Best lense for High School Basketball

tal

TPF Noob!
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hi folks,
I'm new here, and relatively new to photography. We're going to a HS Basketball game tonight and was going to take the camera for some practice. I'm using a Canon 1D MK2 and have several lenses to choose from. The gymnasium is pretty well lit and no flash will be allowed. I have a 50mm F1.8, 85mm F1.8, 70 - 200mm F2.8 L IS and 100 - 400 L IS. I don't think the 100 - 400 would be a good choice. I guess my choice would be between the 85 and the 70 - 200. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help...
 
Welcome to the forum.

I have heard people say that although gymnasiums look bright to us...they is really not that much light. Each one is different however.

70-200 2.8 should be OK. IS is not supposed to help for moving subjects but it may be OK when the players are not running.

You shouldn't have a problem...you can always bump up the ISO if you are not getting fast enough shutter speeds.

Be sure to share the photos with us.
 
Well I think it would depend where you are standing and the game action. If you are shooting across the full length of the court 70 – 200 sound good. But if you are standing hind the basket with the action less that 10 feet away, a 28-70 would be better. IMHO
 
Hi Big Mike,
Thanks for the kind response. Any idea what shutterspeed I should be shooting for? Like I said, I'm really new to this, and have much to learn. I would assume I would be trying to keep the aperture as wide open as possible. So I should probably shoot in manual mode with the aperture set to 2.8 and shutterspeed cranked up and use the ISO to get the proper exposure? If the pictures are half way presentable, I'll definately post some for some pointers.
 
Hi Jeff,

We'll be sitting about midcourt. I don't have the 28 - 70 (yet). I have a 17 - 40 F4 L and a 28 - 135 IS.



Jeff Canes said:
Well I think it would depend where you are standing and the game action. If you are shooting across the full length of the court 70 – 200 sound good. But if you are standing hind the basket with the action less that 10 feet away, a 28-70 would be better. IMHO
 
I would say the 70-200 is your best bet, unless you're going to be right on the court. Even then it is still probably the best choice to shoot good action around the basket, but you may find that you can't get a wide enough angle at other times.
 
At mid-court and flour level a 28-135mm should be fine, at 10-20 row up the 70-200 maybe be better
 
tal said:
Like I said, I'm really new to this, and have much to learn. I would assume I would be trying to keep the aperture as wide open as possible. So I should probably shoot in manual mode with the aperture set to 2.8 and shutter speed cranked up and use the ISO to get the proper exposure? If the pictures are half way presentable, I'll definitely post some for some pointers.

How fast the players are moving and how much DOF you want...will determine what you should set the camera at.

I would try Tv and set the shutter to 1/250 or faster to freeze the action. Or if you want to isolate the subject from the background, use Av mode and set the aperture at or close to fully open.
 
Haha... yeah, I never do anything just a little bit. Actually I've had a D60 for almost 2 years and have about 4000 pictures of my grand daughter under my belt. Thought it time to venture out and try some pictures of the real world for a change.

Ant said:
You're a total newbie and you've got a Canon 1D MK2? :shock:
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top