Shutterbug57

I am assuming that was a typo?

Shutterbug57

canon Lee

As most have pointed out, "your shutter speed is too slow" In addition your lens keeps changing the aperture. You need at least 1/200th to capture motion. This higher speed will lower the amount of light that hits your sensor, so to compensate for the low light, open your aperture fully, and raise your ISO to at least 500-1600. Most importantly use Manual mode.... Look into a lens where the aperture does not change as you zoom in and out...This is called a "fixed aperture lens". Its good that you are shooting in manual. Its important that the aperture does not change, so set it wide open, a lens with an aperture of 2.8 will do nicely.. also use a monopod to stabilize the camera... The 7DII is an excellent camera for action shots. Positing is important, be on the floor half way. For more spectacular shots position under the basket.... Vary from portrait to landscape. Make sure you are not squeezing the shutter to hard as this will cause blur in the shot.... It takes practice to take motion shots. Keep practicing.. You will get it... Good luck and let us all know what you learned.

canon Lee

Hi Shutter bug... I am wondering from your comments, if you have actually ever taken shots at a basketball event???? Or if you are just advising the op from what you think will work... 1/80th is not the correct advice to be giving.. I do not mean any offense...

Shutterbug57

While I have shot basketball, I have shot more volleyball. That icon is a “what the heck” look to the quoted post. Look at the prior page and you will see that I suggested that the OP start with the following then tweak as needed:
ISO 6,400
Aperture F/2.8
Shutter at 1/750

Just curious, what part of my comment on the prior page did not seem to work with action sports in a gym?

canon Lee

Please excuse me shutter bug.. I responded to another not you... Jeep daddy "set your camera for Shutter Priority, 1/80th of a second, Auto ISO". Some how I got mixed up... Your comments are right on target, & Im sure you have shot many action shots ... Again, excuse the mistake...

Shutterbug57

Canon Lee - no problem. Sometimes these threads get confusing.

redron57 Loc: Fairfield, Ca SF Bay Area

you need faster shutter speed the way to do that is higher ISO or larger aperture lens, canon makes a f40 2.8 for a couple hundred but then you don't have the long reach that you need for distance,
i shoot aperture priority for most everything the camera adjusts the shutter speed as needed it it is still not good enough you need a 2.8 lens the best all around aperture.
I have bought a few lenses on craigslist for cheaper OR rent a lens to test drive it
OR amazon has a generous return policy Amazon if the product says Ships and sold by Amazon they will pay return shipping if a third party you will pay shipping and insurance
try it
ron

redron57 Loc: Fairfield, Ca SF Bay Area

a really good lens and i mean good is a canon 2.8 70 200 is usm ll
about $2500 amazing lens or you can pick up a 2.8 70 200 is usm l for about $1000 used craigslist or ebay
i have bought many lenses and have kicked myself for not buying at least a 2.8

canon Lee

As everyone has pointed out, you need a higher shutter speed, but consider shooting in JPEG not RAW, reason being, JPEG will give you a faster buffer speed. The more ambient light, the lower you can go with your speed.... you can also up your ISO to at least 2000%..... Capturing motion requires a fast shutter speed.

PaulDineen Loc: Fort Morgan, Colorado

I also use a 7Dii. For sports, I use it with a Canon 70-200 f/2.8. I also use the 7D I bought in 2010 as a second camera on a Spider camera stirrup belt.

For indoor and night I would use my Canon 50mm f/1.8 on the 7D, but I dropped that a few months ago and it refuses to focus. So, I use the 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 due to the wider angle.

Recommendation 1: use your 70-200 f/2.8 (wide open).

Recommendation 2: consider getting the 50mm. It's $125 new, obviously fast, and well-regarded for the price.

For basketball with the 7Dii and 70-200 I use 1/800 to 1/1000, f/2.8, ISO 2500-3200. However, that SS range produces routinely frozen action. I'm intending to reduce that to get some motion blur. That will help with the ISO, since I'm not happy with the 7d or 7dii higher ISO grain. I use Topaz Degrain filter; err on the side of keeping sharpness vs reducing grain. Of course, the speed of the athletes influences the necessary SS.

Flash at sporting events isn't unheard of, but is highly unlikely to be allowed.

Recommendation 3: don't do as I did and purposely underexpose so you can get a faster shutter and plan to brighten it in post. Grain is worse in the underexposed areas. So, it looks bad when brightened. Try to expose properly in-camera.

Recommendation 4: turn off the image stabilization. At around 1/800-1/1000 it slows down the autofocus and isn't needed at those speeds anyway.

Recommendation 5: reduce your number of focus points. The less work the camera needs to do the more quickly it can focus and take shots.

But, just one point is tough. I typically use center plus the surrounding four. Depends on how close I am and the density of unintended targets. Eg, for football there are too many players getting in the way, so I'll try to use 1. For basketball I'll use fewer at floor level and more to when shooting from the stands for variety. Baseball is far sparser, so I'll use more so I don't focus on the outfield fence when I get really want the runner and the second baseman.

Recc 5 includes using full manual exposure. Or, at least fixed SS and aperture, with ISO floating (perhaps with restricted range that you check on). If you float the ISO you can adjust quickly by changing exposure compensation.

Recc 5 also includes white balance. AWB gives ok results. But, you can again reduce lag (and get better results) by manually setting white balance when you first arrive at the (indoor or night) venue.

Recommendation 6: shoot RAW. More control over WB, grain, and other things.

Recommendation 7: is a consider back button focus. I was hesitant to try it and now I wish I had started sooner. It doesn't take long to get used to. As you get better with it, you'll be able to recognize when the action is happening in perpendicular to you and you won't need to refocus. Plus, there's the main benefit of being able to reframe without losing focus.

Recommendation 8: use a monopod for stability and fatigue relief. Even a cheap one would be much better.

I use it for baseball and football but not for basketball because I'm lens poor regarding mm range and speed. I mostly use the 70-200 and need to turn it vertically for near court action, since my 50mm is out of service and the 28-135 is slow.

Recommendation 9: get as close to the court as you can. For high school boys varsity I can typically sit on the floor at one of the corners. Under the basket is iffy. Ask the refs. It might be ok when no one's at the line.

Scout corners based on traffic: absence of team trainer, local press, cheerleaders, whoever. If after that you it's a bonus if you can check for inconsistent lighting and position yourself accordingly.

Recommendation 10: if physically/healthwise possible, sit in the on the floor so you can aim the camera upward at the athletes. Makes them look bigger / more impressive than if you're looking down at them.

At the risk of charges of “spray and pray”...

Recommendation 11: take lots of shots. I still have the habit from the 80s of being stingy with exposures. I still kick myself for doing pulses of short bursts and missing some interesting action (the runner cartwheeled after the tag!) or a good reaction shot. Limit varies per card speed, buffer size, and photo format (raw vs jpg vs both). Memory cards at reasonable prices are sufficient to keep up with the runs of large raw files that I produce.

Lutheran Lions 60 at Sterling Tigers 72, 2/16/18. - PLDL5279 by Paul, on Flickr

PLDL5212-Edit by Paul, on Flickr

IMG_3971 by Paul, on Flickr

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

I used to shoot my daughters Volleyball games and I can tell you gym lighting is tricky. What may appear bright to the eye is quite dark for the camera. I took out my Sekonic light meter to play with your setting a little in a room that I perceived to be quite bright with plenty of daylight coming from the window. Guess what your shutter, f-stop and ISO couldn't make even a room that bright work with those settings. I suggest staying out of Manual mode. Use TV (time value on the canon) and set your value somewhere in the 1/800-1000 sec. range (That should be plenty fast for what your shooting). I think you would be fine at even lower speeds but you will have to test that out. Then adjust your ISO up until you get an f-stop your happy with. At the distances your shooting from I would think shooting wide open is just fine. I would venture to say that you'll be pushing your ISO up to 2500 or more to get a decent exposure but your 7D should handle that with fairly low noise but don't push it up more than you need to get the job done. Good luck.

Idaho

The 2.8 lens is needed, of course, set at wide open. You could use manual exposure since your lighting is consistent. Set an ISO speed that will give you at least 1/500. The high ISO you'll need could cause "grainy" pictures. You're pushing the limits of your camera when asking for a high shutter speed in low light. Consider a new camera that can give you good quality pictures at high ISO settings. They aren't cheap....

10MPlayer Loc: California

This assumes you have an unlimited amount to spend on cameras and lenses. The f2.8 lens alone is $2500 or more. A full frame camera can be as much or up to $6500 depending on what you get. Apaflo is right in that you'll get great results with professional equipment. But most of us don't have that kind of cash lying around or if we do we have other priorities. And please, let's not get into an argument about this. I just wanted to make the OP aware of the cost of this solution. I think there are probably better ways to get there than to invest $10K in equipment to shoot high school hockey.

10MPlayer Loc: California

You sure know what you're doing. That baseball picture is great. Front page above the fold on the sports page. Good stuff.