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How to take indoor basketball images
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Dec 5, 2014 10:02:04   #
Alicia2 Loc: San Clemente
 
I spent hours studying tutorials.. Set my canon rebel on tv, 1000 shutter
Used my 50-200 zoom and only got very very dark images.
Can anyone help!
Alicia

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Dec 5, 2014 10:05:42   #
MT Shooter Loc: Montana
 
Alicia2 wrote:
I spent hours studying tutorials.. Set my canon rebel on tv, 1000 shutter
Used my 50-200 zoom and only got very very dark images.
Can anyone help!
Alicia


A Canon Rebel and a kit lens just will not do the job without a huge flash. You need a much faster lens and a camera capable of higher clean ISO's. Sorry, but that's just the hard facts.

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Dec 5, 2014 10:07:13   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
deleted - MT answered :)

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Dec 5, 2014 10:30:19   #
Alicia2 Loc: San Clemente
 
Thank you .. I was afraid of that but your right.

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Dec 5, 2014 11:26:00   #
mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey
 
Alicia2 wrote:
Thank you .. I was afraid of that but your right.


MT is correct. You need much more light and slowing the shutter speed isn't an option. Newer bodies are capable of taking images at much higher ISO settings with acceptable noise. To that, you must add a faster lens, one with a wider aperture of at least f/2.8. Although I'm not sure of your venue, the average high school gym basketball game is very poorly lit compared to college or professional games and could still present some difficulties. Depending on the image you might be able to salvage some of them a bit in post processing.

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Dec 5, 2014 11:51:01   #
dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans
 
I've done a few games for a local paper.

Nikon D7100 in manual with a 50mm 1.8 lens.
SS 640 - F/2.2 - ISO - 2500

My meter showed approx 1/2 stop under exposed.
Raised exposure and cropped in Lightroom.

Viewed at 100% they have lots of noise but are good enough for the newspaper print.
You can view a couple of pictures at link below

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-264908-1.html

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Dec 5, 2014 12:17:23   #
Kingmapix Loc: Mesa, Arizona
 
Increase your ISO. Lower SS to 1/500 sec.

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Dec 5, 2014 21:05:36   #
rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
 
I think the advice you've been getting is just a tad too discouraging. The picture below is one I took roughly ten years ago when my daughter was in junior high in Kansas, so she was not playing in gyms with wonderful lighting. I'm posting the entire, uncropped, picture so you can see what I got. The thing I know for certain is that I was using ISO 200 film; I'm guessing that I was using my zoom lens which had a best F-stop of f/4, and a shutter speed of 1/250. There is a small amount of blur here, but it isn't terrible.

The advantage you have is that you can look at your results right away (with film I had to just hope). Before you totally give up, I would try your maximum ISO setting, your widest lens aperture, a shutter speed of 1/250, and take your picture when the person most important to you is barely moving (my daughter is the one in white with her arms up in defense). You don't have anything to lose by trying (it's not like wasting an entire roll of film).



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Dec 5, 2014 22:34:42   #
mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey
 
rehess wrote:
I think the advice you've been getting is just a tad too discouraging. The picture below is one I took roughly ten years ago when my daughter was in junior high in Kansas, so she was not playing in gyms with wonderful lighting. I'm posting the entire, uncropped, picture so you can see what I got. The thing I know for certain is that I was using ISO 200 film; I'm guessing that I was using my zoom lens which had a best F-stop of f/4, and a shutter speed of 1/250. There is a small amount of blur here, but it isn't terrible.

The advantage you have is that you can look at your results right away (with film I had to just hope). Before you totally give up, I would try your maximum ISO setting, your widest lens aperture, a shutter speed of 1/250, and take your picture when the person most important to you is barely moving (my daughter is the one in white with her arms up in defense). You don't have anything to lose by trying (it's not like wasting an entire roll of film).
I think the advice you've been getting is just a t... (show quote)

First we've been assuming that the OP does not want blurry images resulting from a slow shutter speed. Second, although we're told they were "very very dark images", the OP hasn't posted any examples, and as a result, we don't know how much detail could be recovered in Lightroom or some other competent PP software. We also know she used Tv mode, but don't know the ISO setting she used or the aperture. Its possible that a shutter speed of 1/500 might have given her generally better results, although with a risk of some blurring. Finally, while I don't know what camera or film you were using ten years ago, remember that film has a much wider dynamic range than the OP's lower end and possibly aging Rebel body. If you had been using the OP's camera and lens all those years ago, perhaps your results would have been much less acceptable to you.

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Dec 5, 2014 23:12:41   #
rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
 
mwsilvers wrote:
First we've been assuming that the OP does not want blurry images resulting from a slow shutter speed. Second, although we're told they were "very very dark images", the OP hasn't posted any examples, and as a result, we don't know how much detail could be recovered in Lightroom or some other competent PP software. We also know she used Tv mode, but don't know the ISO setting she used or the aperture. Its possible that a shutter speed of 1/500 might have given her generally better results, although with a risk of some blurring. Finally, while I don't know what camera or film you were using ten years ago, remember that film has a much wider dynamic range than the OP's lower end and possibly aging Rebel body. If you had been using the OP's camera and lens all those years ago, perhaps your results would have been much less acceptable to you.
First we've been assuming that the OP does not wa... (show quote)
You are correct. I still believe the best advice is to try the widest aperture and slower shutter speed. With digital you get instant feedback, and the only guaranteed path to failure is to refrain from trying.

We always said of that daughter, "Her theme is the rubber tree song" ( more correctly "High Hopes" ), and that is how I prefer to approach issues like this.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+sinatra/high+hopes_20055241.html

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Dec 6, 2014 00:27:31   #
mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA
 
rehess wrote:
I think the advice you've been getting is just a tad too discouraging. The picture below is one I took roughly ten years ago when my daughter was in junior high in Kansas, so she was not playing in gyms with wonderful lighting. I'm posting the entire, uncropped, picture so you can see what I got. The thing I know for certain is that I was using ISO 200 film; I'm guessing that I was using my zoom lens which had a best F-stop of f/4, and a shutter speed of 1/250. There is a small amount of blur here, but it isn't terrible.

The advantage you have is that you can look at your results right away (with film I had to just hope). Before you totally give up, I would try your maximum ISO setting, your widest lens aperture, a shutter speed of 1/250, and take your picture when the person most important to you is barely moving (my daughter is the one in white with her arms up in defense). You don't have anything to lose by trying (it's not like wasting an entire roll of film).
I think the advice you've been getting is just a t... (show quote)
Based on the red eye and feathered lightning, I'd say you also fired a flash in this shot, which totally changes the equation the OP was working under. They might have high hopes, but it won't change the reality of the exposure triangle and and a slow lens in a poorly lit gym. Just saying.
:)

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Dec 6, 2014 01:11:40   #
SharpShooter Loc: NorCal
 
Alicia, Silvers and Hess are right.
Of course a better set-up can work wonders, but if you can't afford that, then work with what you have. Shoot as slow as you can. There are plenty of shots you can get even as slow as 250th. Experiment. The less telephoto you use the faster your lens will be.
Try ss 250 on Tv with Auto ISO. That way the camera will shoot wide open giving you the lowest ISO possible.
If the shots are acceptable, then take the ss up a notch at a time.
A $100 nifty fifty will not bring things in very close but will give you lots of speed. If you can get court-side or close to it. Good luck. ;-)
SS

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Dec 6, 2014 01:40:25   #
mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey
 
SharpShooter wrote:
Alicia, Silvers and Hess are right.
Of course a better set-up can work wonders, but if you can't afford that, then work with what you have. Shoot as slow as you can. There are plenty of shots you can get even as slow as 250th. Experiment. The less telephoto you use the faster your lens will be.
Try ss 250 on Tv with Auto ISO. That way the camera will shoot wide open giving you the lowest ISO possible.
If the shots are acceptable, then take the ss up a notch at a time.
A $100 nifty fifty will not bring things in very close but will give you lots of speed. If you can get court-side or close to it. Good luck. ;-)
SS
Alicia, Silvers and Hess are right. br Of course ... (show quote)

We haven't seen any examples and while they maybe be too dark to recover much, seeing them would be a start in helping her with more appropriate exposure triangle settings. Did she shoot at ISO 100 or ISO 3200? We don't know. We do know she was shooting at 1/1000. Just reducing the shutter speed to 1/500 gives her a extra full stop. She was shooting in Tv, so I'm guessing the lens was wide open. probably at f/5.6. Knowing what the ISO was is one of the keys, as is knowing the Rebel model she has. If she has an old xTi, high ISO can be problematic. If she a new t5i she can get pretty clean shots at ISO 3200 and maybe some keepers even at ISO 6400.

So, If Alicia is still following her thread, please attach some high resolution jpeg examples of the problem and let us know the camera body. Don't forget to click on "store original".

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Dec 6, 2014 06:44:56   #
abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois
 
mwsilvers wrote:
First we've been assuming that the OP does not want blurry images resulting from a slow shutter speed. Second, although we're told they were "very very dark images", the OP hasn't posted any examples, and as a result, we don't know how much detail could be recovered in Lightroom or some other competent PP software. We also know she used Tv mode, but don't know the ISO setting she used or the aperture. Its possible that a shutter speed of 1/500 might have given her generally better results, although with a risk of some blurring. Finally, while I don't know what camera or film you were using ten years ago, remember that film has a much wider dynamic range than the OP's lower end and possibly aging Rebel body. If you had been using the OP's camera and lens all those years ago, perhaps your results would have been much less acceptable to you.
First we've been assuming that the OP does not wa... (show quote)


This is the first post that understands the problem. Thanks for posting.

The challenge is to help Alicia get useable shots from her current equipment and at her skill level. I cringe to say it but I will: use manual exposure. 1/250, aperture wide open. This way, Alicia may be able to freeze the action a little though the depth of field will be narrow. However, the real advantage to this setup is that the ISO will vary as needed. Now, shoot in raw so that she can bring back to life the likely-to-be underexposed shots. The software bundled with the camera should take care of the raw's.

Final advice: shoot in AI-servo mode with continuous or high speed continuous shooting, center-weighted exposure, evaluative focusing off, the autofocusing set to the center spot and viewing off.

You can probably change all these settings on the quick menu.

Alicia, if all these settings are overwhelming, then ask for help here. Any of the concerned posters will be glad to help you.

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Dec 6, 2014 07:49:23   #
photeach Loc: beautiful Kansas
 
Last night I was getting some great images with my 35 mm lens on my D7000. I just always stand under the basket and let the game come to me. The shorter lens lets in so much more light.
Alicia2 wrote:
I spent hours studying tutorials.. Set my canon rebel on tv, 1000 shutter
Used my 50-200 zoom and only got very very dark images.
Can anyone help!
Alicia

Reply
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