Quick "newbie" question

[Photogrook]

My lens finally arrived today! I have a Canon XSi with a Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS ....

If I were to head to the basketball gym tonight to take some action photos, which setting should I shoot on?

I guess a better question is this -- can someone give me a quick cliff notes version on how to get quality sports shots with this camera/lens package .... I need advice on indoor sports and outdoor sports ...

I really appreciate any advice you veterans can give me .... these photos will be put on a website to publicize our youth athletics ....

thanks a million --

Mike

 

[iflynething]

Maunal all night. Take some test shots wide open (at 2.8). If they are too dark, increase the exposure. If you're starting to get blur, increase your ISO to something acceptable (I'm not sure what's good on the XSi) and increase the exposure.

This way you have control over the exposure completely. Shoot in RAW and the White Balance on Incandescent or Flouresent. I'd assume a gym would have Incandesent bulbs. Not sure now days.

Keep the IS off. It will save your batter and give some better response time concerning focus and actually taking the picture. The IS is going to do nothing for you when it comes to freezing those athletes more than just using a 1/250 sec exposure. That's another thing, I'd try and go for at LEAST 1/160-1/250 sec exposure.

~Michael~

 

[sabbath999]

Shutter priority, shoot RAW (Gym lights are notoriously hard to color balance)

Set your shutter speed to 1/500th of a second MINIMUM and let the aperture fall where it may... if you underexpose then bump your ISO up until you are getting proper exposure.

Basketball requires you to freeze the action.

 

[OldClicker]

I think a good plan would be to find a spot on the court with good light that you can get close to and shoot everything that happens in that spot. - TF

 

[Photogrook]

thanks a lot ... I really appreciate the responses

 

[Big Mike]

I'd go with manual mode or Av (aperture priority) set to F2.8. That will give you the fastest shutter speed but you still need to keep an eye on the shutter speed and raise the ISO if it's too low.

Yes, IS will not help to freeze moving subjects, but it will help to fight against camera shake...so if you do find yourself shooting at something slower than 1/200, I wouldn't be afraid to use IS. You may have to have careful timing and get shots when the motion/action isn't too fast.