/2.8 at a minimum, and with that you'll likely need to bump ISO to 1600 to get fast enough shutter speeds for non-blurred images. 85mm isn't a bad length for volleyball. Position yourself in a spot where you're facing your daughter's team from across the net so you are seeing their faces rather than their backs. Try to get a spot where you can fill the frame with the hitters at the net. You can always crop pics of the girls in the back row a little if you need to "zoom" with your prime lens.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Shane View Post
        Your 85mm f/1.4 would be the one I'd pick out of your current lineup. Gyms look like they're brightly lit, but they are NOT. Very few gyms have enough light in them to get fast shutters with higher f/stop values. You need f/2.8 at a minimum, and with that you'll likely need to bump ISO to 1600 to get fast enough shutter speeds for non-blurred images. 85mm isn't a bad length for volleyball. Position yourself in a spot where you're facing your daughter's team from across the net so you are seeing their faces rather than their backs. Try to get a spot where you can fill the frame with the hitters at the net. You can always crop pics of the girls in the back row a little if you need to "zoom" with your prime lens.
        I was thinking the 85mm would be my best option too. Thanks for the tips are location to shoot from.

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          #5
          I started with an 80-200 af lens, worked great as long as I used a monopod. I don’t know where you are located but if in dfw area we could meet and see if you like it


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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            #6
            Originally posted by candjbell View Post
            I started with an 80-200 af lens, worked great as long as I used a monopod. I don’t know where you are located but if in dfw area we could meet and see if you like it


            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
            Thanks, but unfortunately I'm South of Houston.

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              #7
              +1 on the monopod. I never shoot any sports without one. You can get tired of holding the camera without it.

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                #8
                I use a 70-200 f2.8 aperture Tamron to capture my daughter when she was doing high level gymnastics and my son in LLB. It worked great. Crappy lighting and fast action really put it and me to work lol. With the speed bumped up I didn't really need a monopod but software is a must if you want really good images.

                That being said if you can get up and close to your subjects then what you have will work. Bump up the speed to as much as possible without using too much ISO (thats the rub eh) and depending on the image you want to capture I'd open that aperture all the way up. No doubt with the lenses you have listed the Nikon 85 would be the best option IMO (at least for action shots). Tough selection IMO. Get as clean a picture as you can get with ISO turned as far down as possible then hope cropping comes out good. Should be fine as long as you aren't cropping to much.
                Last edited by BuckRage; 10-26-2017, 10:22 AM.

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