Basketball advice please

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Hi team,
I am going to take some photos of basketball at a school and would welcome some advice. I'll be using a 7D with 50mm f1.4 and can get anywhere around the edge of the court. I was thinking of going with f2 so its not too soft and ISO 1600 to keep the shutter speed up, this would give about 1/250s Is this enough? What about AF settings? Positioning wise I was thinking one end just to one side of under the basket.
Advice welcome. Thanks J

Tanks
 
Hi Jimi, each court is different in terms of light so trying to give settings is impossible.

Not sure if a 7D is a crop sensor so if it is then the 50mm will be ok for 1/4 court shots but not much use further up court and maybe too long for under the basket. When I did basketball, I used the 35mm for under the basket, 85mm for mid court and a 70-300 full court all on a crop sensor.

Try to get a manual white balance, the lighting is normaly very bad for basketball so high iso may be needed, grain is better than blur ;)

Have you any knowledge of the game? reading the game can pay dividends as can understanding the flow. Look for off the ball shots too, team on the bench, coach expressions, fans etc.

With school games, depending on age, the play can be fast and erratic or dim as the lights. There are a few sites to look at for inspiration, Kipax and Googabu, most of all, have fun.

Phil.
 
phil8139 said:
Hi Jimi, each court is different in terms of light so trying to give settings is impossible.

Not sure if a 7D is a crop sensor so if it is then the 50mm will be ok for 1/4 court shots but not much use further up court and maybe too long for under the basket. When I did basketball, I used the 35mm for under the basket, 85mm for mid court and a 70-300 full court all on a crop sensor.

Try to get a manual white balance, the lighting is normaly very bad for basketball so high iso may be needed, grain is better than blur ;)

Have you any knowledge of the game? reading the game can pay dividends as can understanding the flow. Look for off the ball shots too, team on the bench, coach expressions, fans etc.

With school games, depending on age, the play can be fast and erratic or dim as the lights. There are a few sites to look at for inspiration, Kipax and Googabu, most of all, have fun.

Phil.

Thank a lot Phil really helpful. The photos in those sites are really sharp and full of action. You are right about the 50mm being too close - I have a Tamron 17-50 2.8 but the AF is slow. Any recommendations for AF settings I.e. single point, zone etc?

Thanks

J
 
The 17-50 would be my choice, more flexibility. Single point AF.

Not sure if the 7D has auto ISO but its a bonus. Where are you shooting?
 
7D has auto ISO - I take it for this that you are suggesting manual say 1/250 and f2.8 and let the camera choose the (high) ISO?
 
I used to shoot it manually, but switched to av, set a min shutter speed and concentrate on the game. The light will be your biggest hurdle.
 
I use my 85mm 1.8 at f2,on Av and watch my shutter speeds and adjust.
 
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