better basketball lens

[harleybrewer]

I would like some opinions on which do you think would be a better lens for shooting my sons basketball games> the 50mm 1.4 or the 85mm 1.8?

thanks

 

[TJ K]

Probably a 50 1.4 How far are you going to be? Do you need to be wider or go in tight of just your son? depending on size 24-70 or 70-200 but those are really expensive. Also the 50 is a little faster which could help save you in those tricky low light situations. You might not have to have the iso at 800 or something. Hope that helped.
tj

 

[LarryD]

I would like some opinions on which do you think would be a better lens for shooting my sons basketball games> the 50mm 1.4 or the 85mm 1.8?

thanks

If those were my choices, I would use the 85mm 1.8 for the extra focal length needed to cover the floor..

 

[icassell]

I use my 50-150mm f/2.8 for my kids' games and find, for the most part, it's at the shorter end of the range between 50-100. Given your choice, I'd probably go for the 85. I think you will find that 50 is just a bit too short for close-ins. I brought my 100-300 to one game and never cranked it over 100 but DID get several good pix at 100mm. This also depends on your camera. If you need to shoot at higher ISO (I shot a lot of my last game at ISO 2000 in order to be able to get the faster shutter speeds I wanted), will your camera support that so you get a decent crop? The better the ISO handling of your camera, the more likely you are to get decent results with the shorter lens when you wind up cropping.

 

[harleybrewer]

I have a canon 50d, thanks for all your help

 

[icassell]

If this is directing a purchase decision, is there a chance you could borrow either/both of those lenses and try them out?

 

[harleybrewer]

I don't know anyone who has either but have thought about renting one on one of the online site, as there isn't any place near me to rent one

 

[icassell]

Maybe it would be easier to find a lens that covers both in the zoom range like a 28-135(forget IQ for the moment) and just see which focal length seems to be right.

 

[maoparungao]

My experiencce is indoor basketball. First check if the lights used are are strong enough. You could use the normal lens (50mm) if you plan to get some action shots under the ring. The 85mm you could use at the side of the court. It all really depends where you want to position yourself ( am talking about tight shots) Hope this helps!