Indoor netball.

Hunter87

Hunter87

Messages
435
Name
Barry
Edit My Images
Yes
A friend of mine has asked me to take some photos for their Uni's netball team and it's indoor so im assuming its going to be well lit...

But.. whats the best setup to use for indoor sports?

I have at my disposal ...

Canon 20D with grip
18-55 kit lens.
Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6
Canon 50mm f1.8
Canon 300mm f/4 L
Canon 35-80mm f/4-5.6
Flash gun (nothing fancy)

any advice would be greatly appreciated as the game is at 9pm tuesday! lol.
 
id say the 70-300 and 35-80mm will the the best option with the 70-300 as primary. I don't do sports but I would of thought the the flexibility of the zoom of the 70-300 is what you really need.

I doubt you will need the flash as it will be well lit, although I image, you may have to adjust the white balance depending on the ambient lighting.
 
Hunter87 said:
... and it's indoor so im assuming its going to be well lit...
Click to expand...
That might not be a good assumption. The lighting might be reasonably even (I guess that's what you mean by "well lit") but it won't be bright compared to outdoors. Even good indoor lighting is miles short of sunlight.

You didn't say anything about what kind of access you'll have - will you be courtside? will you be able to photograph from right under the net? etc - so it's hard to make useful comments on the focal lengths you'll need.

Most people shooting indoor sports want fast lenses. Things like a 70-200mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.8, 135mm f/2, 200mm f/2, etc. Remember you'll need to freeze the action which will require a fast shutter speed - you'll be struggling to do that at f/5.6.
 
Agreed - Sports halls, unless they're up to national event standard are incredibly dim usually, with sodium vapour lights which cast a horrible glow...
If you can borrow some faster optics you'll have a better chance of getting some decent shots, otherwise you're going to be shooting at a very high ISO just to come back with anything at all...
 
Even with fast glass you will probably need high iso I am afraid.. arkady is spot on.. The lighting no matter how bright or dim is still awfull and its a rare occasion I would suggest raw..
 
Not that you need another opinion (because Arkady and Kipax are spot on) but if you've never tried sports photography where you need to freeze the action then you haven't yet discovered what a rare and treasured thing light is!

If they let you use flash (and probably best to ask!) then go for it but you'll probably need a decent unit like a 580EX to have much effect...
 
I got let off lightly then!!

It was changed to outdoor so i had pretty good light to start off with.

I had free reign so to speak, I was allowed right alongside them and the 18-55 came in handy.

They also wanted some candid shots so i got a chance to use the 300mm f/4 which worked a treat! no one suspected a thing!

There will be more events in the future so i will look into getting another lens for this!

Any ideas on what lens would be best sutied? I will be close up to the action but also need a bit of reach for nice candids!
 
I use a 70-200 for reaching in to get "head shots" of drivers and teams on the grid and in the pitlane. Gives you a reasonable standoff capability without looking like a Japanese sniper :D
 
Hunter87 said:
it's indoor so im assuming its going to be well lit... .
Click to expand...

LIES :D

indoor sports tends to be f2.8 iso 800-1600-3200 for me depending on venue :D 70-200 on crop is a good focal length though

(I have to admit if I could arange to swap it for some fast primes on multiple bodies I would :D)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top