basketball

<p>Hi. I am in eigth grade and recently got into sports photography. I just started taking pictures for my school basketball team. The coach of the team says he wants the players faces with more than one person in the shot. i usually use my 28-100mm f3.5-5.6 lens because it is wider than my 70-300 f4-5.6 which i use for individual shots. I normally shoot from the corner of the gym by my schools basket. Neither of my lenses autofocus with my camera (nikon d60) so i focus on one area and shoot that area. My iso is usually at 1600 and My shutter speed is around 250. Ive been looking into buying a 55-200mm afs lens for the autofocus but im concerned about the camera focusing on the wrong person. If thats the case, I dont wanna waste my money on a lens that i dont need. please tell me if it would be a smart purchase. I am also concerned with the lighting. I am not allowed to use a flash. please let me know if you have and lighting advice or tips.<br>

-max</p>

<p>If you're concerned about lighting, you would need a fast lens. F/2.8 would be ideal, but very expensive in a zoom. You could get away with an f/4 zoom and bumping up ISO. I'm not familar with Nikon, but I would imagine the 55-200mm is an entry level lens. Yes it has AF, but it is probably very slow and searches, resulting in missed shots. Look at some used equipment and see how much a 70-200mm f/4 non-VR lens would cost (if Nikon makes one). This would probably be your best bet for the money. If its out of budget, then look for a couple primes; maybe a 50mm or 85mm. Primes are nice b/c they are fast and affordable.</p>

<p>If you select the center AF point, set your camera on AF-C (continuous AF) and carefully keep the focus point centered on your primary subject as he/she moves down the court,, you should not have any trouble getting the results you are looking for. I owned the 55-200mm lens and its image quality is excellent. Its AF should be fine for your intended use. You can buy a used non-VR version of the lens for around/under $100.</p>

<p>Nikon does not offer a 70-200mm f4 lens - it is only available as an f2.8 and is quite expensive.</p>

<p>As you search around the net for info about sports shooting/photography you will find hundreds of threads about shooting inside gyms. They have lousy lighting - not much of it! As Nathan said, you need to aquire 'fast' lenses. The 'fast' refers to the widest aperture and the resulting shutter speed you can use to get a good exposure. And yes, for the most part they are more expensive, but you typically get better build quality and better optical quality as well.<br>

so, the 2 lenses you have are great for outdoor and flash shooting, but not great for indoor w/o flash. You need high ISO and slower shutter speeds to try to get a decent exposure. Now, some options: Sigma makes a couple of great lenses which are less expensive than the Nikon versions. Check out the 70-200 f2.8 ( I'm selling mine for $5550.00), new it is between 700 & 800. The Nikon - they just came out with a new version for about $2300 and the one it replaced is still around 1500 -1600! and the Sigma 50-150 f2.8. Both very good quality - build and optics - lenses. I believe they both have internal focusing motors so they should work with your D60. If not, please tell me! New Sigma prices are below $800 each.<br>

The other non zoom options are the 50 f1.8 and the 85 f1.8, with the 50mm about $100 and the 85 - ???$350-400 I think. the 85 would work best from the corner where you are shooting from. The 50 is good for near the backboard.<br>

Another consideration, for the future, is to get the D90. You can AF with most any lens, get better high ISO results, and even take some short movies! Might find used ones - check out Adorama, B&H, and KEH online stores. Where can I, we, see some of your images?<br>

Oh, something I read by a Pro who worked for a newspaperin his early days. His photo editor said "no ball, no faces, no picture"! This, somewhat obviously, refers to the action shots. There will be plenty of shots capturing player reaction to the play that just finished. Keep your camera ready! Then there are other candid shots you can get of players as they are just hanging around etc. Don't forget the fans at the games.<br>

I shoot 3-400 shots per game of my local HS. About a 3rd I send to trash! Too blurry to bother with, missed the action or what ever! Only show your good captures.<br>

Steve<br>

<a href="http://www.stevehopkinsphotography.com">www.stevehopkinsphotography.com</a></p>

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<p>I don't know how invested you are in Nikon, but you may want to consider jumping ship to Canon. They have excellent quality equipment and tend to be cheaper than Nikon. </p>

<p>For shooting from the corner, I'd suggest an 85mm f1.8 lens, not sure how much Nikon's run, but Canon's is right at $400. I use it all the time and love it, plus it lets in lots of light so you can shoot at 1/400 or 1/500.</p>

<p>Why are Canon shooters chiming in with recommendations to switch to Canon, or to suggest lenses when they clearly do not know which Nikon lenses are available that autofocus on a D60? <br>

The Nikkor 85/1.8 is an excellent lens, but it will not autofocus on a D60. You could go with the new 50/1.4 AF-S, but it's expensive. Excellent focal length, though, if you're able to shoot from the baseline.</p>

<p>sorry Robert, just recommending a focal length and aperture that might be within an 8th grader budget...didn't realize autofocus wouldn't work with his camera. That seems odd? Does Nikon have a 30mm-50mm lens uder $500 that will autofocus with his camera and give f2.8 or faster aperture? I use a 30mm lens for shots right under the basket, great for rebounds and layups.</p>

<p>The Nathans do have a point. It's unfortunate but Nikon's entry level cameras don't support the inexpensive and good primes which would be most useful here. I think Max has a few options:</p>

<p>1) Very low budget - scout out a used 50/1.8 manual focus nikon - series E might be only $30 or so and might include a film body. Manual focus is a serious challenge though for sports.</p>

<p>2) 35mm f/1.8 DX AF-S - this will AF with the D60, costs around $200, but is too wide for anything except right under the basket. Very good general purpose lens to have though.</p>

<p>3) Tamron 60mm f/2 Macro lens - over $500 but does have a built-in focus motor. This would be much more useful (for basketball) than the 35. I don't know how fast the focus is - this would be worth checking as macro lenses are sometimes slow.</p>

<p>4) Sigma 50-150/2.8 zoom - about $750. I don't think f/2.8 is really fast enough (unless you have a D3) for high school basketball.</p>

<p>5) Used D50 ($250?) + 85/1.8 ($450?). I'm not sure this makes great economic sense. My D50 wore out around 50k shutter actuations. I really liked that camera but the D90 is much better.</p>

<p>6) Not sure about the cost of the basic Canon kit. Camera + 85/1.8 for $900 or $1000?</p>

<p>7) Nikon D90 + 85/1.8 $1400?</p>

<p>Dave</p>

<p>P.S. Good luck Max!</p>

<p>Nikon is in the process of updating their lenses to AF-S. But their highest priority seems to be zooms.</p>

<p>Hi Max,<br>

I don't shoot a lot of basketball, but I know what does and doesn't work for me. Like many others, our gym lighting is terrible. I've tried many different lenses and cameras and can say that I can only count on 2 primes: 85mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.4. These are the only ones that work for me. I've tried shooting with both the Nikon D50 and Nikon D80 with an ISO of 1600, but it's very grainy or very dark and has to be worked on to lighten or remove grain in post processing. Even with the D300, with an ISO of 3200+, the poor lighting distresses me, so I hate shooting basketball.<br>

I'd imagine you don't have the money to invest in a new camera or big lens, so if I were in your position and had to choose one lens, I would take the 50mm f/1.4 (or f/1.8). It will get the faces and other players and It's a good prime, all-purpose lens and I keep it on one of my cameras at all times.<br>

Good luck. I hope you'll keep us posted on your progress. There are a lot of good mentors on PN.<br>

Laura</p>

<p>the only problem I have with all these options, is that I dont have 1000 or even 500 dollars. im looking at a price range of around 300 or less at the most.<br>

-max</p>

<p>Hi Max,</p>

<p>What focal length do you think you need? </p>

<p>Another slightly crazy idea is the Korean-made 85mm f/1.4 which is selling under various brand names such as Samyang, Rokinon and maybe others and can be purchased for a bit under $300. This would give you a fast 85mm but no AF and no auto exposure. You would set aperture by the ring and set the camera to M and set shutter speed yourself. Not my first idea for sports but then again that's what everyone did for sports 20 years ago.</p>

<p>there is a ton of stuff out there fore you :) but for basketball, if you can afford it, get the 85mm f/1.8 canon</p>

<p>its incredibly sharp and the aperture is more than enough to get a nice bokeh in a full body:</p>

<p>

<p>(sorry, flickr made the image a tad darker)</p>

<p>Sean - What settings do you shoot with your 85mm f/1.8 Canon lens for inside the gym? No matter what I try, my pictures are never crisp like they are when I shoot with my 70-200mm f/2.8, but the lighting is so much better with the 1.8. My camera is a Canon Rebel xTi.</p>

<p><strong>im looking at a price range of around 300 or less at the most.<br />-max</strong><br>

For that price range you are probably best served by a 50mm f1.8, which I think Nikon has within your price range, though there may be an issue around auto-focus (Nikon User's please chime in). You might have luck on ebay, but lenses tend to hold value and it would be hard to find anything longer within your price range. </p>

<p>You are already used to using manual focus, so at least you know what that is like. You could try and use your 28-100mm with the camera on Manual, set at 28mm and f3.5, ISO 1600 and try standing at the baseline on one side of the 'key' shooting rebounds/layups and see what kind of shutter speed you can use..hopefully 1/400 or so...but that could be tough at f3.5. If you do get good results using that setup, you may not need a new lens after all.</p>

<p>"there is a ton of stuff out there fore you :) but for basketball, if you can afford it, get the 85mm f/1.8 canon"</p>

<p>How's that going to work on a Nikon body?</p>

<p>The Nikon 50/1.4 AF-S is a nice lens, but it's too expensive for your stated budget. Perhaps you can find one used.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-1-4G-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001GCVA0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264637076&sr=8-1">http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-1-4G-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001GCVA0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264637076&sr=8-1</a></p>

<p> </p>

<p>ruth-</p>

<p>i usually shoot aperture priority at an aperture of about f/2.8 with an iso of 800-1600</p>

<p>with an xTi, i would try the iso somewhere between 1600-3200 with an aperture of 2.2</p>

<p>the thing with the 85mm is that although its extremely sharp, its not as sharp as the 70-200 when its stopped down (at 2.8, however, the 70-200 is nothing compared to the 85mm)<br>

so shooting at too wide of an aperture might be your problem</p>

 

<p >Hi Max,</p>

<p > I started doing a lot of basketball photography because that’s what my children play, otherwise I don’t think I would have had the drive to keep trying – because <em>it’s not easy at first</em>. My budget won’t allow me too much, so I am using the AF Nikkor 50mm 1.8. I bought it at around $125 and do a lot of post processing in an inexpensive photo editor.</p>

<p >Once I got used to it I think it actually improved my photography skills, because I had to really learn how to use my camera. Some of the gyms we play in are amazingly dark, have lights burnt out, and they cycle so bad it’s a wonder we get a shot at all. The first thing I do when I enter into a gym is look for the “light” and position myself accordingly – there is no need to be at the baseline if the light is burnt out. I move around a lot.</p>

<p > I will try to post a link to one such gym… it was so bad we refer to it as “playing by candlelight”. Good Luck, have fun and keep us posted. Your classmates and their parents will really enjoy seeing your work.</p>

<p ><img src="http://thelookingglass.smugmug.com/Basketball-2009/Area-Tournament-Vs-Maplesville/Maplesville-Area-game-021/781493703_QM6Uv-L.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p > </p>