[largonioulurI]

I'm surprised no one has made the suggestion to make sure your lens cap is off.

[HenriRow]

I'm gonna have to disagree with the thought that a tripod or image stabilization is simply unnecessary.

Of course it depends on what you are doing. If you are walking around taking pictures of people then a 50mm lens and 1/60 second shutter will be fine if your hands are steady and your technique good.

However, if you are shooting a match from one of the stands, and so you are further away, then you'll be using a much longer focal length. For a 135mm on a camera like a 450d, you'd probably want to have your camera set to 1/250 or something of that sort. Gym lighting often won't allow for that. Image stabilization generally buys you 1-2 stops, so you can probably get away with 1/90s. That's too slow to freeze movement but at least you won't spoil a shot of people standing in kamae because of unsteady hands.

A tripod or a monopod is another way and the issue of it getting in other people's way is overstated, I think. If you are shooting a match, you probably won't actually be walking around the shiaijo that much. For one, are you really going to be cutting in and out and around the crowd to get in position even without a tripod? Second you're taking a big chance that you won't be in position to shoot when the action happens. More likely you'll find a good spot, set up, and you'll be more or less standing there waiting for the opportunity.

I get perfectly acceptable pictures at ~1/125sec with a 135mm. With a tripod, you're seriously hindering yourself in moving about the camera and composing the image.
After the EKC last year, I bought a monopod (to attach to the mount on the lens), so that I could retain most of the mobility, but avoid my arms getting tired after a whole day of shooting. In addition, at the majority of the taikais I go to, space is at premium and a tripod will get in the way.
I'm not saying that IS/VR wont help. I'm saying it's not worth the money for this purpose. I'd save the IS/VR for fast moving ballgames, motor racing, etc.

[HedoShoodovex]

I'm surprised no one has made the suggestion to make sure your lens cap is off.

Actually I was going to say the best camera setting is: ON

[onlyfun_biziness]

I get perfectly acceptable pictures at ~1/125sec with a 135mm.

You're pretty experienced and I'm sure have well refined and practiced technique, so certainly you can do pretty well while hand-holding.

But as a general comment, the usual rule of thumb is -- as I'm sure you know -- 1/(35mm equiv focal length). A 450D has a x1.6 multiplier, suggesting a shutter speed of 1/216 for a 135mm lens. The next full stop up is 1/250, which is why I gave that number as a starting point. Steady hands will easily buy you a stop, sure, but I think in terms of general advice 1/250 is a safer suggestion.
In addition, at the majority of the taikais I go to, space is at premium and a tripod will get in the way. I think this is a matter of style and location. If it's a small venue or if you are shooting with shorter lenses, mobility and space efficiency will be more important, I agree. I suppose the most important thing to know here is something about the venue and if a tripod will be practical to use or not.
I'm not saying that IS/VR wont help. I'm saying it's not worth the money for this purpose. I guess that's a question of personal choice, so I'll leave it at that.

[jojocomok]

1) Get good glass!
- That'll make the biggest output difference. Your kit lens will be underwhelming.

2) Meter early and stick to it.
- Lighting in most gyms doesn't vary that much. It's uniformly bad.
- Try and get on the floor before the event to establish exposure.
- If you let the camera try and meter exposure during the event it's going to have a tough time switching between the dark kenshi and the light floors and walls
- Take note of which shots are well exposed, remember the aperture/shutterspeed value, set to manual, and use the reciprocal values to get the desired aperture or shutter speed as you move around during the event.

3) Have fun.

[ulnanVti]

Thanks for all the information, though my apologies, I'm probably going to have to learn a bit more to understand quite a bit of it.

I've taken some "test pics" and put them at

http://flickr.com/photos/scout3801/s...7613092879643/

Took them at ISO 1600, f3.5, 1/250 exposure time. Originals were raw, ran them through photoshop and saved them as jpgs. Anything with "auto" in the name has been modified to some extent in photoshop.

If anyone has the time to take a look, and help me tie in the advice I'm getting here to how I should be taking the pictures, I'd appreciate it.

-Charles

[29clepayJainync]

Not a bad start. I especially like this one.

It looks like you're underexposed by a stop or two. I suspect that when you meter, your camera is using the white walls. Metering works by assuming the average value for a scene is 18% gray. When the majority of your frame is the white wall (say 5% gray), then the auto-metering darkens it to 18% gray, making your whole scene darker, including the already dark indigo kenshi.

As mentioned earlier. Using the palm of your hand to meter is a good suggestion. It would probably return something like F2.0, 1/250 in that dojo. If your lens limit is F3.5 as noted below, that equates to a shutterspeed somewhere around 1/60. Set exposure to manual, lock it there and shoot some more, checking once in a while if lighting changes.

So now that you know gear and venue limits, shoot appropriately. If 1/60 is your top speed, there are plenty of great things to shoot for rather than spending the day (getting frustrated) trying to get a crisp, well-exposed ippon shot.

-Michael

Thanks for all the information, though my apologies, I'm probably going to have to learn a bit more to understand quite a bit of it.

I've taken some "test pics" and put them at

http://flickr.com/photos/scout3801/s...7613092879643/

Took them at ISO 1600, f3.5, 1/250 exposure time. Originals were raw, ran them through photoshop and saved them as jpgs. Anything with "auto" in the name has been modified to some extent in photoshop.

If anyone has the time to take a look, and help me tie in the advice I'm getting here to how I should be taking the pictures, I'd appreciate it.

-Charles

[tsaaapla]

If the camera supports it, you can also use spot metering, which will tend to be more accurate than the overall average/area metering.

[lXvtm0ox]

Also, If you get a chance, set your white balance before you start - use a grey card or white piece of paper if you want to use the custom setting. This will avoid the brownish yellow colour you mentioned.

get this http://www.expodisc.com/product-over...words=ExpoDisc

[Caluabdum]

for perfect results with a spot meter:
point spot meter at a white card.
set exposure to the reading for white then open up by 2 and a third stops/
eg if the meter says ƒ8 on white, set exposure to ƒ2.8 and 2 thirds

[bUqLfXRI]

If the camera supports it, you can also use spot metering, which will tend to be more accurate than the overall average/area metering.

Because of our dark bogu and the the fact that indoor lighting is relatively stable, I think setting exposure manually (with periodic readjustments) is the way to go. A spot meter, in particular, might meter on a dark doh, or a medium tsuba, or a light shinai, or even a bright mengane.

You could set +1.5 exposure compensation and try to always meter on a doh or dark keikogi and then recompose as necessary, but that seems to me to be unnecessarily complex.

I think michaelm's advice was good, with the additional comment that--since you're shooting digital--just take a couple of shots after setting the exposure, check the exposure on the LCD, and adjust as necessary. If it's too dark, just increase the exposure and try again.

[Daruhuw]

Chaz, this pic was shot with extremely high ISO settings, at great distance, and using no tripod of any sort (and this morning actually). I cropped it quit a bit and edited to make it more interesting (all in Aperture). I think it turned out ok (not great I may add as there are some unbalancing elements in it).

Its fun sometimes taking pictures in bad conditions (with cheap equipment) and turning it into something 1/2 decent in photoshop or whatever.

Anyway, toilet....

[BadbarmrapBef]

You might also try setting your exposure settings first. The dojos (usually a sports hall over here) are most of the time very evenly lit. From a photography standpoint there's also very little light. I have one of these whibal cards that I use for a white balance reference shot (I shoot raw) and unless they start changing all the lights, that should be good for the whole session.

Then I just experiment until I get the right exposure using the environment as a target. The dark outfits (black hakama/gi) tend to push your exposure meter in the wrong direction (longer exposure times and grey outfits). So with the camera in manual shiftmode (so I can adjust shutterspeed to the max with lenses that do'nt have a fixed aperture or to get a different effect) i only have to concern myself with framing and timing the shot.
And despite my camera having built in stabilisation that means some blurry shots.

Only way to get to higher shutter speeds is a faster lens (bigger aperture as mentioned above like 1.8 or 1.4. Downside is very shallow depth of field), increase iso (and introduce noise), start using a seriously big flash gun (regular ones don't reach far enough and it might annoy the people you're photographing) or take everybody outside into the sun (which will take quite a bit of effort on your part)

[exchpaypalgold]

drat.. stupid time limit...
anyhoo... That way you get this sort of thing: pic1 pic 2