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indoor basketball lens


dan_kraft

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Anybody out there can give a suggestion on what a good indoor sport (basketball) lens for a canon 30d. Something

not too expensive but will give quality shots. I know gym lighting in general is not very good. I have access to the

floor under and around the basket and court. Please help. Thanks, Danny

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Been there, done that, and the 85mm is too big. I use the 50 mm f/1.8 and set your white balance to the gym lighting. I agree with Zane's comments as well. But, another cool technique is to open it up and pan with the player, gives shallow DoF and also moves the other players . . . . may want to practice a bit with the technique . . . but it is very cool when you nail it!

 

GOOD LUCK!

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In this past week's <url="http://www.photo.net/sports-photography-forum/00Rei4">What did you shoot thread</url>. I have several

pictures from high school hoops that I shot with a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 on a Canon xti. I shot at ISO 1600 on manual f/2.8 and

1/320 sec. I also got away with average white balance. All shots were from near the corner.

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Here's another vote for the 50 f/1.8. Perfect focal length on a crop camera, and at f/2 of 2.8 you should be ok. I use flash in the very dimly lit gyms, but I prefer not to, although sometimes as it was said earlier, the flash gives better color.

 

Fool around with your settings and you'll find what's best for you.

 

Best of luck,

 

Gabe.

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It depends on how far away you plan to be and depends on what kind of shots you're looking to take. The only one to tell you this is you, so you will need to simply find out. As the 50mm f/1.8 is $70 or so, it would make sense to start with that and, if you find you need more focal length then you could rent a 85mm lens for purposes of testing it as a solution.
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I've used both the 50mm and 85mm on DX cameras. The 85mm will let you get tight shots of the ball handling outside the key. And you can get really tight shots under the basket. You may find the 50mm easier to use if you're just starting out. It takes a lot of practice to shoot basketball well, and you really need to anticipate to use the 85mm.

 

Good luck, and have fun.

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<p>OK fellows, some help here. I've been shooting by son's basketball games, BUT, all the gyms are very small and poor light. I had the 85 but it was tooooo long for these small gyms since I am stuck at one end and close due to the gym size.  I have the 50 1.4 and it does good but are two questions. Focus is not sharp most of the time although useful but  not real sharp so is it the focus point problem?<br>

Question two; with the 50 1.4 I can't the shots further away - half court and further- are ike a wide angle with too much in the photo for what I want so I would like a zoom with a max aperture below 2.8 and lower than 50.<br>

F/2.8 is not working due to the light problem, etc.. except occassionaly so I am stuck with the prime and wait for the action at my end of the court.<br>

I do not see where Canon makes a zoom with a max aperture lower than 2.8 that is not an L lens, so is there a zoom by someone else that is lower since I have to stop down or the photos are soft wide open except on my L lenses. Or do you thnk the 2.8 zoom will be sharp wide open if it is a canon L lens?<br>

I hope I am making sense enough for an answer.</p>

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Sorry, Harold, but I don't think you'll find any zoom faster than f/2.8. What body do you have? Play with your ISO settings. Can you use a flash?

 

One of the gyms I shoot in I can't use flash. I have two bodies, a Nikon D2H and a Nikon D80. One of them has the Nikkor 50 f/1.8 or the Tamron 17-50f/1.8, and the other has the Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8, allowing me to cover the whole floor, ISO around 1000, f/2.8, 1/400-1/500 in very poor lighting conditions.

 

One intriguing zoom for basketball would be Sigma's 50-150 f/2.8, a fast zoom that allows a good range, pretty inexpensive, and all results seem that it is sharp. This range would allow you to cover your end of the floor and at least to half court, and with a little cropping the entire floor.

 

Good luck with your predicament,

 

Gabe.

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<p>IF I have to use a 2.8 it would have to be sharp wide open due to the small and poorly lit gyms we are playing in.<br>

How is the Tamron? do they make one with a little more range above and below 50mm?<br>

The sigma would have to be sharp wide open.<br>

I am using a Canon 40D.<br>

Thanks for your response.</p>

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<p>I personally have never used the Sigma, only second hand accounts with the qualifier that I've never heard a nything bad about it.<br>

As f ar a s the Tamron, I can vouch for the quality of this little thing. Ridiculously great buy (about $400 w/ a 6- year warranty new), dead-on sharp at f/2.8 throughout the range, and the colors are absolutely ph enomenal.<br>

Tamron a lso make a 28-70 f /2.8, which would give you a little more teleph oto but take away some of the wide angle. This is a full-frame lens in case you ever wanted to move up to FF, and fr om acc ounts I've heard as we ll as sample images I've seen from a friend, this seems to be very sharp throughout the range, and li ke th e 17-50 de ad-on at 2.8 . <br />I've a friend who use s the 40D and as I recall the high ISO is pretty go od, she gets usable results at least till 1600. What ISO are you at? If you saved some money by getting the Tamron, you could also put it to a flash if allowed in your le a gue.<br />Hope some of that rambling helps...for good deals on stuff check out KEH.<br />Good luck,<br />Gabe.</p>

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Tamron 28-105 f/2.8 worked great. on d-100 and D2H. Mine was stolen at Kodak musium in Rochester then i got a crappy refurbished one to replace it. Dumped it fast trading up to a 17-55 2.8 nikon. Nice lens also but i miss the longer range. Wish list = 24-105 constant f/2.0. Size would be worth it as my stolen 200 f/2.0 was worth its weigh in shoulder pain. 70-200 is great also, it depends how in their face do you want to get? You dont always have to be under the basket. The bleachers with some zoom works to. 200 works good here if you have 2.8 to blur somedistracting background out. I also haul my 600 F/4.5 S.S.C canon, (mounted on a nikon - I'll let you wonder how thats done), to the bleacher top with studio flash off the ceiling. Bugger to follow them though. Focus is a little easier if they are way away - like 60 to 80 yards down the football field coming to you.
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<p>I've been shooting basketball lately. I have an Olympus E-3 and use my 35-100 F/2.0 zoom. I shoot mostly from the baseline 1/3 of the way from one of the corners.<br>

The field of view is the 35mm equivalent of 70-200 and to me this seems to be very advantageous to get shots from the three-point line or far side as well as under the basket.</p>

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<p>Harold,<br>

 

<p>I

n sh o r

t, y e

s the Tamron is <strong>very </strong>sharp at 2.8. I know my copy is, as well as others whom I k now is. I do n

't think you would regret that buy. I ran some initial tests when I got it, and it is extremely sh arp at f.2.8, may b

e even sharper wide open than it is at f/8, although it's real ly good th e re, t o

o.</p>

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