Basketball Settings

I'm going to shoot my first girls indoor HS basketball game this evening, and I

wanted to verify the camera settings I plan to use. My eqippment will be a

Canon 30D with 70-200mm L f2.8 IS lens on a monopod. The settings I'm planning

on using are: iso 1000,Center Weighted metering, servo.I'm thinking about using

Shutter Priority and setting it to 1/160 sec. to stop the action. The game is

being played in the local YMCA (I have never been there before.)

 

Should 1/160 be fast enough to stop action and will iso 1000 allow me to shoot

at f2.8? I know that some just set the camera to iso 3200 but then the pictures

are noisey. The only lens that I have that is faster than f2.8 is my 50mm f1.8

but I don't believe that will have the reach that I'll need in the gym.

 

Any last minute suggestions? TIA

 

Dave

I would shoot with the camera on Aperture priority myself with the lens wide open. I would sit on the floor under the basket if they will let you and shoot with the 50 1.8 wide open as well.If they let you shoot flash I would dial it down so it just pops to light up their faces.

I just did something similar last week using a 20D and a 70-200 F4L IS. Take a look at http://dhachey.smugmug.com for some examples. I used 800 ISO and most of the shots were done at F4.0 using a shutter speed of 1/160 to 1/320 second. A couple of tips: use AI servo mode to track a player in motion and use the central focus point. I missed several shots because the camera used a different focus point than I expected. I also had an EF 300 F4L IS, but it was too long for the venue. You should be fine with your setup.

 

Enjoy the game, ...Dave

1) Take your 50mm along - it may be the only lens you have that is fast enough, and so long as you can get courtside it will have enough reach. Don't sit at the back of the bleachers.

 

2) A starting point for exposure is f/1.8, Av mode, 1600 ISO and see if you get a shutter speed over 1/500th. If so, you can perhaps use a lower ISO or your slower lens. 1/160th is way too slow to stop the action. Once you have the light metered you should switch to M mode since the light won't be changing but the subject may be light or dark depending on the strip the players are wearing. It's also a good idea to set a custom white balance (take a shot in Tv mode at 1/60th for that).

I shoot quite a bit of basketball. I use a 70-200 as well always at 2.8 and I find that if I shoot at 1600 iso, i can get up to around 1/400 or 1/500 of a second, which is pretty good. I would say you need at least 1/320 to capture the best action shots. The images actually don't look that niosy either, but if you want to shoot at ISO 1000, I would take your 50mm along for sure, you should be able to get close enough.

 

Oh, and take Michael's advice and dit under the basket! that is by far the best place to get shots and be right in the middle of the action. My favorite way to shoot is actually with a 17-55 2.8 to get shots of players in mid-air.

I've been shooting a fair amount of basketball lately and I agree with the others so far that 1/160th is not going to be fast enough for most shots. 1/250 is barely adequate, 1/320 is better. I've been shooting with an 85 f1.8 and 24-70 L f2.8 at ISO 1250 and shutter speeds at 1/320 - 1/400. I also normally hang out under the basket so I'm fairly close. The 70-200 would be tighter than I'd want standing at that location. I keep the camera in manual with an aperture between 1.8 - 3.2 depending on the gym's lighting. I have started to use flash (I know, I'd rather not) but I set it on manual too (580EX) at 1/64th power just for fill and it does a pretty good job when the gym lighting is bad enough you can't get the speed you need.

 

For focusing, I generally shoot in OneShot mode. I've tried Servo and AI Focus and recently spent a good deal of time trying to manually focus. For me and the closeness of the players, the Servo mode on my 30d does not track fast enough. I end up getting out of focus shots or worse the camera wont fire because at the last second it wouldn't lock focus. I pre-focus (hold shutter half-way down) all the time to keep the lens as close to being in focus as possible before I shoot. I've tried the custom functions that separate the focus lock and the shutter button but I'd didn't see much improvement - that won't improve the focus tracking or locking but it will let you take the shot even if out of focus.

 

I also shoot in RAW so I can get the most out of adjusting exposure and white balance in post-processing.

 

Get close and get down low to make your perspective more dramatic.

Dave, unfortunately, no one can give you an answer. Not knowing what the gym is lit like, your 2.8 at ISO 1000 may be more than enough to give you a needed 1/500th or it may give you enough light at ISO 3200 to get 1/160th of a second. Best thing to do is hope for the best, expect the worst. Take the 50mm 1.8 along. On the 30D, this will be close to a 85mm on a full frame, and on the baseline to the corner where the baseline and sideline meet, you should be fine with that lens. I do suggest that you prefocus though. I have found with almost all 50mm lenses (never used the 1.0 or 1.2) they have a nasty habit of focusing on everything but your subject when shooting basketball. I like to focus somewhere between the hoop and about 5-6 feet out and just wait for players to come into that focus zone.

As mentioned without knowing the EV of the stadium it is impossible to give indicative aperture and shutter speeds.

 

However: 1/160th will NOT be adequate to freeze the action in most (90%+) circumstances during a BB game.

 

 

You will need 1/400 minimum in most cases, can squeeze 1/320 sometimes, 1/500 is safe for a good success rate.

 

There have been several threads on this topic.

 

WW

One problem I have with our court is the mixed lighting (daylight, fluorescent, and some kind of mercury flood lights). Throw in the fill flash and getting the white balance correct can be a nightmare. I would crank up the ISO (1600 or 3200) and use Neat Image to clean up the noise. Take the white/gray/black card to help you get the white balance right.

> Take the white/gray/black card to help you get the white balance right. <

 

 

What is a `BLACK CARD`?

 

WW

there is a exposure card out there that folds up to fit in your camera bag with pure white, neutral gray, and true black on it. Set your exposure, take a shot of this, use it for setting a black point and a white point as well as WB in a raw converter and you are good to go. I have used one to create a action in photoshop that goes in and sets the curves from it. Works pretty well but runs about $40 if I remember right.

Thanks for the detailed answer: I understand white card / grey card also `standard` colour patches and white to black graduated tones, have used for years with film.

 

So a `black card` is just the last black patch on my 10 graduated white to black tones.

 

Thanks,

 

WW