indoor sports shooting

[hsc2003]

I am new to this with a digital camera.
Anyone care to help me out with the best settings for a Nikon D80 to shoot indoor basketball games. I'm clueless. What's a good read on the subject as my book is useless.

Thanks

 

[stsinner]

[FONT=verdana,Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]ISO800
f/2.0
1/400 sec

That should work.. You should really have a fast lens...

Found this on a forum regarding the situation, and it's Canon based, but it should help a bit:

[/SIZE][/FONT]Basketball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, wrestling ... At these events, the indoor available light action sports photographer encounters some really tough photography situations. The lighting at best is usually dim. The photographer is often committed to be at one location - and the participants move around. And they usually don't move slowly.

An indoor sports lens needs to have a very wide aperture and it often needs to focus very quickly. A fixed focal length (or prime) lens is often a good choice.

Select between the recommended fixed focal length lenses based on the focal length you need and your available budget. The 85 f/1.2 L II does not focus as fast as the rest, but it has a wider aperture than the others. It is one of my favorite lenses. And if you can use 200mm of focal length, the Canon EF 200mm f/2.0 L IS USM Lens is simply awesome.

A fixed focal length lens has the obvious disadvantage of not being able to change focal lengths. Even if the photographer knows where their position will be or is able to adjust to the optimal location, the participants are often moving over a large area. For this reason, a zoom lens has a big advantage. The results will require less cropping - leaving more resolution in the final image.

The disadvantage a zoom lens has in an indoor action situation is the maximum aperture - f/2.8 is the widest Canon zoom lens currently made. Because of the typically-poor indoor gym light levels, expect to need ISO 1600 or 3200 to get minimally acceptable shutter speeds (1/500 or higher) in all but the best-lit venues. High ISO of course means more noise in your results. The higher price tag is another frequent disadvantage for the zoom. Of course, versatility cannot be ignored.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens are two of the best indoor sports lenses available. They make excellent general purpose telephoto zoom lenses and can be used for outdoor sports as well.

 

[Kegger]

Well that is an excellent way of putting it. But only one problem, you're preachin Canon and he's shooting Nikon.

The Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR is an excellent piece of glass. If you look hard enough you can find them for about $1500.

Another good choice is the Sigma 70-200 2.8 HSM, it's around $800. Though you may get a bum copy, just return it to Sigma and the can recalibrate it so it's on the money.