Camera Labs

Similiar to the hockey ones I am trying to get good quality pictures of figure skating. Just about a year ago I purchased a nikon D5000 since from the research I did it seemed this was the best camera in my price range at higher iso. I purchased with a 55-200 VR lens and I think I am about max at 1000 iso and I think it is noise on the pictures above that. Just wondering if I am on the right track or not. I know i should have a f2.8 lens but just can't see spending that much since they are about $2000 for the af-s. I have a bunch of them on my skydrive at the link below.

http://cid-6a20df591b19cb86.photos.live ... rch%202010

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John

do you shoot in raw, some pp can improve the images, but for those conditions you need a better lens, no expert on this but your depth of field is very shallow because of the aperture your using to get a higher shutter speed but your pics look like your not focusing on the right points so things like the face arnt in focus fully on all the pics, could just be that a higher shutter speed is needed though.

can you post some exif data so we can see what settings your using

The ice needs to be brighter, that will help the colours to be more vivid.
Manual mode
f/5.6
1/500s (shutter speed)
high ISO level (about 800, but try higher and lower).
But do use an external flash

I have been able to get up to 1000 iso with this camera and am only able to get to about 1/200 shutter speed before the pictures start getting dark. THe more checking I do the more it appreas I just need to spend the money for a f 2.8 lens but just trying not to. I know I won't get great quality without it just thought I could get close with the higher iso. I had thought about a 70-300 F4-5.6 lens which would give me about .5 f stop faster at the normal range of 175 to 225 that I would use for. From what I have heard though not sure I would notice much difference in that though.

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John

Nice shots, although the ice needs to be brightened. An external flash would certainly improve the shots!

http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p ... JPG?psid=1
This one is probably me favorite! I like how you made use of the rule of thirds, and really zoomed in.

-Evan

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-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

I have tried raw but the 2 problems I had with that was the large file sizes and had a harder time working with the pictures on the computer. I think I will try that again to see if I can get a slightly higher iso without noise to get brighter. I have tried a flash in the past but found that very difficult since I usually shoot bursts to get the jump or spin. I really like the range of the 70-300 Sigma and Tamron just not sure if .5 f stop would gain me enough to notice.

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John