Badminton Photography

**ynexfan2003** · 11-13-2003, 10:25 PM

Hi Cheung,
I've done a search on the net, but couldn't find any retailers (mostly dead links in fact). A friend of mine got an excellent manual SLR camera from the Canon factory in America with a fixed 28mm lens f1.4 for $200 some time ago; it costs more than that just for the lens! I suppose I'll just have to keep on searching. The fastest lens I've got is a standard f2 Pentax lens; but even with that I'd need to use a higher speed film, because of the poor lighting conditions I'm working in. I'm too fond of ASA 100 to change.

For some reason almost all the cameras and lenses that are being sold nowadays don't take this type of photography into account.

***kwun*** · 11-13-2003, 10:38 PM

a popular place in the US is B&H Photo. here is the "normal" focal length Canon lenses. i don't see any 50/1.2, only 50/1.4

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=33&Submit.y=8

***kwun*** · 11-13-2003, 10:39 PM

Nikon on the other hand, has a 50/1.2. but only in AI-S (ie. manual focus).

Leica has a 50/1.4, but at an astronomical price, but i think my dad has one that dates back to the 70's...

**ynexfan2003** · 11-13-2003, 11:26 PM

Cheers Kwun,

They've got a Pentax 50mm f1.2 (I didn't even know Pentax made one); but it's $659 + shipping. It must be extremely rare, as the Pentax 50mm f2 is only £40 in the UK. Perhaps it's very expensive for a camera manufacture to produce equipment which isn't going to bought in bulk; but I shouldn't think it would cost them so much more to produce the faster lenses.
They're also selling the Tamron 28-200, which I bought in PhotoRoma in Italy some weeks ago for 330 Euros, for only $229! Now that's cheap!

If I can't find a reasonably priced Pentax fit lens, I think I'll buy a new camera body and then look for a Nikon lens, which seem to be more in vogue at the moment.

Originally posted by kwun
Leica has a 50/1.4, but at an astronomical price, but i think my dad has one that dates back to the 70's...

Is he willing to sell?

***kwun*** · 11-13-2003, 11:35 PM

going from f/2 to f/1.2 is going down 1.5 stops. that's a LOT of difference and of course the price reflects it.

demand/supply also comes into place, but it is technically much more difficult to make such a fast lens.

**cooler** · 11-14-2003, 01:22 AM

yyfan2003, i got a minolta s404, it's my very first camera.
I don't think it has many manual override feature on it.
Maybe i should get a hdtv camcorder instead and use image capture for still photo

**viver** · 11-14-2003, 02:10 AM

Originally posted by red00ecstrat
hi ynexfan2003

infact i was not talking about the shutter speed i.e 1/250, 1/500 sort of thing. i was talking about the respoonce of the shutter that mean time between u press on it and it actually functioning. all camere are different! the F70 is a kindda "normal" responce. when u pick up a F5 and press on the shutter. feel to it, u will know what i was talking about ...
red00ecstrat

I have tried using Nikon F4(my cousin's camera) and Nikon F90. It appears to me that Nikon F90 is faster than F4 when focusing and locking the target. Actually I feel more comfortable with the F90.

**Wizbit** · 11-14-2003, 02:46 AM

To sound like an idiot, would the new Canon EOS300D or Digital rebel (In US) with stock lens, be suitable for badminton pictures?

I need a digital camera for professional level work, (to produce up to A3 magazine size), and as a plus, to be able to take pics from badminton tournaments

***kwun*** · 11-14-2003, 02:48 AM

Wizbit, yes, i think so. unless you go very hardcore, it should be quite sufficient.

you may want to invest US$150 on a fixed focal fast lens like the 50/1.8. that will allow you to take at relatively low lighting condition. the zooms that comes in a package are usually 2+ stops slower (f/3.5-4.5).

**Traum** · 11-14-2003, 03:42 AM

ClearOne is bright for badminton, but dim for the camera. I was using a Canon EF 100mm F2.8 macro lens for the photos. I would have posted the pictures up, but I don't think my friends would be too thrilled since they're here on BF as well.

I didn't want to use a flash because the burst of the flash would be disruptive to other people's games.

Originally posted by ynexfan2003
The hall must be very dim indeed if you can't get a decent pic. using ASA1600, 1/125 shutter speed, and an aperture size of f2.8; do the players wear night-goggles? What sort of lens are you using and why don't you use an external flash (the built-in flashes are kak) ?
I'm surprised you have this problem, as by your description you must be using something like a 80-200 telephoto lens w. max aperture size of f2.8; these lenses are not cheap. Most telephoto lenses in that range under £300 have a max fstop of 4.5 or maybe f3.6 if you can pick up a good deal on a cheapish lens like a Tokina.

You can shoot at 1/8sec. without a tripod? Can you send me a photograph so I can erect a shrine in your honour? I thought I was doing good in managing to get a decent picture occasionally at 1/30, having spent ten minutes arranging the shot and supporting the cam against wall etc.

Here is a picture that I have just taken in my computer room. It is shot, without flash or tripod, at 1/10 sec, F4.5, at 28mm, with an ISO setting of 1600. If you save the file to your hard drive, I think you can still access the exposure settings and stuff from the properties settings of the picture. But the only reason I can do this is because of the Image Stablization technology behind the lens that I was using. Canon claims that IS can at least reduce the shutter speed by 1.5 stops. And in practice, I find that with a wide angle lens, a shutter speed reduction of 2 stops or more is often achievable.

-Rick

**Traum** · 11-14-2003, 04:01 AM

Originally posted by Wizbit
To sound like an idiot, would the new Canon EOS300D or Digital rebel (In US) with stock lens, be suitable for badminton pictures?

I need a digital camera for professional level work, (to produce up to A3 magazine size), and as a plus, to be able to take pics from badminton tournaments

Hey Wizbit. The only gripe I have with the Digital Rebel is that its continuous shooting mode is "only" at 3fps, and the buffer is only good for 4 consecutive shots. Realistically, I don't think 3fps is bad at all. But the bigger problem comes from the slow writing speed of the CF card. When I am shooting RAW, it literally takes half a minute before the camera finishes transferring the 4 frames from the buffer to the CF card! If you are gonna get a Digital Rebel to shoot baddy pictures (or other action pictures, for that matter), don't go cheap on the CF card. Get one with those write acceleration technologies instead of the granddaddy original versions.

-Rick

**ynexfan2003** · 11-14-2003, 09:19 AM

Hey Traum, why is there a bottle of lotion and a roll of tissues at either side of your computer?

(my range of facial expressions upon seeing them) . Perhaps you should have thought that shot through more carefully before taking it.

I finally found a Pentax 50mm 1.4 at a store in Dundee (North Scotland) for only £39; maybe the shop owner didn't realise how rare these lenses are or how desperate I was for one; I was prepared to pay almost 200% more for a new Nikon body and f1.2 lens. which has more or less the same quality and less manual features than the Pentax K1000.

***Cheung*** · 11-14-2003, 10:17 AM

That's a very reasonable price. Hang on a minute...do you have one of those old K fit mounts?

**ynexfan2003** · 11-14-2003, 10:24 AM

Originally posted by Cheung
That's a very reasonable price. Hang on a minute...do you have one of those old K fit mounts?

The guy just called me back to say he made a mistake and quoted the price of f1.7, but would sell the f1.4 for £60; it's still a very good price, seeing that B&H photo are selling a new Pentax 50mm f1.2 for $659 + shipping; yes, the lens I'm looking for has to fit a Pentax K (fairly standard fitting).

**red00ecstrat** · 11-14-2003, 11:37 AM

i want to raise a question and see u guys can deal with it or not!
what will u guys do. when u can only use 1/60 sec for trying to get a decent picture for newspaper or magazine in a badminton match without interrupting it?

**wood_22_chuck** · 11-14-2003, 12:06 PM

Use a tripod or monopod. And maybe add +1.333 to +1.666 stops over compensation depending if the player(s) are wearing mostly white attire.

-dave

**fan** · 11-14-2003, 12:52 PM

Use a tripod or monopod, get as close as you can to the court. Take the picture at the moment while the players are nearly freeze.

Like this one. ( pic was taken by Rick at the HK open)

heck, no luck with sticking pics again, go see the pic here
http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/sho...5&pagenumber=3