Taking sharp sports action shots inside or in low light.?

Question

I have a Canon Digital EOS Rebel XTi. My son is playing basketball in a gym and the action photos keep coming out blurry. I'd also appreciate advise on taking pictures at football and baseball games under stadium lighting. Thanks.

Answer 1

Isn't it frustrating to get a whiz-bang camera, only to realize you have to learn a whole new language to get it to do what you want it to do! There's all different ways to do it on that camera. According to their website, one of the shooting modes is optimized for sports. On the round disc on top of the camera, "sports" is right in between the little tulip, which is for closeups, and the guy with the star over his head, which is for night shots. Or on the focus points, choose "al servo" for those action shots. There's other ways too. When you get to the website, choose "product tour" and "documents".
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=14256#ModelTechSpecsAct
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Answer 2

There is no single answer. Every low light shot is different. ISO (ASA) of 800 may still be too fast for the light. F1.8 should be good. But any movement at all in low light will blur even the best camera. Also low F-stops will give a short depth of field (depth of focus). Best advice is to create a similar light condition at home and experiment. Start at 400 at a medium f-stop and work up or down. Generally program modes are really only useful if you're gonna take a lot of shots in similar conditions. You have a good camera in the D3000. If you're just taking snapshots, the D3000 is overkill. DSLR's, even budget ones, are designed for people that want to experiment. Learn to use all of it's features and how various setting affect your shots and you'll enjoy your equipment & your experience so much more.