During the winter months, when my kids are busy with music lessons, gymnastics, soccer, and other activities that seem to keep me indoors far too much, I often take photos of their sports teams.
One of my sons is a fairly serious gymnast, so I have now traveled to many gymnastics meets (he's on a USA Gymnastics (USAG) team) with my camera gear.
NOTE: These photos are essentially "unretouched", these are the full-frame images without any cropping.
One of my sons is a fairly serious gymnast, so I have now traveled to many gymnastics meets (he's on a USA Gymnastics (USAG) team) with my camera gear.
NOTE: These photos are essentially "unretouched", these are the full-frame images without any cropping.
Canon 40D, Canon 135mm f2.0 lens, ISO3200, f2.0, 1/320 prefocused (autofocus off)
Shot from a Gitzo carbon-fiber tripod, Acratech Ballhead
My first attemts at gymnastics photography were not pretty, and I found myself searching the internet for advice. I found a few helpful websites, and some wonderful people even wrote me with their advice. I've posted some of my advice on my website at:
http://www.touchinglightphotography.com/Order/Tips/GymnasticsPhotoTips.htm
In updating my "tips" for gymnastics photography, I have to add that I now have some new equipment, which has had a significant impact on my success rate.
Canon 40D, Canon 135mm f2.0 lens, ISO3200, f/2.0, 1/500, prefocused (autofocus off)
Shot from a Manfrotto monopod, Acratech ballhead
The Short Story
To keep it simple, here's my summary recommendation for equipment and settings (note, you MUST NOT use flash (according to USA Gymnastics rules, for the safety of the gymnasts), so be sure you know how to keep your camera's flash from firing!). Also, unless you are USA Gymnastics safety certified, you are NOT allowed on the gymnastic floor while gymnasts are performing...don't argue with the officials...those are the rules!)
- Camera: Canon 40D (or equivalent crop-sensor camera)...the 40D has a 1.6x crop factor, and has a 6.5 frame-per-second frame rate (pretty fast)
- Lens: Canon 135mm f2.0 "prime" lens (about $650 street price) or similar wide-aperture moderate telephoto prime lens. If you must use a zoom, try a professional (expensive) zoom like the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 ... which is fairly heavy, but a beautiful lens!
- ISO (light sensitivity): 3200 (stopping the action is probably more important to getting clear images than low noise). In a brightly lit gym, you might be able to get away with ISO 800 or 1600 if the light is bright enough (see shutter speed, below)
- Aperture: f/2.0, Aperture priority setting on camera (Av) (or the "brightest" aperture you can use)
- Shutter Speed: let the aperture priority setting pick the fastest speed available. You will want a shutter speed of 1/500 to 1/1000 or faster if at all possible with the light available to you. If you can only shoot at 1/250...it's tough, but you will still get some good photos if you take them when the gymnast is motionless (reversing direction in a gymnastics move)
- NOTE: Dimly lit gymnastics events are difficult to photograph with anything less than ISO3200 and f2.8 (or the equivalent combination...e.g. ISO1600 f2.0, ISO800 f1.4, etc.). I recommend "prime" (non-zoom) moderate telephotos because you can get a wide-aperture lens that isn't huge. Note that the typical f/4 - f/5.6 telephoto zooms ... typical "consumer" zooms, just don't let in enough light to take good gymnastics photos in most gyms. If you have tried to take photos of your son or daughter using an f/4 to f5.6 zoom...getting poor quality images is likely the fault of your equipment, not you! In most gyms, you MUST use a wide-aperture lens and an SLR camera... the typical point and shoot digital camera simply isn't fast enough to capture a gymnast at the right moment, and the small sensors used are often "high-noise" at higher ISO settings...and they rarely enable an ISO above 800 or so.
- You may find using a monopod helpful, however, it is usually the gymnast's motion that must be frozen. Neither a monopod nor an "image stabilized" (IS) lens will stop the motion of the gymnast. IS may help if you are shooting a long and hard-t0-hold telephoto.
- For floor exersize, shut off your auto focus, and stand perpendicular to the direction of travel for the gymnast, so they stay the same distance from you. Prefocus your lens and leave it (unless you are using a camera like the Canon 1D MKIII that has 45 autofocus points). Otherwise, you run a high risk of focusing on the back wall rather than the gymnast when they move out of the center of your image! Floor is tough to photograph!
The Longer Story...
About a year ago, I "went whole hog" and rented a Canon 200mm f1.8 (!) lens to use with my Canon 5D body. The lens was awesome (and HEAVY!), and drew stares from all of the jealous parents, but alas, the lens is no longer made by Canon (they now sell a 200 mm f2.0 lens which is virtually equivalent), and the f1.8 lens runs around $5500 on E-Bay auctions (used).
In thinking about my options, I finally settled on purchasing a 135mm f2.0 "prime" lens, since the big issue with gymnastics photography is light. I also purchased a Canon 40D, which is a fantastic "crop sensor" camera, that due to the smaller sensor, changes the "apparent focal length" of the 135mm lens to 210mm. Therefore, what I have now is essentially the equivalent of the lens I rented, when I put the 135 f2.0 lens on my Canon 40D to get an effective 210mm f2.0 lens.
This combination has proven to be fantastic for the gymnastics photos, and allows me to let in enough light at f2.0 to keep the shutter speed sufficiently high to stop the motion, even in a dimly lit gymnasium (though I've encountered gyms where even f2.0 is not sufficient).
This past weekend (2/2/2008), I shot a gymnastics event in a fairly darkly lit gym, and used the 135 f2.0 for nearly all shots, and they came out great (more about my settings in another post). The single exception, was photos of the parallel bars, where my best shots were shot straight on (from the end of the bars) from across the gym, using my Canon 40D and a 300mm f2.8 lens (another awesome Canon lens!). Both the 135 f2.0 and the 300mm f2.8 provide sufficient depth of field wide-open to keep the gymnasts sharp, while providing a nice background blur ("bokeh").
Canon 40D, Canon 300mm f2.8L lens, ISO3200, f/2.8, 1/250, Servo autofocus
Shot from a Manfrotto Monopod with a Acratech Ballhead and a Wimberly Side-Arm
For this event, I shot everything at ISO3200, with noise reduction off (to keep the frame rate high), then did post-processing in Adobe Photoshop CS2 with an action I wrote that provided noise sharpening, curve adjustment, color balancing, and sharpening.
My overriding advice for shooting gymnastics...
1) Use the highest ISO you can on your camera (stopping action is critical for sharpness...even more important than digital noise)
2) Use a prime lens, since you will be able to afford (and carry) a prime with a wider aperture ... the zooms will cost you light, and will add weight (I could make a pun here but will refrain)
3) NOTE: f2.8 is marginal, f2.0 is about as good as it gets in anything over 50mm
4) Use the aperture priority setting setting the lens to the widest aperture available...that way, the camera will pick the fastest shutter speed it can under the light conditions.
5) Don't shoot too tight...but do be close enough so your subject fills a large part of the frame. Shooting too tight will prevent you from having enough room to crop, and you run the risk of shooting "headless" gymnasts.
At 6.5 fps and with acceptable digital noise even at ISO3200, plus the 1.6x crop factor, make the Canon 40D an ideal camera for this application (I even shot more than 1500 shots on a single battery charge!...yes, that many images in a single event)
Good luck, and don't hesitate to write with your questions.
19 comments:
Richard, thanks for posting your good advice on how to shoot gymnastics events. My two grandsons are into gymnastics for awhile now, and my son and I have been finding out the hard way on how to get decent shots. I was starting to lean in your direction before I found your site. I have sent your link to my son, as we were just discussing this topic just last night over the phone. He was asking me what I thought about Canon image stabilization lenses and I told him I was pretty sure image stabilization wasn't going to help with most of his gymnastic shots.
Without having yet taken any shots at ISO of 3200, I'm amazed at how you got such great noiseless shots, as we've been shooting at 1600 and getting lots of noise (slower lens is most of the problem I suppose). Plus I think underexposing may actually worsen the noise problem. I have Photoshop CS3 and Aperture to edit with. I'm not experienced with noise reduction techniques. Do you have any suggestions? I've seen Noise Ninja mentioned in various online discussions.
Anyway, I do appreciate your article, and as I'm sure you feel as being a father (or grandfather) how important it is to capture those wonderful moments when your child (or grandchild) engages in group sports. My grandsons are involved in mtn bike racing, downhill skiing, gymnastics and even performing at piano recitals. Shooting sports in low light is definitely a challenge.
Thanks, Steve
Thanks Richard. I am in the same dilema... Have a daughter doing gymnastics and just can't get the pictures right. My biggest issue is that we are not permitted on the floor, thus the distance to the gymnists is quite big. And, the gyms are usually built to allow light to come in on one side, and the seating on the other. So we are always up too high and taking pics against the light, which darkens the foreground or overexposes the background massively. I have started getting half way acceptable results with my Nikon D80, 18-200 lens with picture stabilizer, using ISO values of 1600. But, depending on which corner the girls are in, i'm too far to do a decent shot. And as you say, I don't even try under 1/250th... But some of your tips will be helpful. I've just decided to get a 180mm f2.8 or 135 f2 and see where that gets me.
Hope I figure it out!
Dan
Don't forget the shorter 85 1.8 canon lens at under 400.00 US it makes a good addition to the camera bag. It is the only lens I could afford at first and added to the nifty fifty (50 1.8) and the 135 2.0 you already mentioned, you come in at around the same as the 70-200 2.8 l but with faaster primes.
Thanks, Patrick. Your comments are absolutely correct. Many professionals are using the 85mm f1.8 for gymnastics events, with great success. With the somewhat shorter focal length, anyone photographing gymnastics will likely want to be safety certified by the USAG so that they can actually shoot from the floor.
I also have used the 50mm f/1.4 with great success...though as you point out, the 50mm f/1.8 is a great lens...and to tell the truth, I rarely shoot the f/1.4 lens at that aperture...it is usually closed down just a bit to 1.8 or 2.0.
Thanks for the good blog entry on gymnastics. I learned some of it the hard way before searching the web for gymnastics photography and finding your site.
I started shooting with my old digital rebel 300 and kit lens. Since my child was lower level, I got a few ok pictures. I upgraded to the 85 1.8 and got more. But I wanted a longer reach so I started looking at the 70-200 2.8 from canon and sigma...but shooting at 1.8 to 2.5, I began thinking 2.8 was not fast enough when I only had shutter speeds of 180 to 250 as it was in the home gym at ISO 1600. I upgraded cameras instead to the 40d for less noise and ISO 3200. It was a hard choice between a used Canon Mark ii or the 40d.
I opted for the 40d because it was cheaper (left money for glass), and it was new with a USA warranty. The security of a new camera under warranty was important since money is tight. I believe the canon 40d is the best budget sports camera around.
Anyway I liked the idea of the 135 2.0 you recommended; it makes a lot of since...at IS0 3200 at 2.0 I get about 1/500. If I was to step up to 2.8 It would drop to 1/250. Like you said - marginal
If you ever make a recommended lens list, consider a used sigma 120-300 2.8 (seems to be a good buy used at around 1800.00). The sigma would fit in nicely after the 135 2.0 and though expensive for a hobby lens, it is really affordable compared the canon equivalent.
cheers.
using the aperture priority setting at 2.0 and adjusting the exsposure compenstion to plus 1/3 stop seems to help lower noise.
I started this when I noticed my 40d on apeture priority mode was giving decent exsopsure but about 1/2 stop on the histogram from the right.
My 7 year old daughter just started competing in gymnastics. After my less than exciting first attempt, I read your article and setup today as follows: Canon 30D with 50 f/1.8, M mode at f2.0, ISO 3200, 1/640th, AF center point, hand held. Result was decent exposure with frozen action, and noise cleaned up surprisingly well in PS CS3 using smart blur filters. However, as I knew it would be, critical focus on athlete was difficult due to shallow DOF and changing distance as athlete moved during routine.
I want to improve critical focus hit rate.
I shot the uneven bar event today and here's how it went. I had to stand with judges about 10-15 feet to the side/front of the dismount landing point and was able to frame the athlete well with 50mm. Shooting AF (even in servo mode) was ineffective it would focus on background objects or distant walls as athlete moved. I set AF focus on a point where I anticipated action, then shot MF when the action arrived at that distance. Results were a few incredible shots but, in many, the athlete was slightly (or more) OOF mostly due to shallow DOF and critical misfocus.
So, how to improve critical focus rate?
Your comments and/or advise will be very welcome :-)
Pauly:
First of all, congrats on your 7 year old gymnast, and congratulations on getting some good photos.
Your set-up is pretty good. The 50mm f/1.8 lens is a good, sharp lens, but a bit slower focusing than the 50mm f/1.4 lens, and as you state, your depth of field is pretty shallow (less than a foot).
AF servo mode doesn't work well simply because you cannot easily keep the center focus point on the athlete (as you said). I do pre-focus (sometimes on one of the bars) at a location where I think the athlete will be at a good point in the routine, and then take the shot at that moment.
I also will assure you that I throw out far more shots than I ever keep (90% or more are eliminated on my first pass through the images).
Also, ISO 3200 is pretty noisy on the 30D, and not much better on the 40D (which I have...but I will just as an aside mention that I also shoot on a Canon 5D Mark II - which has a fabulous ability to shoot great shots at ISO 3200). Some of the issue is practice, and some is just accepting that many shots won't turn out. Also...we amateurs sometimes fail to remember that the photos taken of the Olympic gymnasts are shot under *far* better lighting conditions!
Rather than using a Photoshop blur filter, I've found that NIK Software's DFine noise reduction tool (a plug-in for Photoshop CS2/3/4) works very well, and much better than the standard noise reduction in Photoshop.
Can you shut off AF on the 50 1.8? (I haven't used that lens)...
Richard
Hello,
I am in the process of buying my 1st digital SLR camera and I really would like to know your advice: do you think I could get some good shots with the canon T1i or should I buy the 50D or 40D? My daughter is doing gymnastics too, that is why I am asking you this question.
Thank you very much for your time.
Maud
mdhoutaut:
(Sorry for the delay in answering...I was out of town for two weeks traveling - without internet access).
I haven't used the Canon T1i, but I do think that you should be able to take excellent gymnastics photos with that camera, without the need to upgrade to a 40D or 50D. In my opinion, the bigger issue is having an appropriate lens to capture the gymnasts in motion in dimly lit gymnasiums.
I recommend using a Canon 135mm f2.0 lens, which will let a lot of light reach the sensor, and with your T1i will give you the equivalent of a 216mm f/2.0 lens - which is really fantastic for gymnastics.
Getting a newer camera can provide a lower noise sensor, which will give cleaner images, but I think the most important issue is getting a good lens. A Canon 50D or 40D will also provide a faster "frame rate" - shooting images in rapid succession...but I find that the best gymnastics photos are often taken by learning the routine, and taking the photo at just the right time - often when the gymnast stops mid-air and reverses direction.
The 135mm f/2 lens will let in 8 times as much light as an f/5.6 lens (which is common in the "consumer" zooms. The extra light makes a big difference, and, shooting at f/2.0, you will focus cleanly on the gymnast, but the distracting background will be nicely blurred - something that can't be achieved with an f/5.6 zoom lens.
Yes, the 135 f/2.0 is pricy (I got mine used for around $600), and it is not a zoom - but I suspect you will find that once you have it, you will often use it even without the ability to zoom the lens. It is one of Canon's sharpest lenses!
Good luck!
There is so much good advice here, but I really am an amateur and a lot of the information is beyond my knowledge base. I have a Canon rebel and own a basic zoom lens. I want to take better shots of my daughter who is a level 5 gymnast. I am considering two lense and wondered what your opinion was. Would you purchase a 85mm F1.8 or the 135mm F2? Or do you have another lens to recommend. Thanks, Molly
thanks richard i myself is a photographer specializing in wedding and was looking for some techniques to shoot my niece who is gymnast and she is national champion for last two year for sub juniors.
Good stuff. I use the Carl Zeiss 85/1.4. I can usually keep ISO down to 1600 and in some gyms 800! For Canon shooters, I encountered a pro at a meet with the Canon 85/1.2. Nice piece of glass if you can afford it and the images were great.
Richard:
I am a beginning gymnastics also, but I use Nikon gear...sorry! I've searched all over the internet also looking for advise and found your site. Anyway, I use the D700, 70-200 f/2.8, and 24-70 f/2.8 Nikkor lenses. I also have the consumer 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 but fins it's too slow for these dark gyms. I have two questions I would like to ask. 1)You mention getting a USA Safety Certification to get on the floor. How do you do that? I searched their site and did not see any mention of it. If you have a contact or link, please email me.
2) My biggest problem now is focus. The D700 has several AF modes, and I can't seen to find the one that works best. I think the 5D is very similar to me D700. If you are not pre-focusing in manual, what other modes do you use? Have you tried the 3D tracking mode? Not sure what Canon calls it. Anyway, I would definitely appreciate any advise you could offer on focusing on these fast moving athletes. By the way, my daughter is in level 5, just getting ready to move to level 6 if that helps. Thanks, Rich
holliwr:
Thanks for your comments on my post here. I haven't been shooting gymnastics for a little over a year, as my youngest son decided he wanted to spend more time with his family (us) rather than being at the gym so much. That has been great for all of us.
Regarding your photogarphy questions, the D700 should be a great camera to be working with. I would be using my Canon 7D if shooting gymnastics today. If light is a problem, I would still recommend using a fixed focal length wide-aperture lens. In the Canon line of lenses, I purchased a 135mm f/2.0 lens that was great for gymnastics. The extra f/stop was a big help vs. f/2.8, and 135mm + a 1.6x crop factor gave me a great combo...and on the 7D, the camera shoots about 8 frames per second.
Regarding the safety certification, there is a webpage for the safety certification at USA Gymnastics - http://www2.usa-gymnastics.org/education/safety-schedule.html that should work for you.
Also, with respect to focus, I currently use a focus mode on my Canon 7D that favors the center focus point, but uses an expanded focusing area (5 of 19 points) to track moving subjects, using Canon's Servo Mode (tracking focus constantly). I still find that for some subjects, manual focus (even shutting off auto-focus) can be the best method, when I know where the subject (athlete) will be at the time I press the shutter.
I hope this information helps!
Best of luck!
Richard;
Thanks for the great info. I have recently picked up quite a bit of work shooting young gymnast; no flash under lousy flux lighting.
I use a full frame D700 at 3200iso with good results; fyi to a previous post. I use two portrait lense; prime 85mm f1.4 and prime 135f2 (just got the 135 so no reports yet.) I shoot the 85 at at f1.4 and manage 1/250 to 1/500. In darker sections of the Gym I just wait for a stop in motion as you suggest.
see www.steveloosphotography.com
I also have a D300 1.5crop APS-C but this camera produces unacceptable noise over 800iso; works fine for well lighted basketball, football and baseball night venues.
Thanks for posting,your information is helpful. Feel free to contact me at any time.
This post is as relevant today as the day you wrote it. My son (Coincidentally here in the Northwest too.) is a gymnast. Last year was his first year competing. Mid way through the year I decided to go SLR so I could get some nice photos. I got a T3i with a couple consumer lenses. I quickly learned that those lenses just wouldn't cut it in these poorly lit gyms they compete in.
This season is just getting underway and we had our first event a couple days ago, the good old Cold Turkey. Small gym and decent lighting. For this event I rented a Canon 70-200 F2.8 USM IS II lens for the day. I did get some great pictures. I wish I could buy this lens. I shot with the camera at 3200 all day. I actually ended up shooting a couple events with my standard 28-55 lens because of how close I was to the action.
I'm thinking I might pick up a 50mm 1.8 lens, and maybe a 100mm 2.0 lens. Now most of my competitions will be in the same locations you filmed your son. Would it perhaps be better to get the 135 F2.8 lens vs the 100 F2 lens? Or maybe a 70-200 2.8 Sigma or Tamron lens?
I just can't make up my mind to buy a couple fixed length lenses, a non canon brand zoom, or just continue to rent lenses for the few dates I'll need them.
Will: I'm glad to see that my advice is still useful!
I have to say that for gymnastics photography, I love my 135 f/2.0L lens - it used to sell for around $650 - and is of course only a prime lens - no zoom and no IS (which is usually irrelevant for gymnastics anyway - because of the motion of the gymnasts).
Honestly cameras are evolving so quickly, and the sensitivity of the image sensors improving so fast, that the 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens would likely be a terrific choice. If you are moderately serious about photography, you are likely to move up to a Canon 7D or its replacement someday soon - and the image sensor on the 7D (and likely on its successor) will be more sensitive, and able to tolerate shooting at higher ISOs. f/2.8 may cramp your style on the T3i, but on your next camera, it may not be an issue. I think you'll appreciate the zoom range for gymnastics - although I used the 135 and it was good for many events, there were times I wanted 200mm.
I use a 70-200 (f/4) for landscape photography all the time - in other words, this is a great focal length zoom and a terrifically sharp lens. I settled for the 135 f/2 for gymnastics, and I use my 70-200 f/4 for landscape - but the 70-200 f/2.8 would likely suffice for both purposes (but it would be heavier to carry in the backpack than my f/4 lens).
If you do decide to go with the 135 f/2.0, it is a very sharp lens, and it will readily take a teleextender (e.g. multiplying the focal length by 1.4x or 2.0 x in which case it will become either f/2.8 or f/4 (270mm).
I have been learning to shoot gymnastics for three years. I now have a Canon 7d and most of the lenses mentioned in this blog. I have used the 70-200 L for almost all of the meets. I can get a great shot, but there is a lot of noise. I have yet to take a tack-sharp image. If anyone has suggestions, I will use them in the next meets (3 left) and report back.
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