Top side picture question

[OE2X]

My take on this:
Use a fast film speed - ISO 800. Remember the faster the speed film the larger the grain. Set your shutter speed on 500th of second and on shutter priority. At 500th of a sec. it should stop a volleyball in mid flight. One thing to consider is that since you are shooting indoors make sure you buy film that is color balanced/corrected for indoor use. If you have mercury vapor lights, well your color is going to be off unless you get a color meter and then put photo gels on the end of your lens. So don't worry about it.

If you find that your meter is telling you that you are consistently 1 stop under exposed tell the folks that are developing the film that you need it pushed one stop. It means essentially that they will develop the film just a bit longer or at ISO 1600 if you are using 800 speed film.

 

[RonFrank]

I think after reading some good advice here, you may want to seriously consider trying to find a pro that is shooting the event, and pay for some shots. You may even want to point out your daughter so he makes sure he gets some good shots. He/She pro will certainly try IF he thinks he can pocket some extra bucks over the deal (assuming he has control over his images).

Why am I suggesting this?

Kodak has discontinued their fast film. They make a Portra 800 (ISO 800, pro grade film), and an 800max film (consumer) that you may be able to get at places like Safeway. I have no idea if either push well, and Kodak does not say, so I'm guessing not so good, no more than 1 stop.

Fuji continues to make a Press 1600 speed film, that is what I'd use.

But the bottom line. If you have a lens that has a maxium aperture of even F4 (which I'm guessing f5.6 is more likely) and pro's are needing ISO 1600 with f2.8 lenses or faster to stop action, then you are not going to get enought shutter speed to stop action.

Certainly try by all means, but this is why I made the statement about shooting sports being equipment intensive. It's just not possible to stop action indoors without very expensive glass in a lot of situations.

If you do get some reasonable results out of your film shots, my suggestion is to then get them scanned, and work with your levels to try and get the WB adjusted as shooting under mecury vapor lights (unfortunately very common) is an impossible WB situation. Fuji actually does better in mixed lighting IMO than Kodak, but neither does what digital can.

I don't mean to sound negative, I've just been in your shoes, and in this case being a good photographer is not enough, you just have to have glass when indoors, and shooting action.

One thing to attmept is to push the ISO 1600 to 3200. However realize that you MUST shoot the entire roll as a push process. I suppose you can do otherwise, but basically pushing overexposes the film during development, and also results in bigger grain. So the results may not be too good.

 

[Misplaced Priority]

Thanks everyone for such great and thoughtfull suggestions. I really appreciate it.

 

[bladephotog]

Don't worry about color balance, gels and that. Shooting neg film it won't matter. Unless you are shooting with lenses that are 2.8 you are going to have a rough time. But not impossible. You could use a 50/1.8 and sit right courtside and do ok getting shots of your daughter.

And don't forget to go up high with a wide angle and shoot the whole court. It will look cool and you don't have to worry about a little motion blur.

As for film, I always prefered Fuji 800 pushed a stop over Fuji 1600. 800 pushed will have less grain than 1600. Fuji 1600 is sharp but very grainy. But I have used it and it's ok. They make 800 in either a press version or Superia. The press version is slightly different but I doubt you'll notice it. It has to do with the shelf life of the film if I remember correctly. Haven't shot any in a couple of years. They also make a Pro 800z which I haven't tried. It's a higher saturation film.

But unless you're ordering, you'll likely only be able to find Superia. It's great film though.

The other thing you could try to do is some pan/blurs. This takes a lot of practice, luck and film! But you don't need a real fast lens to try.

Good luck.