"Real" Camera Policies?

I currently have a digital camera which is about as good as any you can fit in your pocket. But, I'm getting a bit frustrated at its limitations, and kind of wishing for a better camera to take to skating events. At most of the events I remember, there were lots of people in the front with big SLR type cameras, telephoto lenses, etc. A lot of the time the rule is "no video", but I know sometimes they also say "no professional cameras" etc.

Does anyone have an educated guess as to what the camera rule will be for the upcoming Nationals '09, based on previous Nationals? I don't want to invest in a camera I won't even be able to use there. I could email the director, but my experience with things like that is that what they tell you and what they actually allow are 2 very different things. Any advice would be appreciated.

This is the USFSA camera policy.

http://www.usfigureskating.org/Events.asp?id=148

Some arenas have a camera policy that is more restrictive than USFSA policy. In St. Paul, for example, I saw arena staff stopping spectators whose cameras met USFSA policy, but not the arena policy. In most cases, however, arenas defer to the USFSA policy, since they are the ones renting the arena.

So the best you can do under USFSA policy is a nice pro-am SLR body, and either a 200 mm f/4.0, or a zoom no longer than 200 mm.

the USFSA are sticklers about it, though there are ways to hide a longer lens... I don't recommend doing it considering a 200mm lens is all you really need so long as you're in the main bowl...as you can see from my snapshots - http://alaskanmagic.smugmug.com/Sports/422928 - though in 2006 I forgot my 200mm and so, yeah, they aren't as good (and it was a brand spankin new camera)

if you do go for an SLR make sure you have enough time to at least learn the basics out of it! and don't use a flash no matter what your auto settings tell you. You won't need it.

Thanks, that's a very helpful start. Toni, what row were you seated in when you took the 2008 ones? A lot of those shots look pretty excellent compared to what I've pulled off. I'll be in 4th row for Nats... How much did your camera cost in total? Here's a link to some of the pics I took when I was in the front row for Campbell's Cup 2006:

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m217/TurboC--/Campbells%20Cup%202006/Sasha%20Cohen/

That was with my pocket-size Fujifilm F30. Pretty good for pocket-sized, but in most skating pics I take there are still problems with ISO grain, focus, and/or blur. I'm kind of lazy and use the auto-settings... it's possible I could squeeze more out of it if I actually learned all the manual settings, but I still don't think I could get shots like your SLR. Hmm, actually I just read that the F30 has NO manual focus, so my laziness can't be blamed in this case. That is one of the biggest problems, trying to focus in on the right distance in advance, waiting for the skater to get to that point and then hoping that the shot will be good. If you try to let the camera focus on a moving target, it's nearly impossible to get a nice shot. It's kind of a fun challenge in a way, but at this point the "fun" of fighting my camera's limitations has worn a bit thin.

I'm thinking of asking for a SLR as a combined christmas/birthday present. Now that I know I should be able to get a 200mm one into the arena, I am seriously considering it.

One last thing - for your 2008 shots, are the originals even better quality / more detailed than is displayed on the webpage? Could you link a couple full-size examples so I could really compare to mine? I'd appreciate it. :agree:

Tonichelle said:

the USFSA are sticklers about it, though there are ways to hide a longer lens...

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Pretending to have a pregnant female friend is always my favorite.

Particle Man said:

Thanks, that's a very helpful start. Toni, what row were you seated in when you took the 2008 ones? A lot of those shots look pretty excellent compared to what I've pulled off. I'll be in 4th row for Nats...

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We were I think in the 3-6 rows (let's just say that we bounced around ) right there by the ice, we were to the left of the judges... so kinda sandwhiched between NBC's commentary booth (yay for Scotty Hamilton being RIGHT THERE) and the officials.

How much did your camera cost in total?

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I have a Canon EOS Rebel XT (the precursor to the XTi which is basically the same) The body cost my family $800+ alone to get me for Christmas, but I already had several lenses... the Lens that shot the photos in my 2008 album Was around $200 - but it's a lower quality lens... so the pictures are quite as sharp as what I'd like, but I do what I can. And I'm pretty happy with the results.

Pretty good for pocket-sized, but in most skating pics I take there are still problems with ISO grain, focus, and/or blur. I'm kind of lazy and use the auto-settings... it's possible I could squeeze more out of it if I actually learned all the manual settings, but I still don't think I could get shots like your SLR.

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Manual, IMHO, is almost a must in order to shoot sports, but my friend (kwanfan1212) has a point and shoot camera that she knows inside and out and she can get some fantastic shots with it.

That is one of the biggest problems, trying to focus in on the right distance in advance, waiting for the skater to get to that point and then hoping that the shot will be good. If you try to let the camera focus on a moving target, it's nearly impossible to get a nice shot. It's kind of a fun challenge in a way, but at this point the "fun" of fighting my camera's limitations has worn a bit thin.

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That's where an SLR comes in handy. I focus on the ice, give myself a wide enough depth of field and just shoot. This isn't the BEST way to go about it, because I don't get completely sharp photos, but it works...

I'm thinking of asking for a SLR as a combined christmas/birthday present. Now that I know I should be able to get a 200mm one into the arena, I am seriously considering it.

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That's how I got mine.

One last thing - for your 2008 shots, are the originals even better quality / more detailed than is displayed on the webpage? Could you link a couple full-size examples so I could really compare to mine? I'd appreciate it. :agree:

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I don't have the originals with me, but I assume they aren't that different to the biggest files I have on my site. Like I said my technique and lens doesn't give me the best shots I could get, but I'm pretty happy with what I have.

since we're talkng shop about cameras I'm gonna move this over to Le Cafe I'll leave a redirect so that it'll get found. Hopefully other photogs on this site will jump in!