My 7D and the Dreaded High School Basketball Shoot...

<p>I know this question has been brought up several times on this forum. I have read through many posts on taking pictures of a high school basketball game in a dimly lit gymnasium. My questions are particular to my equipment and how to use it for the best results.<br>

I am using a Canon 7D. I have 3 lenses: 50mm 1.8, 10-22mm and 70-200mm f4. The only lens that is even remotely fast enough is the nifty fifty. I tried the 70-200 but had to crank up the ISO to 6000+ to reach a shutter speed of 250. Even with the 50mm I was shooting at ISO 2000, Tv locked at 250 and the 1.8 was flashing because it wasnt fast enough. I was shooting RAW in burst mode with High ISO Noise Reduction set to Strong. I think these pictures will turn out ok, yet will be very grainy.<br>

I of course understand the limitations of my equipment. I assume my settings were more or less appropriate for the situation. <br>

I have seen some people talk about using flash for basketball games. How does this work when shooting bursts? I only have the cameras built in flash but would consider buying a speedlight.<br>

What about auto-focus? I have been using just one point in the center of the camera to focus because I am unfamiliar with the 7D's auto-focus system, but I know it is an advanced one. With the multiple auto-focus points, and several people moving quickly at once, how does the camera know where to focus when set to a 1.8 aperture? What is my best choice here?</p>

<p>Thank you for any suggestions.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>IMHO your best choice is to crank up the ISO to 6400 and work with either lenses at f/4. Have you made any prints? Noise is very visible at 100% on the screen but less so on prints. Judicious use of noise reduction and not relying on pre-sets (for instance increasing chroma noise reduction instead of luminance) should give good enough results.</p>

<p>Some people might say that an f/2.8 lens or even an f/2 may be needed but I would first review the processing workflow to see how much you can squeeze out of what you get in the RAW files.</p>

<p>Personally, I would set the camera to af point expansion one point or two above the middle in vertical orientation so that you are generally focussing around players chest/face. This can be activated via the custom function and the put into use by pressing the button top right on the back of the camera and then the little m-fn button to cycle through the various focus point modes. Read the manual for more info.</p>

<p>I would set af to the back af-on button so that you can stop the camera focussing when the referee or another player comes in front of the one you are shooting and continue to shoot with focus maintained on the right player.</p>

<p>I would also continue using AI Servo as you are doing and high speed contiuous shooting. A speedlight would definitely help (so long as you are allowed to use one.. many gyms ban them because they annoy/distract players). The roof is probably to high to bouce the flash although you may be able to bounce it off a white wall behind you if you are on the baseline and the players are close to you. Otherwise just diffuse the flash with a cover of some sort and shoot away. Keep in mind that using a flash would also allow you to get a bit more DOF with f/8 or so which would make focussing A LOT easier than on moving subjects with f/1.8.</p>

<p>Alternatively if you end up with a speedlight or two you could install them around the end of the court at one end either on stands or taped to a wall etc and trigger them wirelessly to allow you a bit more flexibility in using the 70-200 and to get some different lighting. How about you go there before hand and try it all out to see what looks the best?</p>

<p>Also I would not set the in camera noise reduction so high. It isn't quite as good as doing it yourself in posts in most circumstances and it will reduce your FPS substantially when set that high and combined with low light.</p>

<p>Ill try the zoom lenses next game at 6400+ and see what happens.<br>

The recommendations for auto focus are noted, but confusing. Ill have to read up on my instruction manual. <br>

How does the flash work when I am in burst mode? It only fires on the first burst?</p>

<p>It can fire continuously but only for a certain number of bursts and at lower than maximum power so you would do well to have more than one flash in that case.</p>

<p>Regarding the auto focus, normally when you are flicking through the various focus point modes (ie. zone, single point etc) you can't see spot af or af point expansion. They dont give you the option to use those. So you go into one of the custom functions on the camera menu (the one that is called autofocus/drive I think) and 'enable' af point expansion and spot af. Then when you press the af point button and then the m-fn button repeatedly to cycle through af modes you will be able to see the af point expansion mode come up. It basically uses a single point which you can select to try and af, but if it cannot af with that point it tries to use the points immediately next to it. So it gives you a sort of safety cushion..</p>

<p>Fresh batteries in the Speedlight. Set it on manual, so it doesn't waste time or power on ETTL pre-flash. Be very careful with the bursts. PowerGenix 1.6V NiZn batteries cycle the flash fast enough to give you the bursts, but keep within Canon's guidelines. The heat sensor requires a trip back to the service center for a reset once it kicks.</p>

 

<p>Dan,<br>

I shoot high school basketball at two different high schools each week for a local daily newspaper. I use a 7D and either a 50mm f/1.8 or an 85mm f/1.8. Because of motion on the floor, I never use a shutter speed less than 1/250 second. I set the ISO to whatever speed that will allow me to shoot at either f/2 or f/2.5. It's not like shooting the Phoenix Suns at the U.S. Airways Arena, for sure! But it will get you by.<br>

I don't use zooms, because they are too limiting to me when I shoot from under the basket. Besides, they are generally far too slow for shooting in high school gyms.<br>

As for flash, if you're shooting from the floor, the referees will NOT allow you to use a flash at AIA games (those in the high school conference), so you are pretty well limited to available light only.<br>

My last advice is to shoot a lot. For a typical half of high school basketball, I will shoot approximately 250 frames. You can edit later, so don't chimp or you'll miss the layup!<br>

Good luck on your outing.<br>

Steven</p>

<p>Thank you to everyone for your help. I will try your suggestions next week and post my results. </p>

<p>Dan, Steven King pretty well summed it up, but I'd like to add a few suggestions. Try shooting near the baseline at the side of the opposing team's basket (so your team's players are facing you) with the 50mm f1.8 wide open or close to it. Be sure to switch to the other side of the key as necessary to avoid the ref who's down low, who will be in your shot. Try to time your shots or bursts to capture players at the top of their jump, whether shooting or rebounding, as they are relatively motionless then, which means you will likely freeze the action, often at peak moments with the ball in the shot. And that money you were willing to spend on a Speedlite would buy you a mint/used 85/1.8 to give you some versatility. Hope this helps.</p>

<p>I know a guy who use to hang his White Lightning strobes from the roof of the gym then set them off with pocket wizards. This is a very complicated option though... </p>

<p>A few more tricks you may try:<br>

-set underexposure by -1/3 to -2/3 EV to increase speed a bit (under exposure can be corrected later; but if under too much, it will bring more noise);<br>

-use center metering, not spot (which may sometimes take a measure at a local dark spot, resulting lower speed);<br>

-use panning to lock the head and let rest blur to show the movement.</p>

<p>Back in the early 1960's, I shot high school basketball with a Rolleiflex with 400 film. I did use a flash. I was doing the darkroom work for a local newspaper at the time, along with taking pictures.<br>

Quite a few were published (B&W). Walk the sidelines or sit in one spot and hope the action was close enough to take a picture. I was 17 and 18 at the time.<br>

It sure would have been nice to have a digital. I think that I would put a flash on it.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Dan,<br>

My 2-cents.<br>

I've shot a lot of HS football. I am hopeful that my work schedule this week allows me to shoot a BBall game.<br>

First, CIF rules (California) ban flash at indoor events.<br>

Next, Strong noise reduction and RAW cuts frame rate - don't use strong NR.<br>

Here are my settings for autofocus for sports on the 7D:<br>

Custom Functions III -<br>

1,Fast<br>

6,Enable All<br>

7,1 Continuous<br>

8, 1 Enable<br>

I shoot at ISO 6400 with f/2.8 L lenses<br>

Here is a site for Noise reduction settings using various software:<br>

http://www.phototestcenter.com/html/canon_7d__raw_settings.html<br>

Good Shooting</p>

<p>Great feedback you've received from all the posters. I shoot a couple of thousand bball pics per week, with my 7D and 70-2002.8L II IS. I have been shooting 1/500 at iso 2000 or 2400, with the lens wide open. I've shot also at 4000 iso in some gyms, ever since i tried noise ninja. You will think it's magic. remember, you're not taking senior portraits or wedding photos, these are indoor sports action shots. Mine come out very well, and I'm picky. Turn off the noise reduction in camera, to get the faster frame rate, and shoot away.</p>

<p>a couple of shots using noise ninja software</p><div></div>

<p>another</p><div></div>

<p>last one</p><div></div>

<p>don't be the guy in the gym shooting strobes, even if they're allowed...it's obnoxious and you blow out everyone else's pictures</p>

<p>I have a Canon 7D, Canon 24mm f1.4, Canon 50mm f1.4 and Canon 70 - 200 f2.8 lenses. I was shooting some high school basketball pictures from baseline with my 50mm. I would try to stay around f1.8 as I would lose depth of focus and miss part of the action photo series. <br>

I talked my self into a 24mm f1.4 thinking it would solve all my problems of missing opportunities close up and taking it all in. What I have found is that my 7D will grab something else to focus on, such as a person in the crowd behind the player. I have tried all the different focus settings and found the single square to be the most effective, if I can keep the small square on the player.......<br>

I am not a big fan of 6400 iso or any kind of flash. I went to a NBA Development league and the "PRO" had four remote flashes setup on the third floor balconies. The first thing everyone noticed was these bright flashes that seemed to be strobing. Once we identified the photographer, we could figure out he had these remotes setup for his 70 - 200mm f2.8. Needless to say, we left the game early with a strobing headache. We won't be going back to that venue if they continue to use strobes.<br>

I usually shoot 1/1000 minimum, f1.6 - 2.0 and between 1000 and 1600 iso with my 7D and 24 or 50mm f1.4. My greatest problem isn't light.......its staying focused on the action in front of me. I always shoot from baseline as that's where you get the best expressions going to the hoop and rebounding.<br>

I found this site very helpful: <a href="http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=36970">http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=36970</a></p>

<p>Todd Higgins<br>

Boise, Idaho</p><div></div>