Newbie is lost with Basketball shots

Iculukn95 · November 30, 2009

Hello,
I just have a very small understanding of how exposure works. But hey at least now I know my fstops from my shutter speeds right?
ANYWay
I am trying to shoot basketball photos with my D100. Every thing I find tells me to use an f stop smaller than what my two lenses will do. I need help or at least a starting point for how to set my camera. P mode is doing okay but I LONG to increase the shutter speed.

My lenses are:
Nikkor 28-80 mm 1:3.3-5.6 G
and Tamron 70-300mm 1:4-5.6

I can use the large flash I have but won't as it is unfair to the players. So I only have the built in speedlight that is standard on D100's.

Please help
THanks

warpig602 · November 30, 2009

You might want to post this in a different forum other than for sale. Probably get a better response.

David_S85 · December 1, 2009

thread moved to sports

du8die · December 1, 2009

Iculukn95 wrote:

Hello,
I just have a very small understanding of how exposure works. But hey at least now I know my fstops from my shutter speeds right?
ANYWay
I am trying to shoot basketball photos with my D100. Every thing I find tells me to use an f stop smaller than what my two lenses will do. I need help or at least a starting point for how to set my camera. P mode is doing okay but I LONG to increase the shutter speed.

My lenses are:
Nikkor 28-80 mm 1:3.3-5.6 G
and Tamron 70-300mm 1:4-5.6

I can use the large flash I have but won't as it is unfair to the players. So I only have the built in speedlight that is standard on D100's.

Please help
THanks

A few thoughts. I'm not familiar with the D100 - or anything Nikon for that matter. But, set your camera to A mode (I think it's A on a Nik), and set your ISO as high as you can, and your aperture as open as you can. You want to stop motion, and that means higher shutter speed. The rule of thumb I've heard is 1/focal length should stop motion. So, if you're shooting at 300mm, you want at least 1/300. That's going to be very hard with the glass you have. Not impossible. If you can't get 1/300, you'll have to look for places where a player is moving slower, or a pause in their action - something where you can squeeze that shutter, and you won't have a big blurry mess on the other end.

Some cameras have a setting that will set the camera at 1/250 (or whatever the HSS is) in Aperture Priority mode when you have a flash attached. If you're using flash, do this. The flash will freeze the motion.

Couple of thoughts about the flash. On-board flash won't do much. You can either take your off-camera flash, point it at a white wall behind you (which will basically turn the wall into a reflector), or you can get a Cactus Trigger ($30), a Light Stand ($35) and an umbrella Adaptor ($20?), and set it up in a corner of the court. Get it as high as it can go, and point it toward the top of the key. If you can afford two lights and stands - that would be better. And - of course - the game officials rule - so get their permission first.

I know this probably sounds overwhelming - and like potentially a lot of money. It is. Bottom line - without the benefit of an in-house strobe (which a lot of college and pro arenas have), you can't do much with just a camera. You'll have to invest in either faster glass (2.8 or better) - a 50/1.8 or 135/1.8 would be a good place to go. Then position yourself just to the side of the lane, or even at the side of the arc, and you'll get some good stuff.

Good Luck
d8

L40 · December 1, 2009

du8die wrote:

...Bottom line - without the benefit of an in-house strobe (which a lot of college and pro arenas have), you can't do much with just a camera. You'll have to invest in either faster glass (2.8 or better) - a 50/1.8 or 135/1.8 would be a good place to go....

+1 on that. Without strobe you probably want to shoot at 1/500 or shorter to stop the action properly, and even an f2.8 is on the slow side in poorly lit gyms unless you crank up the ISO to 3200 or more.

That said, I would guess that you need both faster glass and a newer body (for high ISO performance) if you are aiming for good results.

GP Images · December 1, 2009

Buy the 50 f1.8 lens. Set it to f1.8, Set your ISO to 1600, Full manual mode and adjust your shutter speed for correct exposure.

Fogcity · December 1, 2009

I shoot a lot of basketball, but with a D300 and love my 85 1.8 (got mine used on EBay)--works great sitting courtside and when the action gets close I still get great closeup head/body shots. The 50 would work too, but then they'd really need to be close--the 85 gets me to about mid-court in the youth basketball leagues. I've heard good results for both lens.

In a moderately lit gym, if I'm lucky, I shoot wide open at 1.8 (tried to stop down but never seems to work out and the pictures are still sharp), ss of minimally 1/500 and iso of 640 (if I'm really lucky) or more likely 800 iso. Ironically I get a lot of shots at 800 iso/800 ss and 640 iso/640 ss. I hate to go much higher, but have gotten good shots at 1000+ iso as well without too much grain (that really depends on your camera). Noise Ninja is my best friend for pp and I always adjust the white balance in pp, although I can get pretty close by adjusting it in the camera depending on the gym.

I hope this helps some!

PS - I wouldn't worry about the flash right now, really the best option for using flash in a gym is strobing the gym which is much more complicated. You can usually get some great shots with the light you have, with the right lens.

Gringriff · December 2, 2009

Agree with FOGCITY
I use Canon and am not familiar with your camera but if your ISO can get up to 1600 then the 85 1.8 may be the single best lens without spending thousands. I would shoot Manual, set the aperture wide open and start at 1/500. If these are really small kids then 1/400 may work okay. But start at 1/500 then adjust your ISO up or down to see what works best. If you hit a wall with max ISO you may have to lower your shutter speed a little.

The 85mm works great for one end of the court especially from the corners. I also use the 50 sometimes if I am along the baseline but I think the 85 is more useful in getting good shoots.

One thing about the rule of thumb mentioned by du8die. I believe this may be more related to the ability to hand hold. Where you can normally expect to hand hold without too much camera shake at 1/focal length or faster. For the stopping action you will need high shutter speeds (unless using flash) like 1/500 up to 1/1000 or higher. So you will not be able to freeze action with the 85mm using shutter speed of 1/85. Because of the need of higher SS the 1/focal usually does not come in to play for basketball.

Good Luck

tinamarie52 · December 13, 2009

I am getting ready to shoot my first HS basketball. This thread has been very helpful. I will shoot with a D300, 70-200 2.8 or a Tam 90 2.8.

If I get anything that's better than embarrassing, I'll post some for critique.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.

Chris

donek · December 13, 2009

You are going to really struggle with your current setup. You will really need to invest in some equipment if you wish to make a marked improvement. With the camera body you have, you would need faster glass f2.8 and strobes, to produce stellar results. The fast primes like the 85 or 50 f1.8 (or f1.4) are likely your best bet though. Since you have a speed light, I'd use it as well, but bounce it off the ceiling or wall behind you to fill in the shadows cast by the overhead lights.

Newbie is lost with Basketball shots

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