Suggestion for Indoor Basketball Shots

[I AM THE MAN]

Hey everyone! I've been given the job to take some pictures for the first Varsity Basketball Game (High School). My main question is what should I expect to bring with me and what lens to use?

I currently own:

A Canon 5D Mark 2 (Main Body)
A Canon T3 w/ 18-55mm(Always in my bag as a backup)
Canon 28-135mm
Canon 50mm Prime (f/1.8)
Canon 70-200mm f/4 NON IS

Lately I've been able to use my 70-200 with my 5D alot more than I have been able to with my T3 indoors however, the shutter speed is usually around 1/100s (the highest) so I doubt that would cut it for basketball. Currently I am thinking of using the 28-135mm with my 5D. Would that be a wise choice? The only thing stopping me from using the 50mm is the fact that I can't really get too close to the players so having a zoom is preferable.


What are your thoughts? Thank you for your answers in advance!

[NZed]

Originally Posted by I AM THE MAN

Hey everyone! I've been given the job to take some pictures for the first Varsity Basketball Game (High School). My main question is what should I expect to bring with me and what lens to use?

I currently own:

A Canon 5D Mark 2 (Main Body)
A Canon T3 w/ 18-55mm(Always in my bag as a backup)
Canon 28-135mm
Canon 50mm Prime (f/1.8)
Canon 70-200mm f/4 NON IS

Lately I've been able to use my 70-200 with my 5D alot more than I have been able to with my T3 indoors however, the shutter speed is usually around 1/100s (the highest) so I doubt that would cut it for basketball. Currently I am thinking of using the 28-135mm with my 5D. Would that be a wise choice? The only thing stopping me from using the 50mm is the fact that I can't really get too close to the players so having a zoom is preferable.


What are your thoughts? Thank you for your answers in advance!

70-200 for sure along with the 28-135. Push your ISO up a bit, Varsity basketball is probably only gonna use this for websites and their newspaper.

Your prime is definitely not fast enough for sports.

[I AM THE MAN]

Originally Posted by NZed

70-200 for sure along with the 28-135. Push your ISO up a bit, Varsity basketball is probably only gonna use this for websites and their newspaper.

Your prime is definitely not fast enough for sports.

I mean my photos will be used for a website for the school so I want to do my best. I usually do use the 70-200mm for outdoor sports and the results come out outstanding. The only thing is that I don't want to constantly switch out lens so If its possible to stay with the one lens the whole time? If I go with the 70-200, what should I keep my ISO at 6400 or 12800? Would that high of an ISO make the picture a little too grainy?

[NZed]

Originally Posted by I AM THE MAN

I mean my photos will be used for a website for the school so I want to do my best. I usually do use the 70-200mm for outdoor sports and the results come out outstanding. The only thing is that I don't want to constantly switch out lens so If its possible to stay with the one lens the whole time? If I go with the 70-200, what should I keep my ISO at 6400 or 12800? Would that high of an ISO make the picture a little too grainy?

I shoot 3200 on my 7D and its not full frame! But mine's f/2.8 with IS. The picture is a little grainy on mine, but will be less grainy on yours. Dont forget Post Production. Try 6400 then 12800. 6400 shouldnt be too much of a problem on FF.

I shoot a lot of basketball and i stay with the 70-200 the whole time so dont worry about that length.

[Prodo123]

As I've discovered, IS makes little difference in sports photography. Since you're already using a really high shutter speed to cancel out motion blur, the shake of the camera is also eliminated by the fast shutter speed.
That being said, don't bother taking the 18-55 out; It's too slow to focus. Mount the 28-135 on the T3 and use it for wide shots. The 70-200 f/4L and your 5D Mark II with sufficient ISO to bump up the shutter speed to above 1/500th or 1/640th will do you good.

Crouch down so that the camera is at the same height as the player's chest or abdomen; the perspective from this angle will give the image a very even feel and put equal emphasis on the player and the sport he's playing. For jump shots, aim up. Be on the opposite direction of the action so you get the player's faces.

I shoot with the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and a T2i; for indoors, I usually use 1/400th or 1/500th (minimum for stopping motion) and ISO 3200. This loses quite a bit of detail than something like ISO 800, but it's the most that I can do without the picture looking like complete crap. With your full frame sensor you should be able to pull around ISO 3200-6400; you won't need to go as high as ISO 12800.

[AgRacer]

Non of those lenses is really fast enough to get good shots inside a gym.

I have a Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 70-200/2.8 and I'm shooting ~1/500 at ISO 1600 to get good looking action shots.

You'll have to crank up to at least ISO 3200 on the 70-200/4 to get that kind of speed which means you will lose detail and have more noise.

Shoot in RAW so you can pull some of the noise out with LR or ACR (what are you using to post process?).

The 28-135 is way to slow for indoor shooting of sports. Unless you just want some wide angle crowd shots or pictures of the athletes standing still (like in a time out huddle).

The 50/1.8 will really give you the best option of speed/low ISO but obviously no zoom.

[NZed]

Originally Posted by Prodo123

As I've discovered, IS makes little difference in sports photography. Since you're already using a really high shutter speed to cancel out motion blur, the shake of the camera is also eliminated by the fast shutter speed.
That being said, don't bother taking the 18-55 out; It's too slow to focus. Mount the 28-135 on the T3 and use it for wide shots. The 70-200 f/4L and your 5D Mark II with sufficient ISO to bump up the shutter speed to above 1/500th or 1/640th will do you good.

Crouch down so that the camera is at the same height as the player's chest or abdomen; the perspective from this angle will give the image a very even feel and put equal emphasis on the player and the sport he's playing. For jump shots, aim up. Be on the opposite direction of the action so you get the player's faces.

I shoot with the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and a T2i; for indoors, I usually use 1/400th or 1/500th (minimum for stopping motion) and ISO 3200. This loses quite a bit of detail than something like ISO 800, but it's the most that I can do without the picture looking like complete crap. With your full frame sensor you should be able to pull around ISO 3200-6400; you won't need to go as high as ISO 12800.

This. Its always off for me during events like this.