Camera support for Commonwealth Games

[TerryMcC]

I have my tickets for 3 days at the 2018 Commonwealth Games here on the Gold Coast. I will be attending various shooting events at the Brisbane venue. I will be taking pictures of spectators etc trying to capture the atmosphere and of the competitors before, during and after their events. Most of these will be using my Nikon S3 2000. Many events though are indoors. For these I plan to use my Nikon D500. Low light levels mean some support for the camera. Would a monopod be enough? I have never used one, but do wish to minimise weight, hence no tripod hopefully. Any suggestions of type, brand, heads, etc?

 

[rscheffler]

Crank up the ISO and use an image stabilized lens.

Monopod would be better than a tripod, which will take up too much space to set up, especially if you are in the spectator area and in seating with others around you. Even better would be a lens with image stabilization if you're not going to be moving it around erratically while shooting. Image stabilization really only works if the camera is either on a stationary subject or smoothly panning with the subject. If as it sounds your covering shooting events, then I guess the athletes will be predominantly stationary?

At least from my experience covering a range of sports, when venturing into the spectator areas, many venues don't allow tripods or any setup that will affect the viewing experience of those around you. This could include large telephoto lenses. What lens(es) would you take for the D500? If the lens doesn't have a tripod collar ring, then you'll have to figure out how you'll switch between horizontal and vertical compositions on a monopod. A ball head of some sort would likely be the solution.

 

[TerryMcC]

That's what I was thinking. Manfrotto make a monopod with a head available specifically for monopods. I bought a f2.8-4 16-80 VR lens with the d500. This camera also gets good reports with high ISO photos. Will experiment in the meantime. My f2.8 80-200 d series Nikkor might be marginal but tests will show its capabilities.

Crank up the ISO and use an image stabilized lens.

Monopod would be better than a tripod, which will take up too much space to set up, especially if you are in the spectator area and in seating with others around you. Even better would be a lens with image stabilization if you're not going to be moving it around erratically while shooting. Image stabilization really only works if the camera is either on a stationary subject or smoothly panning with the subject. If as it sounds your covering shooting events, then I guess the athletes will be predominantly stationary?

At least from my experience covering a range of sports, when venturing into the spectator areas, many venues don't allow tripods or any setup that will affect the viewing experience of those around you. This could include large telephoto lenses. What lens(es) would you take for the D500? If the lens doesn't have a tripod collar ring, then you'll have to figure out how you'll switch between horizontal and vertical compositions on a monopod. A ball head of some sort would likely be the solution.