ELNikkor

Get as close as you can and shoot with a 50 f1.8. If possible, shoot for 30 minutes from the sides, then 30 minutes from near the hoops for interesting variety. Since you can't zoom, just move yourself and let the action come to you.

billnourse Loc: Bloomfield, NM

Not a pro and just lack talent I guess, so I had to substitute equipment for skill.

Bill

Low Budget Dave

No camera will perform miracles, but with a little work, you can still get some very good quality pictures.

First, make up your mind how big you will be viewing these pictures. If you will be viewing them on a large computer screen, or printing them any bigger than about 3" by 5", then you will be limited to ISO 1600 and below. If you are viewing them over the web or on a smaller screen, then you will be able to go to ISO 3200 with no problems.

Definitely shoot in manual. Cameras get fooled too easily by indoor lights. Adjust your settings ahead of time, (so you don't end up with 100 pictures with 100 different combinations of darkness, blur, and grain.)

You are not likely to be able to shoot at 1/250. At 1/160, you will see motion blur, but if you shoot carefully, you will be able to use the blur to create a sense of movement, rather than just making the picture look sloppy. If you catch someone changing directions, or holding their ground, for example, then the ball will be blurred, but the people will look good.

300 mm will get you pretty close to the action, but you will need a pretty steady hand to prevent image shake. Try sneaking in a mini tripod if you can, and let the person in front of you know what you are doing. If you can bring in a full tripod, then do it.

You don't really need a zoom lens as bad as you need brightness. If you can find a 200mm prime, I think you will find that a 200mm lens at F1.8 will take (way) better pictures than a 300mm lens at F5.6, particularly if you can get it on a tripod.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Increase your ISO and live with the grain. Try to keep shutter around 1/250 and avoid compositions where your subject is moving across the frame. Also, look for "stop motion" opportunities like top of jumps.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

since you have a digital camera I am suggesting you continue to up your ISO until your shots are better.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Sadly, I have to agree - you can’t get there from here. Indoor sports is one of the most challenging areas of photography in terms of equipment. With what you have, only a flash (if allowed) will save you. In terms of relatively fast inexpensive lenses, a “nifty fifty” 50 f1.8 ($100), 50 f1.4 ($300) or 85 f1.8 ($350) are all acceptable lenses, but too “short” unless you can get 10’ from the action, and then you have the short-comings of the camera that Gene mentioned. Sorry I don’t have better news. If it’s only several events you want to capture, maybe consider renting?

spaceylb Loc: Long Beach, N.Y.

Toby

I am not very familiar with the T6 but if possible I suggest the following. Manual, 1/250 or 1/320, aperture f4, ISO 3200. The photos will look too dark on the LED screen but you will have to trust the settings and the process in LR or a similar software. Use denoise, exposure and shadows as well as clarity to PP them. You will get some blurring but most will be OK. Pan with the motion.

gessman Loc: Colorado

While I'd agree that you may have given yourself an improbable task and would agree with getting an 85mm f/1.8 lens, even if you have to borrow one from a parent, there are a couple of things you can do that will give your shots a better chance if you don't gain access to a faster lens. One is to shoot Raw, if you haven't been, and the other is to understand "peak action" and read up on that idea. Shooting Raw will allow you more latitude in adjusting the exposure which will better offset inadequate exposure to the maximum possible. Recognizing when and how to shoot "peak action" will also enhance your ability to catch better action shots than if you don't use it. Here's a good article on "peak action:" https://coppelljournalism.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/photography.pdf

Toby

I forgot, you must shoot raw which will give you much more latitude when PP

uhaas2009

I shoot with the first canon DSLR with a tampon 75-300 5.6... little league baseball and some other sports inside. The pics wasn’t the best quality( lots of grain) but still they ware good enough that parents liked them and bought them.
My advice is check the highest ISO, if it’s to grainy than lower the ISO step by step. TV and or M is your best bet. Just push this camera.....
The best pics I got wasn’t at the game time, it was through “exercises time.
I don’t how canon is with older lenses but with Nikon I can use older lenses (I have a pull and bush 2.8) for $180...just saying

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

I thought (to myself) maybe shots of folks who have had more drink than they can handle. …….

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

You are fighting the laws of physics. Go to MPB.com or KEH.com and buy a good, used 35mm, 50mm, or 85mm FAST prime lens (f/1.4 to f/2.0). Forget the pathetically slow kit zooms.

Get permission to work court side, in the corners or end zone near the basket.

ISO 3200 or slower. Shutter speed 1/(1.5 x focal length) or faster. Aperture f/2 to f/4. Manual or shutter priority (Tv) auto. Custom white balance off of a gray card (best $10 ever spent).

Consider manual pre-focus to reduce “click to clunk” lag time.

If you see flicker from fluorescent or LED or metal vapor lighting, slow the shutter down until it disappears (1/60 is probably where you’ll be, without a camera featuring anti-flicker technology.) Otherwise, spray and pray... Some frames will be dark, some will be okay.

JohnH3 Loc: Auburn, AL

I am a teacher also! I am a music teacher, but also have done and currently help with yearbook, which is about 40% photography.

I have a T6s, which is similar to your T6. I also have a 6DmkII and a 5DmkIV. Although the 5DmkIV is better, the T6s works well for shooting indoor sports, but for me unfortunately with only one lens: Canon 70-200 mm f2.8 IS (version I - Yes, I plan to update to the Version III). The problem is that the lighting in most high school gyms is not good; this, it is difficult to find a setting that works perfectly. Shooting basketball requires a fast shutter speed. If your shutter speed is not at least double your focal length or preferably even faster, your pictures will have motion blur. Depending on the gym, don’t be afraid to bump up your ISO to 6000 on the T6. You can get good shots at that ISO. Also, use a small group focus in the middle of your view finder not a single point or the full frame. Shoot multiple shots per second. However, I imagine you are already doing all of that.

Really, you should consider saving some pennies and purchasing a 70-200 f2.8 IS of one version or the other if at all possible. As well, Sigma and Tamron both make some pretty good clones of the lens that are very good also for slightly less money. You definitely want one with IS for indoor sports. At least that is my humble opinion. A first version is a great lens. You can find them used at reasonable prices. Good Luck!

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Without a faster lens AND a camera capable of better high ISO performance you will likely not be very happy with the results. To capture indoor images of basketball games without blurring you will need to shoot images with at least 1/250 of a second for marginal blurring of slow action, to 1/1000 of a second to stop action. Your current telephoto lens is slow and unfortunately one of the more mediocre lenses that Canon makes, and is not terribly sharp to start with. In order to shoot sports indoors with your camera and lens you will need to raise the ISO of your entry level camera VERY high which will still result in dark, but very noisy and soft/blurry images. Practicing with settings in various lighting conditions, and at various distances from the action, may help a bit, but you may be asking more from your camera/lens than it can give in that type fo venue.

While normally most folks tend to shoot sports in JPEG, I would suggest shooting in raw and processing those images in Canon's free Digital Photo Professional 4.0 (DPP) software. It will allow you to remove some of the noise, recover details lost in shadows, and improve the apparent sharpness and contrast. It will not make dark and noisy images great, but it might make them better.