Gear for basketball

[cooldude]

For my Canon XS, I mainly use a Canon 50mm f/1.8 II for basketball photography. Most of my photos turn out unfocused. I usually try to shoot in Al Servo at F/2.2 and around 1/400-500 shutter speed. I keep my focus point on the subject but no matter what, they turn out unfocused even if the camera says it is. What could I get so my photos turn out more focused.

 

[cgipson1]

What focus mode are you using? I usually prefer spot if trying to nail an individual player. What ISO are you usually shooting at? You may need to increase your ISO to allow a smaller aperture.. as much as possible at least within the limits of your body. I don't know Canons.. so can't help with focusing tweaks...

 

[cooldude]

I'm usually shooting in evaluative metering and ISO 800/1600, but noise is pretty high in @1600.

 

[cgipson1]

I'm usually shooting in evaluative metering and ISO 800/1600, but noise is pretty high in @1600.

Eval metering is your "Metering" mode! I see (with some quick research) that your body does not have spot focus mode. AI-S, AI-F and One shot...

you will have to let one of the canon people help you.. I don't have a clue! lol!

 

[rexbobcat]

The 50mm does not has USM autofocus. It has the older and much slower microdrive autofocus system.

In order to get fast AF, you need a lens that has RING USM. I captalize 'ring' because there are two types: ring and micro. The ring USM is the newer kind and it also allows for full time manual focusing, meaning that you can move the MF ring even when the lens is set in autofocus mode, so before buying a lens I would do some research on what kind it has.

The lenses that I would reccommend for basketball are the

Canon 50mm f/1.4
Canon 85mm f/1.8

I haven't used the 50mm, but I can say from experience that the 85mm is VERY fast at focusing. It is also razor sharp. The downside is that on a crop sensor, which the XS is, the 85mm is approx. the same focal length at a 135mm lens on a full frame camera meaning that it might be too close in most gyms.

I also have to say that the Canon XS is NOT built for low light sports, or pretty much any object with changing directions and velocities. It has a relatively "simplistic" 7-point AF system which sometimes struggles in Servo mode because all the sensors have to calculate SO much data, while, on the other hand, the 1X series of cameras with their 40+ AF points have it "easier" because they have several AF points that can be activated simultaneously to achieve focus.

Add the entry-level AF with the cheap and slow 50mm f/1.8 and sports photography becomes considerably more difficult unless you manual focus.

I hope all of this makes sense. And I'm sorry for all the punctuation. And I'm sorry if it seems like I'm bashing these products. I've gone from using a canon XS and the 75-300mm lens, which has the sam AF as your 50mm, and now I wonder how I ever got a decent sports photo at all. Heh....

 

[rexbobcat]

I'm usually shooting in evaluative metering and ISO 800/1600, but noise is pretty high in @1600.

Eval metering is your "Metering" mode! I see (with some quick research) that your body does not have spot focus mode. AI-S, AI-F and One shot...

you will have to let one of the canon people help you.. I don't have a clue! lol!

From my knowledge, no Canon camera has spot focus mode. You can select your focus point, though. I'm not sure if that's the same thing.

 

[cgipson1]

I'm usually shooting in evaluative metering and ISO 800/1600, but noise is pretty high in @1600.

Eval metering is your "Metering" mode! I see (with some quick research) that your body does not have spot focus mode. AI-S, AI-F and One shot...

you will have to let one of the canon people help you.. I don't have a clue! lol!

From my knowledge, no Canon camera has spot focus mode. You can select your focus point, though. I'm not sure if that's the same thing.

Not the same thing.... with Nikon's, Spot focus is like spot metering, except for focus! One little tiny area.. and where that is placed on the subject is where the lens focuses!

You can still change your focus point within the viewfinder.... and that is where the "Spot" is....

 

[brian_f2.8]

I have shot in HS gyms and College gyms. Neither time did I use strobes to help with quality. Id invest in an 85 1.8 because of two reasons

1 - great in low light and decent range within 3pt line
2 - great for portraits if you come across that opportunity either players or others.

 

[cgipson1]

did anyone mention strobes? I prefer the 85mm 1.4 as it does a much nicer job, (it is a pro lens... not a consumer / amateur lens)

Personally, my best advice for the OP would be a body upgrade.

 

[brian_f2.8]

The 85mm f1.4 is nice but $$$$. A body upgrade should be in the near future as well, I believe the canon xs shoots 3/3.5 fps? Not ideal for sports.

 

[rexbobcat]

Canon doesn't have an 85mm f/1.4 unless he goes with Sigma, which I'm not sure about.

They do have an f/1.2 version but the focus is very slow.

I think it's more a matter of focus speed as opposed to fps. I have a 60D and the 5-ish fps doesn't do me any good if the focus can't keep up with the action.

 

[Deo]

from my experience, 85mm to 100mm is the best FL, so get one of the 50mm lenses, choose between the 1.8,1.4,1.2. usually i use a 50mm and wirelessly triggered strobe.

 

[Kerbouchard]

Try your lens at different apertures and compare the results. For instance I have a lens that I can't get a sharp photo at 3.2 to save my life but at 2.8 or 3.5 it's perfect. Somtimes, there are just some settings that you need to avoid. Could be you are running into one of those circumstances where a third of a stop might maker a world of difference.

 

[TCampbell]

In "AI Servo" mode the camera switches to "release priority" which means it will take the photo regardless of whether it had a focus lock or not. You DO want to use AI Server for these shots because "One Shot" focus mode will just leave the focus where they used to be back when you focused (and once they've moved it won't refocus.)

The 50mm f/1.8 has a slow focus motor... not very snappy. You may want to get a lens with a snappier focus motor.

Also... if you let the Camera pick the focus point then it'll find the closest thing that can get a lock on any focus point... which may not be the intended subject. You might want to select a specific focus point.

 

[Tony S]

Bad combo, 50 1.8 is slow focusing and the XS slows it down even more. Getting a better lens for this body is not really going to change much. Before looking at different glass, like was stated above, a more updated body that does well in lower light might be needed for your basketball. Might even be better off finding and upgrading to a used 1DMKIIn.

Even if you use strobes you still won't nail the focus any better.

Ohh and set the camera to the center focus point only, it is the only point of them all that uses both horizontal and vertical to gain focus, this will be your fastest option for the XS.