This was great, really helpful and it made me realize I've got a lens to work with (50mm, f1.4) and may not need to go buy another one! Or at least not right now. Incredibly comprehensive and very helpful, thank you!
I have been trying to figure out how to get rid of the motion blur bc I like the still shots that look “photoshopped”, but I have been super confused trying to figure it out. Your video really helped bc you explained how to get some and how not to, as well as, putting all your different settings in the pictures to show what combinations cause. Even though we liked the opposite style, I learned to do both from you. Thank you for this video!!
Thanks for the video. I have been doing indoor youth sports for some time and I understand all of the trade offs which is why I am looking to purchase a 17-50mm 2.8 Tamron lens. I think you have just confirmed my desire for this purchase.
That's a nice video, great for enthusiat amateurs, this one is not all about having the high end equipment but how to make most out of what you have, thanks for uploading!
I am a wedding photographer who decided to shoot my daughter's high school basketball games. I appreciate your comment on the percentage of photos you take that are out of focus and also what the camera needs to get in focus (contrast). This helped when shooting white players when they the team was wearing white and black players when they were wearing the dark jerseys.
Thank you for this video. It mirrors my recent experiences photographing both Wheelchair Basketball & Wheelchair Rugby for the first time. These guys can move faster than most people realise which offered quite a challenge. Although both were day time games, the Basketball stadium had overhead lights as well as skylight panels and was easier to photograph than the Rugby. I use a Canon 7D with 70 - 200 F2.8 lens.
Thank you! Great tutorial. I take pictures of Martial Art and I always had trouble with the somewhat excessive white color, the contrast with bright red & blue Tatamis, somewhat poor light and lightening-fast movements. After watching your video, I reviewed all I thought I knew. By using a 50mm f1.4, working with manual and knowing how to anticipate some of the movements, I now manage to get better pictures. Thanks!
Useful video, Kris. I've actually been asked to shoot some images for my local referees association in a couple of weeks (hence my research!). I don't really have a lens that's as fast as I'd like for low light, indoor photography but I'm hoping that referees should be a little easier to snap than players. They're unlikely to move as fast or aggressively as players so I should (hopefully) get away with slightly slower shutter speeds and lower ISO settings.
Great video Kris.. I will be sure to share some shots I shoot soon. I just got my hands on the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II USM lens from Canon, sadly the camera is still lacking (still running an old T1i), but should make a difference with some much better glass.. Will show some before and after shots.. Different sport, but good cross over for a lot of indoor stuff I think..
You put together such a great video - precisely what I was looking for - someone with a ton of experience shooting high school ball. I've shot Nikon forever but have now switched to Sony mirrorless full frame and my primary goal atm is to shoot basketball (I'm in the gym everyday w/my son, why not get some shots). The complexities of speed, distance, and light, and then the wider shots to capture an entire half court offensive or defensive set vs tight shots makes the task very complex and interesting. Throw in 4K video, ... I've been looking at what type of wider angle lens will help and I'm kicking around the two Sony 70-200mm options (f4 & 2.8). I hadn't seriously considered a prime lens but I'll take a closer look at that now. The issue w/Sony is the 2.8 weighs and costs an extra ton. Again, thanks a lot for putting this together, it really hit the spot.
Best way to shoot is warmups (no warmeup jerseys) before the game or brfore. halftime. Layup and shooting drills are gr8 as there are no players blocking shots.
+Roberts TV Great tip. I use that time to tune my exposure and set white balance, but have gotten some good "personal" shots at that time. Thanks for chiming in.
thanks for all your tips. i started taking BB photo shots this year and your suggestions helped me. BTW i also like st augustine gym. i saw a game over there for a tournament this year and recognize your gym photo.
This is an excellent video! Worth watching several times. Thanks for the details and your 'visual' slide examples of settings and explanations! I'm beginning to shoot more in manual settings on a Nikon and this helped me to learn that the lense makes a big difference. You've provided some great applications tips and knowledge to go shoot indoors! It has always been frustrating to capture indoor action shots and you explained things so clearly! Thanks so much!
Thank you Kris this is great video. I have seen it time ago and now I watch it again. This video has helped me a lot. When I started my "career" as basketball photographer I got Nikon D7000 and some lenses. I was doing by your instructions and from the begin I have had some good images. Very soon I realize that I need to do something with my gear. I check my pockets and check the pockets from my other trousers and I did not find 15 000 euros :-( I still do with crop cameras. I bought D7100 as primary and kept D7000 as secondary. I bought two lenses at f:2.8. 18-50 and 50-150. 18-50 in crop camera is about 30-75mm and 50-150 at 2.0 crop is 100-300mm. During the game is not possible to change the lens. So I got harness for two cameras and it work´s for me. Have no problem to change camera, both are available all the time. Have you use the flashes in indoor sport?
Hi, I always drop a comment, as a token of appreciation. Every video requires a 'considerable' amount of work! So, thank you for sharing your insights. I'm currently living my indoor 'nightmare ' as shooting tennis is probably very close to basketball! I'm on the 'better gear' table zone with a very good lens at 2.8...however, with my an F2, this, that would make a whole different picture quality! If you still have a look at these comments I will comeback and leave my IG, but honestly is not a hunt for followers as in a reply will be more hidden than in a regular comment. Great video and very up to date. Tomorrow is my last tournament day! Relief day!!!! Cheers
This was very nice to watch. Informative, descriptive, and you speak very clearly. I’m a family portrait photographer brushing up on sports photography for my high school son. Thank you!
Some school of thoughts is sports begin at 1/1600s. When I first started I shot at 1/1000s. But I guess as noise improves people generally shooting higher and higher shutter speed to the extent that your client actually asking or telling you are you shooting at 1/2000s? Creatively speaking there are really no fixed rules as long as you know what you are doing, it boils down to a matter of taste. Some editors even insist you use strobes or else so you never know.
excellent video!! I have so much noise in my daughter's gymnastics shots. I've learned to leave them darker and lighten in photoshop. I'm looking fwd to purchasing that 50mm lens you suggested.
+T. Lewis the 50 1.4 is great if you are on a tight budget. If you can swing about $900, the 17-55 f2.8 is better. While 2.8 is slower, you really cant use the 50mm at 1.4 (focus is soft). The 17-55 is very sharp even at 2.8, and it's perfect walkaround lens.
From 7yrs in the future, we now have technology to correct high iso, and blur 😁 although still very valid advice especially for straight out of camera shooting.
I have been taking sports photography for years. My biggest issue is my focus point and keeping the player I am following focused. I have deleted many photos that were great shots, but out of focus, even though the back ground was in focus. Even when I use spot focus and I think I have the player targeted, many times they are out of focus and the players on the bench look sharp. Ugh. I almost always use aperture priority and around 1200-1600. My main lens I use is a 50mm 1.4 with a Nikon D300s. Great video and well done.
+Yankee Reb (ShoeyDog1) Thanks for the feedback. I too throw away many shots due to focus. Just recently I had the chance to shoot with a professional full-time sports photographer and his stories were the same. If I can get 10% keepers I'm super happy.
+Kris Kasprzak I shoot sports for local high schools also, many shots do get thrown away due to focus. Really have to concentrate on that focus point...not easy at all. Great video, thanks!
Hi Kris another way of getting sharp images would be to pan with the players, that way your hit rate will be higher than if you just point and shoot on the player, hope this helps. Thanks Mark from Australia
Great video, but I am a little bias as I work with Kris and have learned a lot from his teachings. I also shoot with the Canon D7 and have purchased the lenses he has mentioned. These lenses have made a world of difference in the pics I take at High School basketball games. I appreciate his efforts in sharing his feedback on what he has learned!
Last years I got the new sigma 18-35mm f1.8 zoom lens to put on my Pentax k-3 . I took it to the gym to get a few shots of my brothers boys playing 8th grade basketball . I have the sigma 70-200 f2.8 and I tried to use it a few times but the gym was just to dark and the iso with at 1/200 sec and a f2.8 was just to high and with the APS-C crop factor putting the 70mm at 105mm seemed to be a little to close . I wanted to see what the 18-35 mm 1.8 would do .I set the zoom to 35mm and with the crop factor on the APS-C it makes the 35mm a 52mm lens . And that seemed to be just right . When your looking through the view finder the 35mm setting lets you see most of the action so it makes it easier to keep up and point faster to put the center spot focus on your target . I did crop some thing out in processing but I like having more than what I need in the photo and be able to cut it down and put what I want in the photo . With this lens you can really crop in close if you want and it still looks good . The Pentax cameras has a mode called TAV its not found on nikon or cannon cameras as far as I know . What it does is it lets you set your shutter speed say 1/200 sec and your aperture to say f1.8 and it sets the iso for you. Once you have your Aperture & shutter setting the way you want them all you have to do is point and shoot and the iso is constantly changing as you pan across the gym from one to the other so you get the perfect exposure you need for the settings you pick. In a school gym the iso can change at least 3 to 4 times and goes from 800 to 1250 in just a few feet of panning . The TAV or (Aperture & shutter priority ) mode works really good for sports and really good for any thing moving in and out of different lighting like kids in the house , kids on the soccer , football or baseball fields . The mode really makes it hard to take a bad photo once you have your Aperture & shutter set . Like he said in the video your not going to change the Aperture & shutter once you have them set so the only worry on other cameras like a nikon or cannon ,since they are not changing the iso for you like the Pentax does your still going to have to keep a eye on your exposure or you will end up with darker photo on one of the court or field than the other . That's why I like Pentax with the TAV mode . If you have a APS-C camera you have to remember the crop factor which is about 1.5 x so a 35mm x 1.5 = a 52mm lens and a 50mm lens is a 75mm lens . There is also another reason I like Pentax cameras for sports is they have the shake reduction built into the camera so any lens you put on it you have shake reduction . In the cannon's or nikons they put the shake reduction in the lens and that makes the lens cost more . If you plan on shooting sports out side the Pentax cameras have built in weather seals and they make lens that are also weather proof ,you can actually run water over the cameras and lens with out any worry's so they are great for rainy game days ,so why cannon and nikon users have to run for cover If you have a Pentax you just keep on shooting . Here is a video of them in water ruclips.net/video/Eo61t5fH6Qw/видео.html. If you look at the features of the k-3 thats now selling for around 5 to 600 dollars and the fact that you get shake reduction on what ever lens you put on which if you compare the cost difference with the same features a cannon or nikon with a shake reduction built into the lens your going to pay over 1,500 dollars more for the same setup and you don't get a water proof body or water proof lens or the TAV mode . With the money you save with a pentax camera and lens you will save enough to buy a sigma 70-200 f2.8 for outdoor use .ruclips.net/video/PNG0DsX6Rno/видео.html
I agree, i used to shoot RAW but given who I'm shooting for I could never justify the time working in RAW. I should have added a note in the video concerning raw. Good tip to other photographers.
Okay so I'm planning to go to an event that is very similar in terms of action and light levels to high school basketball photography. The problem is that it's tomorrow, and so I don't have time or money to get a faster lens or better camera. I currently have the Nikon D3200 with the 18-55 (3.5-5.6) and 55-200 (4.0-5.6) kit lenses. Do you have any tips for my predicament? (for instance, one thing I was wondering is would it be worth to switch to manual focus since I know my kit lenses won't be fast enough to capture the action)
Great video. I wish I would have seen this when I started... it would have saved me a lot of time. I started with a Nikon D5100 and the kit lens... but found out rather quickly that was not going to work for indoor action shots. I then upgraded to a 50mm f/1.8 and I have not looked back. I found the auto focus to be a bit slow on the 5100, so I ended up upgrading to the D7500 and have been very pleased. I have debated with myself if I had a zoom f/2.8 would I use it enough to justify the cost? Sure it would be great to capture those shots on the other side of the court, but I am constantly in a struggle for more light and I hate the idea of dropping from a 1.8 to a 2.8. Also, now you have another variable to constantly adjust (the zoom range)... where with the 50mm... all of my attention goes to focus and framing. I also love the background blur I get when shooting wide open at 1.8 to separate the players from the surroundings. Something you didn't mention which may or may not have been available on your camera at the time is auto ISO. I shoot in manual mode, because I want precise control over aperture and shutter speed. For action on the court, I set the aperture to 1.8 and a shutter speed between 1/500 - 1/800 and let the ISO auto range to get a perfect exposure. If I am capturing some sideline shots, my camera has dual command dials so I can quickly adjust the shutter speed down to around 1/80 - 1/125 and maybe set the aperture around 2.8 - 5.6 to capture those and the ISO adjusts accordingly. If you would like to see some samples of my work, they are on my website at www.snapndad.com
Great video, lots of awesome tips. I saw a tip on another video where they suggested that if you need to shoot at higher shutter speeds in low light but you want to avoid noise, lower your ISO's to slightly under expose your shots and then lighten the images back up in Lightroom or Photoshop later...what are your thoughts on that technique??
I shot Nikon D2Xs for quite a few years, and while I got photos in really low light gyms Its alot of post edit works that becomes the normal. I custom WB every lighting change and realized that I would need to be able to raise my ISO to get better shot with a body that was capable to doing low like shooting without disintegrating into noisy shots. I would recommend that anyone serious about holding accurate color look into a White Balance card set and run a custom white balance based on an 18% grey or white reference. The aren't that expensive, and you will be able to control accurate colors more easily. But even with very fast glass a cam body that lacks low light ISO performance is going to cause u twice as much work if not more some days because you run into a gym that has lights that bleed off an infrared signature that can be a pain to correct...lol!!
This is very helpful! I own a nikon d3300 with a nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens, and now thanks to you I know that my lens is the main problem for getting bad results at shooting inside sports. Any tips on which settings to use with this type of equipment? (i.e. aparture, iso, shutter speed)? I'm not able to buy a better lens right now.
I am taking High school soccer photos under lights and having trouble with images being dark & blurry. I have a good lens Canon 70-200 2.8. Cheap body though rebel T3i. Will setting M mode ISO 3200 with shutter speed 1/640 -1/1000 help?
This video is great! I have a hard time figuring all this out. It's normally trial and error. I shoot my daughters gymnastics. I just bought the 50mm1.4 any suggestions on what to do if she is far away and I can't get close. They rope off areas where you can't stand. Thanks for the video
You're very welcome. If they won't let you near the action there's not much you can do. The only option is a longer lens. One setting I've been using lately when shooting with my 7D and very high ISO (6400) is to turn the contrast in the camera way down--seems odd--but high ISO tends to increase contrast and this counteracts that.
Good entry level video for low light sports photo shooting. Came in handy last evening when I shot my first basketball game. It took me a while to get to an acceptable setting for this gym, but I finally got there. S 1/200, F4.2 - F5, ISO 3200, 18-135mm 1:3.5 -56 lens. Great freeze frame, but Noisy. Any comments?
Great energy - thank you! My daughter plays bball and I often shoot where light dies. I have had success using a 1.8 nifty fifty but considering a 2.8 24-70. Please share your thoughts. Thank you in advance!
My experience is that the 50mm 1.8 does not focus fast enough. If you are referring to the Canon 2.8 24-70L, it's a great lens. If you are on a 1.6 crop body 17-55 2.8 is also a fine choice.
Hi Kris just a suggestion and I am not sure if you use this, and that is have you tried back button focusing I found this to work really well when I am shooting. Also I focus on the players chest as this is the largest point to focus on and my hit rate his about 95%. However I do like your depth of field chart. Like your videos please keep them coming.
I've experimented with every option on my camera--AI Servo or AI Focus had some decent results but was hit or miss. I just got back from a track meet, and tried AI Servo and AI Focus and most were blurred.
Hi Kris, once again your video is awesome and you have covered some valuable points, like lens selection and aperture settings. I have been reading the other comments from your followers, hopefully I may be able to answer some questions, however if your followers have tried these suggestions then that's cooI. I am not perfect but I enjoy photographing Basketball and I have been shooting Basketball now for a number of years. Have photographed different age groups, ranging from juniors, through to the professional league. I am currently photographing a local comp, and these are the settings that I use and also the lens selection. I too, shoot with the Canon 7D and my camera is about 7-8 years old and is still going strong. I photograph in a local stadium where the light was very poor, my settings were ISO 4000, shutter 1/640 of a second and aperture f2.8, now I will admit that my shots were under exposed and noisy, however light room was a saving grace. The other settings that I have, is the tracking, and that is set to the fast mode and this is done with the in camera menu. I have my focal points set so I have 5 focal points active, and this can also be set with the in camera menu. Now these settings work well for me, but we all know that all stadiums are never the same, I also shoot on Medium Raw. Now I am shooting in a stadium which has LED lights and my settings are, ISO 3200 shutter is around 1/500 or 1/640 at f2.8, f3.2 or f3.5, the lenses that I am using are a canon 70-200mm f2.8 and also a Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. My shots are better exposed now with the LED lights, my current WB is around 3200k-3600k and if I can get a 10% keeper rate then I am very happy. I hope this information helps, now I am sure some of followers or even some pros out there may disagree with me and that is fine. I also use back button focus and I always shoot on manual. Kris please keep these videos coming as I enjoy watching them, thank you from Mark from Australia.
Nice beginner video. In regards to ISO, I'd prefer to have a noisy photo than a blurry photo so I tend to shoot ISO 6400 and one gym even requires 12800 to get a decent shutter speed at f/2.8. In regards to zooming out and cropping for composition, it also gives you more DOF at the same aperture and distance than zooming in so that's another benefit. I also recommend M mode because reflections and lights from the scorer's table will mess up the exposure.
The 7D Mark II has much cleaner shots at the higher ISOs. You may also want to use the single point expansion (4 squares surrounded by the main square) to get better focus performance.
THANK YOU! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. My two nephews play basketball 24/7. One is in junior high (now 7th grade) the other in high school (now 10th grade). They both play for their schools, plus AAU plus summer leagues and one of them is at Stanford Basketball camp right now. Currently, I attend an average of 9 games per week. Four on Tuesdays, Two on Thursdays, Three on Saturday's. I travel wherever they play. I was wondering how many shots do you take per game? The other night I came home with 1923 photos for two games including about 25 "fun" photos between games. Don't get me wrong...I absolutely LOVE doing this, but when I saw the 1923 photos downloaded number on my laptop, I almost threw up. It takes me hours upon hours to go through them. How many do you typically take?
BasketballVideos 2015-2021 I hear you I've gotten away from the four-figure photoshoot and generally take about three to four hundred shots per game of that I make it 30 keepers
That's what I thought. Your number is reasonable. I need to make a strategy of what I am going to shoot and be mindful of how many pictures I have taken. I'm so new to all of this. Sounds like 100 photos per period is my goal. I upload many photos to cluster.com for all the players and family to view and download. Thank you so much for your help.
Nice job Kris; I see by some of the comments below, you just can't please some. For most all indoor venue's, NO FLASH is allowed! I have a Nikon D3 and use the 70-200 f2.8, 14-24 f2.8 and the 28-70 f2.8. Your use of the 1.4 is right on. Sometimes you just need that for the crummy lightning is some gyms! When shooting sports, VR on my lenses, is turned off. Thanks again!
Joe Allen You mean't to say 24-70 as opposed to 14-28mm as part of the Nikon Trinity didn't you? I run VR almost always in action sessions. Sometimes VR can be a matter of preference if you have good numbers.
Joe Allen oooooooooh ok on the lens sizes. So you don't use VR for static shots of the stands, player huddles, time outs..etc. I use it all the time for stuff like that. Also my personal experience has been that VR can be iffy at time in seeking subject plane, but I don't see where it have caused me enough of a headache to not use it at all. I carry only Nikon lenses in my case, and all but one is VR (10.5mm fisheye f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8 300mm f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, and a Nikon 1.7 TC which I use in conjunction with a D2Xs body because it has a 1.5X crop factor which gives me roughly 765mm using my 300mm lens along with the 1.7 TC. Have I lost a few images to VR acting up?.. Well yeah, but it has also allowed me to hand hold shots that might of no happen without VR. But like I said I for sure always have it on.
Greg Chamberlain Hi Greg; yes, for static shots, normally, I would turn the VR back on. I see what you were saying now, however, one of the reasons I purchased the D3 was to keep from missing THAT shot and sometimes VR can slow you down enough to miss it. You have almost the same lens selection as me. I also have the 1.7 TC and the 16mm fisheye.
Kris, a couple of more questions which will hopefully contribute to the thread. I shoot with image/optical stabilization off given all the target motion involved. a) Your thoughts on using stabilization? Also, some others suggest using a mono-pod to get sharper shots. I shoot with 1/500 shutter speed and figured I did not need mono-pod. However, I am now uncertain. b) Your thoughts on shooting indoor basketball with or without a mono-pod? Thanks.
a) Regarding action shots stabilization will do no good, stabilization will only counteract the effects of hand shake and is only effective for shutter speeds that fall under the 1 / (focal length x crop factor), And if you are shooting below that you shots will be super blurry anyway. b) mono-pod (or any support) for basketball I think will not be useful. I find myself panning,and moving the camera up and down very fast to keep up with players--football maybe, but basketball i really don't think it will help. If you are at 1/500 of a second either you must have have super good lighting or crazy high iso's. At that value IS will only drain your battery, and you stop action will probably not benefit from a support.
At the time of this videos publication these mirrorless cameras were not available I'm not sure of the quality of image at these higher aisos so I can't comment if you could shoot an F4 lens I'm guessing you probably can oh, if you do please post some photos I'm sure my readers would love to see results of these newer type of cameras
Glad to hear. I sometimes shoot in a gym that has much better lighting, but most of my shooting locations are dark and require much tweaking on the settings.
Wide aperture reduces depth of field. I try to not start wide open when finding optimal camera settings, but due to the poor light I always have, i seem to end up wide open. Thanks for the comment.
For anyone still watching this video in 2020, look at older telephoto primes, not the 11k new ones, recently picked up the 300mm f/2.8L IS USM mark i, it's really good and only cost 2.5k, a fraction of what it cost new all those years ago (also 1dx (I/ii) bodies are a lot cheaper than 7k used)
I shoot mainly A priority with a 50mm, 1.4 Nikon Lens/D300 Camera. My biggest issue, is the focus and trying to figure what setting is best to be able to track a breakaway, etc. I would agree that 25-30% are throw away photos. I very rarely shoot in Manual. However, I will try this at the next game. I hate shooting with an ISO over 1200, since I use the 50mm, I have to crop on several shots, and the grain is just too annoying. So, if I shoot in manual, with an ISO of 1200, at 1.4 on the 50mm, would you ever consider shooting in RAW to have more control over exposure? I know .jpg mode is more ideal for sports since I take 200-300 per game, and RAW would be very time consuming. I'm just concern that manual mode, with lower ISO would be underexposed too much.
I've used RAW in the past, but it's just way too time consuming, and since i give my shots to the coach and players, there's only so much i'll invest. Manual can be dicey due to light/dark places in the gym, it just depends on how constant the light is. there's no perfect solution. The place i shot most is so bad my setting tend to be ISO 5000 f2.8 1/500.
I have a Canon 18-135mm and 70-300mm lens with a Canon 70D. I am shooting in a low lighting basketball game...i shoot manual so what should the setting be?
Kris, I enjoyed your video and inside on shooting indoors sports (basketball). I to might be consider a "purist" about not using flash inside an event like this. Yes it could be considered districting as it would in a church doing a wedding. I have been shooting a local basketball at a local high school and find that despite adjusting the ISO and using Aperture My photos are still coming not out the way that I need them to be. With regret I might have to using flash with a shade to buffer the strength of the flash. I am open to any ideas. For a professional level photo they of course must be SHARP & Clean. Any suggestions please let me know. I would be glad to post samples. What about" back focus"
Without a pro body, it will be hard to get great shots. I borrowed a pro Canon body and what a difference--i cant' justify the cost when I give the shots to the coach and players. The high schools i shoot at, i often hear the announcer state no flash photography. Personally, i'd rather the kids have a fair chance to play.
Thanks for answering the question. Unfortunately, I am in the same situation, since I am doing this as an experiment, I have what I have. not necessary kit lens. they are what they are. I I can sell some of the photos Iit will still take a long time to get the pro lens and body.
a little long, but it goes deep enough for a beginner to learn. Can't afford the equip he talks about right now though, need to work with what I got. Thanks.
Question for you.. I am considering either the canon ef 70-200mm f/2.8l is ii usm or canon ef 70-200mm f/2.8l usm. the price of the markII is my hang up. I shoot a lot of indoor basketball at the youth age and want something better to get sharper pics. I currently have a 6d and a 7d and use prime 1.8 85mm and a 24-100mm f4.5. Can I get away with the EF 70-200mm f\2.8 USM over the Mark II? Is there really a $1000 difference in picture qaulity?
I would get the non IS version and save a few bucks. IS will only help counteract effects of hand-shake with low shutter speeds. As your shooting action, shutter speeds should be higher, making IS not needed. I have the 70-200 2.8 (non IS) and it's a long lens for indoor stuff. I tend to stand near the goal and even 70mm is long, and "zooming" in to catch facial expressions is extremely challenging. Give the 17-55 2.8 a look or even the 24-70 2.8 a look--both are sharp and fast. Due to shorter focal lengths, you will need to get closer to the action--which I feel is the place to be anyway.
I just purchased the EOS rebel sL1 100D, I am looking to shoot some basketball games. Any thoughts about this camera's ability to shoot basketball pics? I am going to pick up a 50mm f1.4 lens, do you think this combo will work just fine? I saw another photographer say this camera was not ideal for indoor sports...? However with the right lens I'm thinking it should be fine. What do you think?
+On a personal yet simple journey It all depends on what that photographer means by "ideal". Magazine quality, not ideal, if shots to share with players and parents you should be fine. The 50mm 1.4 is a great sports starter lens, but focus may be a bit slow if your lighting is real bad, and you will need to stop that lens to around f2 to get decent sharpness. If you can drop around $800 on the 17-55 f2.8 (canon), you may be a better off. Try renting either to get a feel before you buy? Not sure what your budget is.
Excellent video Kris, very informative and content was just about right. One thing that I notice you didn't mentioned was using AI Servo, I would like to know what you think about it, or maybe you have use it but unsuccessfully. You will have some blurry shots, but in burst mode you probably can get away with a few out of focus one. Also what do you suggest at night RAW or JPEG? Thank you Kris.
Thanks for the comments. I tend to avoid servo mode--I've never had any luck getting the focus to keep up. I've shot RAW before, but as my shots are not magazine worthy, post processing is just too time consuming. During an average game, i may shoot 400+ shots. I'll only keep around 10%, and processing and converting them is just not worth the time.
Kris Kasprzak Thank you so much Kris, I had the feeling your answers were going to be along those lines. It does take a little more processing specially at night if you're shooting in RAW, and that is the only time I use RAW at night, JPEG is good enough in daylight, plus you better have a few more SD cards and be a little more selective on your shots :) nevertheless, I found out that sometimes searching for a little more shutter speed, under exposing maybe by one stop, can be the difference betwwen shooting at 1/500 instead of 1/250 and then open up the shadows on post. But you're right, when you're not shooting for a client, and not getting paid, maybe your only critic would be your wife and kids :) is ok. Thank you and man! well done :)
While 1/1000 is probably faster that you need to use, as for motion blur being "a good thing".... um, no, just no! Motion blur has a very limited place in sports photography. Good in slow shutter speed blur pans?... you bet! Wheel spin on race cars on-track so they don't look like they're parked? Yes, again. Blade spin on prop-driven planes so they don't look like they're hung from the ceiling in a museum? For sure! Players in stick and balls sports... not really. This isn't to say that any motion blur makes an image useless, but it's usually a negative even though it sometimes cannot be helped. The exception would be things like motion blur on a puck as its inches away from hitting a goalie's glove in Hockey.Flip through the pages of SI or other national publications, how much motion blur to you see? Unless it's blur pan, or something similar, the answer is close to zero. That isn't because they haven't discovered the joy of adding some motion blur into basketball, hockey, etc. photos.
My focusing servo mode never seemed to be fast enough for action--I'm actually starting to experiment more with it, yet I still have mixed results. My body is 6 years old and the newer ones may be faster. Hope yours is.
you did a great job explaining the exposure triangle and the mechanics of everything about the camera and shooting. But you have a problem with your shutter speed... There's no way you can shoot basketball at anything under 500 shutter speed. I shoot with a full frame 5d mk iv set in M, 1000 shutter speed, f/2.8, iso 4000, K4200... that's my starting point, I adjust from there... I get some crisp images... I'm only interested in focusing on one person at a time... there's never enough light in a gym to shoot action with an f-stop higher than 2.8 and attempting to get multiple players in focus.... that's just my opinion though. of course there is more to taking action pics, and a lot of it depends on your camera and focus mode and focal points. If you're using the canon 7D with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, you should be getting a lot more sharper images.
The main gym I shoot drives me crazy. I had to go to 6400 ISO f2.8 1/640 with a 70-200 lens and my pictures are mushy. They look good generally but when I zoom in 100%, horrible grainy. I'm stumped. No one ever talks about what Case number on Canon to use? I think I am on Case 4? Also have my shooting style to S. I need sharper less noisy pictures. I have the 85mm and the cheaper 50mm. Maybe I can try those?
I'm not sure a faster lens will help that much. the 50 mm is soft unless you get to f2.0, meaning you only get 1 stop improvement over iso. even at 3200 my 7D is still not very good with noise, better that most. Not sure what body you have..I've used the 85 1.8 and i did well, i'd try that one if you have it. If you dont, i'd recommend renting one first. I borrowed a 5D mkIII, now there was a big quality improvement. Full frame cameras and pro bodies is what it takes to get high quality shots. Only downside is $$$$.
Kris Kasprzak I am shooting the 5D3 with the 2.8 70 - 200. I got good shots it one gym but last night at a different gym I got a handful of keepers. I think I got better shots with my 7D in the past which makes no sense. I concentrate on keeping the single point focus right on. But soft noisy pictures? I will go back to the other gym where I did good before and see if it is better and also give the 85 a try. still not sure on my case number or style. Evaluative single point. Thanks.
Kris Kasprzak This camera is fairly new so it is set by the factory. I am not sure on noise settings and not sure where that should be set. It is set however the factory set it. The only thing I did was set back button focus.
Well this is now a 4 year old video and things have come a long way. I've taken many indoor basketball shoots with results better than every image in this video, and I don't have expensive equipment. Auto focus has improved dramatically. ISO performance has improved dramatically. I'd look elsewhere for advice for basketball. I use auto ISO, set the white balance with a grey card, shoot between 1/500 and 1/1000 with an f1/4 aperture. Better to have a sharp image with a little noise than an out of focus image.
sharpness = 2 contrast = 0 saturation = 0 color tone = 0 I get my images to pop by some basic image editing, basically i levels and clip the highs and lows. I do lose a bit of detail in the highs and lows, but given the lighting i have no choice.
This Flickr link should work or search HPRMan. flic.kr/s/aHsm7Di94c There are 398 boy's high school basketball images, all taken at HS gyms with lousy lighting (is there any other kind?). I shoot with a 5D Mark 3 and a 7D Mark 2. Favorite lens: Canon 70-200 2.8 (costly but worth every single penny) and 1.4 or 2.0 extender. HOWEVER, this year I'm going to stick with the 70-200 "bare" (no extenders) and the 5D (full frame). The long end of my former setup (1.6 x 200 x 2 = 640mm equivalent) gives great "reach" but I missed at least as many shots as I got, due to the limited field of view. The short end is just too long (1.6 x 70 x 2 = 224). Kris's short end is 50 x 1.6 = 80mm. Much better! "It's all about the glass". And no, they don't let you shoot flash. One additional piece of advice I'd offer (in addition to the MANY tidbits in this video) is that they put that rapid-fire high-speed continuous capability on DSLRs for a reason... USE IT! At an average game I take 300 to 500 images and post 30, of which 5 are "pretty good" to my taste. Stop chimping and pay attention. This game is fast!
Kris, great job. I too have been working on my skills for indoor youth basketball and agree completely with your approach. I especially liked the camera/lens/budget portion. I use a Canon 60D and a Sigma F2.8 70-150 and I do pretty well but I am still wanting better shots ( ruclips.net/video/KtKLqQOEZ54/видео.html ). I think I am to the point where a need a camera body with higher ISO performance to take it to the next level. Although, based on your results, I should dig out my Canon F1.4/50 and give it another try. The depth of field was so shallow with the F1.4 I just struggled to get the shot in focus. Perhaps a 7D is the way to for both ISO, focus speed, and shots per second while yet being able to keep all my lenses. Your video length is completely appropriate given the complexity of the subject. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comments. I don't think you will get much ISO improvement moving from a 60D to the 7D--maybe but I suggest investing in a Canon EFS 15-55 2.8. Its expensive but probably the best indoor lens (and probably better than my 50 1.4). It's sharp at 2.8 and focuses very fast. You are right about DOF--with any lens a few feet is just not enough for a fast action shots.
Kris, Just curious. Those black areas in the images why is that? I thought you were just blocking out people....but you other people in the images so why are those areas black. Thank.
no junk I basically created a powerpoint presentation where some of the images had a graphic with a gradient placed over them--i did this so i could add some text. I basically recorded my presentation of the PPT.
pour example about sharp image vs blur why even waste the time to shoot a game if all you get is blur images the gold standard is tack sharp images not junk and blur shots
Totally agree and I even stated that in the video--try watching it with the sound on. We would all love to hear your tips on how to get "tack sharp" images while shooting indoor sports, otherwise this comment is basically useless.
you have to use a fast lens and fast shutter speed often much faster then 250 pros often use 640 + shutter speed indoors you want to stop the action each person has to practice and see just what there equipment can do not all equipment camera bodies are the same often that is the difference in camera bodies 1000 dollar vs 6000 dollar bodies the quality of iso that a camera can produce is also very important not all camera bodies are equal you often get what you pay for in camera bodies just like a fast lens cost much more dollars
another tip is to exposer comp it often can help you get a faster shutter speed its often said that film camera shutter speeds were faster then digital shutter speeds but the camera makers do not often want to talk about that but the end result is you want a tack sharp image in shooting sports its not easy if you don't have the right equipment it gets back to what you said about light each location is different pro nba has better light then high school on the floor of the game
AV Mode??? No no no!! Here's how should set your camera. Go to Manual mode and set the aperture and shutter speed that leave ISO on "auto". Now you are dictating shutter speed that guarentees that you can stop the action and you have the lens wide open.For indoor photography you need a camera that can handle high ISO. You say ISO 5000 is too noisey which means your camera is not up to snuff.
No matter how much experience you think you have, you can always learn something new. Thanks for taking the time to make this and I loved the graphs!
You did an awesome job explaining the basics!
As for the focusing, I like Al Servo mode and I also like the back button focusing.
This by far, one of the best videos. It’s as if I was in a lecture and understood everything you said. THANK YOU..!!!
Glad it was helpful!
This was great, really helpful and it made me realize I've got a lens to work with (50mm, f1.4) and may not need to go buy another one! Or at least not right now. Incredibly comprehensive and very helpful, thank you!
Glad I could help, keep shooting!
I have been trying to figure out how to get rid of the motion blur bc I like the still shots that look “photoshopped”, but I have been super confused trying to figure it out. Your video really helped bc you explained how to get some and how not to, as well as, putting all your different settings in the pictures to show what combinations cause. Even though we liked the opposite style, I learned to do both from you. Thank you for this video!!
Thanks for the sharing. I really learn so much from watching this video. Thanks again!
Excellent instruction. Thank you for detailed examples with photos!
This was awesome. I only have the kit lens and I had no idea that that’s what’s causing my pictures to be so dark inside a gym. Thank you!
Glad I could help, I've got other vids on action shots--it may have some tips for shooting your soccer games.
literally one of the most informative videos I've seen. Thank you!
+On a personal yet simple journey Thanks. Post some shots.
Thanks for the video. I have been doing indoor youth sports for some time and I understand all of the trade offs which is why I am looking to purchase a 17-50mm 2.8 Tamron lens. I think you have just confirmed my desire for this purchase.
That's a nice video, great for enthusiat amateurs, this one is not all about having the high end equipment but how to make most out of what you have, thanks for uploading!
Very good video explaining the basics of sport photography
I am a wedding photographer who decided to shoot my daughter's high school basketball games. I appreciate your comment on the percentage of photos you take that are out of focus and also what the camera needs to get in focus (contrast). This helped when shooting white players when they the team was wearing white and black players when they were wearing the dark jerseys.
Thank you for this video. It mirrors my recent experiences photographing both Wheelchair Basketball & Wheelchair Rugby for the first time. These guys can move faster than most people realise which offered quite a challenge. Although both were day time games, the Basketball stadium had overhead lights as well as skylight panels and was easier to photograph than the Rugby. I use a Canon 7D with 70 - 200 F2.8 lens.
A very informative video! I will try on Saturday at the Rugby game
Thank you! Great tutorial. I take pictures of Martial Art and I always had trouble with the somewhat excessive white color, the contrast with bright red & blue Tatamis, somewhat poor light and lightening-fast movements. After watching your video, I reviewed all I thought I knew. By using a 50mm f1.4, working with manual and knowing how to anticipate some of the movements, I now manage to get better pictures. Thanks!
Practical hints for an amateur like me. Thanks!!
Useful video, Kris. I've actually been asked to shoot some images for my local referees association in a couple of weeks (hence my research!). I don't really have a lens that's as fast as I'd like for low light, indoor photography but I'm hoping that referees should be a little easier to snap than players. They're unlikely to move as fast or aggressively as players so I should (hopefully) get away with slightly slower shutter speeds and lower ISO settings.
Great video Kris.. I will be sure to share some shots I shoot soon. I just got my hands on the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II USM lens from Canon, sadly the camera is still lacking (still running an old T1i), but should make a difference with some much better glass.. Will show some before and after shots.. Different sport, but good cross over for a lot of indoor stuff I think..
You put together such a great video - precisely what I was looking for - someone with a ton of experience shooting high school ball. I've shot Nikon forever but have now switched to Sony mirrorless full frame and my primary goal atm is to shoot basketball (I'm in the gym everyday w/my son, why not get some shots). The complexities of speed, distance, and light, and then the wider shots to capture an entire half court offensive or defensive set vs tight shots makes the task very complex and interesting. Throw in 4K video, ... I've been looking at what type of wider angle lens will help and I'm kicking around the two Sony 70-200mm options (f4 & 2.8). I hadn't seriously considered a prime lens but I'll take a closer look at that now. The issue w/Sony is the 2.8 weighs and costs an extra ton. Again, thanks a lot for putting this together, it really hit the spot.
Glad I could help.
Best way to shoot is warmups (no warmeup jerseys) before the game or brfore. halftime. Layup and shooting drills are gr8 as there are no players blocking shots.
+Roberts TV Great tip. I use that time to tune my exposure and set white balance, but have gotten some good "personal" shots at that time. Thanks for chiming in.
:)
thanks for all your tips. i started taking BB photo shots this year and your suggestions helped me. BTW i also like st augustine gym. i saw a game over there for a tournament this year and recognize your gym photo.
This is an excellent video! Worth watching several times. Thanks for the details and your 'visual' slide examples of settings and explanations! I'm beginning to shoot more in manual settings on a Nikon and this helped me to learn that the lense makes a big difference. You've provided some great applications tips and knowledge to go shoot indoors! It has always been frustrating to capture indoor action shots and you explained things so clearly! Thanks so much!
Thank you Kris this is great video. I have seen it time ago and now I watch it again. This video has helped me a lot.
When I started my "career" as basketball photographer I got Nikon D7000 and some lenses. I was doing by your instructions and from the begin I have had some good images. Very soon I realize that I need to do something with my gear. I check my pockets and check the pockets from my other trousers and I did not find 15 000 euros :-(
I still do with crop cameras. I bought D7100 as primary and kept D7000 as secondary. I bought two lenses at f:2.8. 18-50 and 50-150. 18-50 in crop camera is about 30-75mm and 50-150 at 2.0 crop is 100-300mm. During the game is not possible to change the lens. So I got harness for two cameras and it work´s for me.
Have no problem to change camera, both are available all the time.
Have you use the flashes in indoor sport?
Hi, I always drop a comment, as a token of appreciation. Every video requires a 'considerable' amount of work! So, thank you for sharing your insights. I'm currently living my indoor 'nightmare ' as shooting tennis is probably very close to basketball! I'm on the 'better gear' table zone with a very good lens at 2.8...however, with my an F2, this, that would make a whole different picture quality!
If you still have a look at these comments I will comeback and leave my IG, but honestly is not a hunt for followers as in a reply will be more hidden than in a regular comment. Great video and very up to date. Tomorrow is my last tournament day! Relief day!!!! Cheers
Hi Kris. Your video was spot on.
Glad I could help.
Well done Chris!
Wow. That’s pretty much my exact lens set up 😂💪🏽
This was very nice to watch. Informative, descriptive, and you speak very clearly. I’m a family portrait photographer brushing up on sports photography for my high school son. Thank you!
Some school of thoughts is sports begin at 1/1600s. When I first started I shot at 1/1000s. But I guess as noise improves people generally shooting higher and higher shutter speed to the extent that your client actually asking or telling you are you shooting at 1/2000s? Creatively speaking there are really no fixed rules as long as you know what you are doing, it boils down to a matter of taste. Some editors even insist you use strobes or else so you never know.
excellent video!! I have so much noise in my daughter's gymnastics shots. I've learned to leave them darker and lighten in photoshop. I'm looking fwd to purchasing that 50mm lens you suggested.
+T. Lewis the 50 1.4 is great if you are on a tight budget. If you can swing about $900, the 17-55 f2.8 is better. While 2.8 is slower, you really cant use the 50mm at 1.4 (focus is soft). The 17-55 is very sharp even at 2.8, and it's perfect walkaround lens.
Thank you , I have some good time to see your video .
From 7yrs in the future, we now have technology to correct high iso, and blur 😁 although still very valid advice especially for straight out of camera shooting.
I have been taking sports photography for years. My biggest issue is my focus point and keeping the player I am following focused. I have deleted many photos that were great shots, but out of focus, even though the back ground was in focus. Even when I use spot focus and I think I have the player targeted, many times they are out of focus and the players on the bench look sharp. Ugh. I almost always use aperture priority and around 1200-1600. My main lens I use is a 50mm 1.4 with a Nikon D300s. Great video and well done.
+Yankee Reb (ShoeyDog1) Thanks for the feedback. I too throw away many shots due to focus. Just recently I had the chance to shoot with a professional full-time sports photographer and his stories were the same. If I can get 10% keepers I'm super happy.
+Kris Kasprzak I shoot sports for local high schools also, many shots do get thrown away due to focus. Really have to concentrate on that focus point...not easy at all. Great video, thanks!
great video...very informative and we'll put together...thank you for sharing
You've very welcome.
Good video. One thing I wish you had commented on is back button focus vs shutter button focus. Which do you use?
Hi Kris another way of getting sharp images would be to pan with the players, that way your hit rate will be higher than if you just point and shoot on the player, hope this helps. Thanks Mark from Australia
Great video, but I am a little bias as I work with Kris and have learned a lot from his teachings. I also shoot with the Canon D7 and have purchased the lenses he has mentioned. These lenses have made a world of difference in the pics I take at High School basketball games. I appreciate his efforts in sharing his feedback on what he has learned!
Last years I got the new sigma 18-35mm f1.8 zoom lens to put on my Pentax k-3 . I took it to the gym to get a few shots of my brothers boys playing 8th grade basketball . I have the sigma 70-200 f2.8 and I tried to use it a few times but the gym was just to dark and the iso with at 1/200 sec and a f2.8 was just to high and with the APS-C crop factor putting the 70mm at 105mm seemed to be a little to close . I wanted to see what the 18-35 mm 1.8 would do .I set the zoom to 35mm and with the crop factor on the APS-C it makes the 35mm a 52mm lens . And that seemed to be just right . When your looking through the view finder the 35mm setting lets you see most of the action so it makes it easier to keep up and point faster to put the center spot focus on your target . I did crop some thing out in processing but I like having more than what I need in the photo and be able to cut it down and put what I want in the photo . With this lens you can really crop in close if you want and it still looks good . The Pentax cameras has a mode called TAV its not found on nikon or cannon cameras as far as I know . What it does is it lets you set your shutter speed say 1/200 sec and your aperture to say f1.8 and it sets the iso for you. Once you have your Aperture & shutter setting the way you want them all you have to do is point and shoot and the iso is constantly changing as you pan across the gym from one to the other so you get the perfect exposure you need for the settings you pick. In a school gym the iso can change at least 3 to 4 times and goes from 800 to 1250 in just a few feet of panning . The TAV or (Aperture & shutter priority ) mode works really good for sports and really good for any thing moving in and out of different lighting like kids in the house , kids on the soccer , football or baseball fields . The mode really makes it hard to take a bad photo once you have your Aperture & shutter set . Like he said in the video your not going to change the Aperture & shutter once you have them set so the only worry on other cameras like a nikon or cannon ,since they are not changing the iso for you like the Pentax does your still going to have to keep a eye on your exposure or you will end up with darker photo on one of the court or field than the other . That's why I like Pentax with the TAV mode . If you have a APS-C camera you have to remember the crop factor which is about 1.5 x so a 35mm x 1.5 = a 52mm lens and a 50mm lens is a 75mm lens . There is also another reason I like Pentax cameras for sports is they have the shake reduction built into the camera so any lens you put on it you have shake reduction . In the cannon's or nikons they put the shake reduction in the lens and that makes the lens cost more . If you plan on shooting sports out side the Pentax cameras have built in weather seals and they make lens that are also weather proof ,you can actually run water over the cameras and lens with out any worry's so they are great for rainy game days ,so why cannon and nikon users have to run for cover If you have a Pentax you just keep on shooting . Here is a video of them in water ruclips.net/video/Eo61t5fH6Qw/видео.html. If you look at the features of the k-3 thats now selling for around 5 to 600 dollars and the fact that you get shake reduction on what ever lens you put on which if you compare the cost difference with the same features a cannon or nikon with a shake reduction built into the lens your going to pay over 1,500 dollars more for the same setup and you don't get a water proof body or water proof lens or the TAV mode . With the money you save with a pentax camera and lens you will save enough to buy a sigma 70-200 f2.8 for outdoor use .ruclips.net/video/PNG0DsX6Rno/видео.html
might buy myself a D4 in a few days time, might be fun shooting sports with it, have to try =)
Thanks for the video, very helpful. You mentioned white balance a few times... if you are shooting RAW, WB shouldn't be an issue, adjust in post.
I agree, i used to shoot RAW but given who I'm shooting for I could never justify the time working in RAW. I should have added a note in the video concerning raw. Good tip to other photographers.
thank you, learned a lot.
Okay so I'm planning to go to an event that is very similar in terms of action and light levels to high school basketball photography. The problem is that it's tomorrow, and so I don't have time or money to get a faster lens or better camera. I currently have the Nikon D3200 with the 18-55 (3.5-5.6) and 55-200 (4.0-5.6) kit lenses. Do you have any tips for my predicament? (for instance, one thing I was wondering is would it be worth to switch to manual focus since I know my kit lenses won't be fast enough to capture the action)
Very Very helpful. Thank you.
Great video. I wish I would have seen this when I started... it would have saved me a lot of time. I started with a Nikon D5100 and the kit lens... but found out rather quickly that was not going to work for indoor action shots. I then upgraded to a 50mm f/1.8 and I have not looked back. I found the auto focus to be a bit slow on the 5100, so I ended up upgrading to the D7500 and have been very pleased. I have debated with myself if I had a zoom f/2.8 would I use it enough to justify the cost? Sure it would be great to capture those shots on the other side of the court, but I am constantly in a struggle for more light and I hate the idea of dropping from a 1.8 to a 2.8. Also, now you have another variable to constantly adjust (the zoom range)... where with the 50mm... all of my attention goes to focus and framing. I also love the background blur I get when shooting wide open at 1.8 to separate the players from the surroundings. Something you didn't mention which may or may not have been available on your camera at the time is auto ISO. I shoot in manual mode, because I want precise control over aperture and shutter speed. For action on the court, I set the aperture to 1.8 and a shutter speed between 1/500 - 1/800 and let the ISO auto range to get a perfect exposure. If I am capturing some sideline shots, my camera has dual command dials so I can quickly adjust the shutter speed down to around 1/80 - 1/125 and maybe set the aperture around 2.8 - 5.6 to capture those and the ISO adjusts accordingly. If you would like to see some samples of my work, they are on my website at www.snapndad.com
Glad I could help.
Very informative. Thank you.
Glad I could help.
Great video, lots of awesome tips. I saw a tip on another video where they suggested that if you need to shoot at higher shutter speeds in low light but you want to avoid noise, lower your ISO's to slightly under expose your shots and then lighten the images back up in Lightroom or Photoshop later...what are your thoughts on that technique??
It's hard to make light, are you least shoot 1/3 or 2/3 stop lower and raise brightness in Photoshop. Shooting raw that tends to work better than jpeg
I shot Nikon D2Xs for quite a few years, and while I got photos in really low light gyms Its alot of post edit works that becomes the normal. I custom WB every lighting change and realized that I would need to be able to raise my ISO to get better shot with a body that was capable to doing low like shooting without disintegrating into noisy shots. I would recommend that anyone serious about holding accurate color look into a White Balance card set and run a custom white balance based on an 18% grey or white reference. The aren't that expensive, and you will be able to control accurate colors more easily.
But even with very fast glass a cam body that lacks low light ISO performance is going to cause u twice as much work if not more some days because you run into a gym that has lights that bleed off an infrared signature that can be a pain to correct...lol!!
This is very helpful! I own a nikon d3300 with a nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens, and now thanks to you I know that my lens is the main problem for getting bad results at shooting inside sports. Any tips on which settings to use with this type of equipment? (i.e. aparture, iso, shutter speed)? I'm not able to buy a better lens right now.
About all you can do is open your lens all the way and increase the shutter speed. Rent a lens?
I am taking High school soccer photos under lights and having trouble with images being dark & blurry. I have a good lens Canon 70-200 2.8.
Cheap body though rebel T3i.
Will setting M mode ISO 3200 with shutter speed 1/640 -1/1000 help?
Cheers Kris!
very nice video
thank you!
wich camera would you recommend to record high school games?of a budget of 400 dollars or less
thanks a lot for the free sharing
Excellent video
Thank you very much!
This video is great! I have a hard time figuring all this out. It's normally trial and error. I shoot my daughters gymnastics. I just bought the 50mm1.4 any suggestions on what to do if she is far away and I can't get close. They rope off areas where you can't stand. Thanks for the video
You're very welcome. If they won't let you near the action there's not much you can do. The only option is a longer lens. One setting I've been using lately when shooting with my 7D and very high ISO (6400) is to turn the contrast in the camera way down--seems odd--but high ISO tends to increase contrast and this counteracts that.
Good entry level video for low light sports photo shooting. Came in handy last evening when I shot my first basketball game. It took me a while to get to an acceptable setting for this gym, but I finally got there. S 1/200, F4.2 - F5, ISO 3200, 18-135mm 1:3.5 -56 lens. Great freeze frame, but Noisy. Any comments?
Freeze frame at 1/200? impressive. No sure what body you are using, noise at 3200 will be seen in a non-pro body.
Kris Kasprzak: Nikon D300
This post was very helpful! Thank you so much.
You're very welcome.
Great energy - thank you! My daughter plays bball and I often shoot where light dies. I have had success using a 1.8 nifty fifty but considering a 2.8 24-70. Please share your thoughts. Thank you in advance!
My experience is that the 50mm 1.8 does not focus fast enough. If you are referring to the Canon 2.8 24-70L, it's a great lens. If you are on a 1.6 crop body 17-55 2.8 is also a fine choice.
Hi Kris just a suggestion and I am not sure if you use this, and that is have you tried back button focusing I found this to work really well when I am shooting. Also I focus on the players chest as this is the largest point to focus on and my hit rate his about 95%. However I do like your depth of field chart. Like your videos please keep them coming.
I've experimented with every option on my camera--AI Servo or AI Focus had some decent results but was hit or miss. I just got back from a track meet, and tried AI Servo and AI Focus and most were blurred.
Hi Kris, once again your video is awesome and you have covered some valuable points, like lens selection and aperture settings. I have been reading the other comments from your followers, hopefully I may be able to answer some questions, however if your followers have tried these suggestions then that's cooI. I am not perfect but I enjoy photographing Basketball and I have been shooting Basketball now for a number of years. Have photographed different age groups, ranging from juniors, through to the professional league. I am currently photographing a local comp, and these are the settings that I use and also the lens selection. I too, shoot with the Canon 7D and my camera is about 7-8 years old and is still going strong. I photograph in a local stadium where the light was very poor, my settings were ISO 4000, shutter 1/640 of a second and aperture f2.8, now I will admit that my shots were under exposed and noisy, however light room was a saving grace. The other settings that I have, is the tracking, and that is set to the fast mode and this is done with the in camera menu. I have my focal points set so I have 5 focal points active, and this can also be set with the in camera menu. Now these settings work well for me, but we all know that all stadiums are never the same, I also shoot on Medium Raw. Now I am shooting in a stadium which has LED lights and my settings are, ISO 3200 shutter is around 1/500 or 1/640 at f2.8, f3.2 or f3.5, the lenses that I am using are a canon 70-200mm f2.8 and also a Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. My shots are better exposed now with the LED lights, my current WB is around 3200k-3600k and if I can get a 10% keeper rate then I am very happy. I hope this information helps, now I am sure some of followers or even some pros out there may disagree with me and that is fine. I also use back button focus and I always shoot on manual. Kris please keep these videos coming as I enjoy watching them, thank you from Mark from Australia.
You're very welcome, glad I could help.
Thank you!
Glad I could help.
Nice beginner video. In regards to ISO, I'd prefer to have a noisy photo than a blurry photo so I tend to shoot ISO 6400 and one gym even requires 12800 to get a decent shutter speed at f/2.8. In regards to zooming out and cropping for composition, it also gives you more DOF at the same aperture and distance than zooming in so that's another benefit. I also recommend M mode because reflections and lights from the scorer's table will mess up the exposure.
Yep, pretty much the same conclusions as I stated. I'd love to be able to use 12800 buy my 7D like most non-pro bodies, the noise is just too much.
The 7D Mark II has much cleaner shots at the higher ISOs. You may also want to use the single point expansion (4 squares surrounded by the main square) to get better focus performance.
THANK YOU! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. My two nephews play basketball 24/7. One is in junior high (now 7th grade) the other in high school (now 10th grade). They both play for their schools, plus AAU plus summer leagues and one of them is at Stanford Basketball camp right now. Currently, I attend an average of 9 games per week. Four on Tuesdays, Two on Thursdays, Three on Saturday's. I travel wherever they play. I was wondering how many shots do you take per game? The other night I came home with 1923 photos for two games including about 25 "fun" photos between games. Don't get me wrong...I absolutely LOVE doing this, but when I saw the 1923 photos downloaded number on my laptop, I almost threw up. It takes me hours upon hours to go through them. How many do you typically take?
BasketballVideos 2015-2021 I hear you I've gotten away from the four-figure photoshoot and generally take about three to four hundred shots per game of that I make it 30 keepers
That's what I thought. Your number is reasonable. I need to make a strategy of what I am going to shoot and be mindful of how many pictures I have taken. I'm so new to all of this. Sounds like 100 photos per period is my goal. I upload many photos to cluster.com for all the players and family to view and download. Thank you so much for your help.
Nice job Kris; I see by some of the comments below, you just can't please some. For most all indoor venue's, NO FLASH is allowed! I have a Nikon D3 and use the 70-200 f2.8, 14-24 f2.8 and the 28-70 f2.8. Your use of the 1.4 is right on. Sometimes you just need that for the crummy lightning is some gyms! When shooting sports, VR on my lenses, is turned off. Thanks again!
You're very welcome.
Joe Allen You mean't to say 24-70 as opposed to 14-28mm as part of the Nikon Trinity didn't you? I run VR almost always in action sessions. Sometimes VR can be a matter of preference if you have good numbers.
Greg Chamberlain No, I have the 28-70 f2.8 and the 14-24 f2.8. VR slows the camera down and the reason most sport shooters don't use it.
Joe Allen oooooooooh ok on the lens sizes. So you don't use VR for static shots of the stands, player huddles, time outs..etc. I use it all the time for stuff like that. Also my personal experience has been that VR can be iffy at time in seeking subject plane, but I don't see where it have caused me enough of a headache to not use it at all. I carry only Nikon lenses in my case, and all but one is VR (10.5mm fisheye f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8 300mm f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, and a Nikon 1.7 TC which I use in conjunction with a D2Xs body because it has a 1.5X crop factor which gives me roughly 765mm using my 300mm lens along with the 1.7 TC. Have I lost a few images to VR acting up?.. Well yeah, but it has also allowed me to hand hold shots that might of no happen without VR. But like I said I for sure always have it on.
Greg Chamberlain Hi Greg; yes, for static shots, normally, I would turn the VR back on. I see what you were saying now, however, one of the reasons I purchased the D3 was to keep from missing THAT shot and sometimes VR can slow you down enough to miss it. You have almost the same lens selection as me. I also have the 1.7 TC and the 16mm fisheye.
Kris, a couple of more questions which will hopefully contribute to the thread. I shoot with image/optical stabilization off given all the target motion involved. a) Your thoughts on using stabilization? Also, some others suggest using a mono-pod to get sharper shots. I shoot with 1/500 shutter speed and figured I did not need mono-pod. However, I am now uncertain. b) Your thoughts on shooting indoor basketball with or without a mono-pod? Thanks.
a) Regarding action shots stabilization will do no good, stabilization will only counteract the effects of hand shake and is only effective for shutter speeds that fall under the 1 / (focal length x crop factor), And if you are shooting below that you shots will be super blurry anyway.
b) mono-pod (or any support) for basketball I think will not be useful. I find myself panning,and moving the camera up and down very fast to keep up with players--football maybe, but basketball i really don't think it will help. If you are at 1/500 of a second either you must have have super good lighting or crazy high iso's. At that value IS will only drain your battery, and you stop action will probably not benefit from a support.
Great information!
Glad I could help.
18-105mm F4 is a no go for my sony a6000? I'm shooting in a very well lit gym.
At the time of this videos publication these mirrorless cameras were not available I'm not sure of the quality of image at these higher aisos so I can't comment if you could shoot an F4 lens I'm guessing you probably can oh, if you do please post some photos I'm sure my readers would love to see results of these newer type of cameras
I have a Nikon, but have just used sports mode and got some nice shots
Glad to hear. I sometimes shoot in a gym that has much better lighting, but most of my shooting locations are dark and require much tweaking on the settings.
Excellent video. You mentioned that you prefer not to set your aperture wide open when shooting, why not?
Wide aperture reduces depth of field. I try to not start wide open when finding optimal camera settings, but due to the poor light I always have, i seem to end up wide open. Thanks for the comment.
For anyone still watching this video in 2020, look at older telephoto primes, not the 11k new ones, recently picked up the 300mm f/2.8L IS USM mark i, it's really good and only cost 2.5k, a fraction of what it cost new all those years ago (also 1dx (I/ii) bodies are a lot cheaper than 7k used)
I shoot mainly A priority with a 50mm, 1.4 Nikon Lens/D300 Camera. My biggest issue, is the focus and trying to figure what setting is best to be able to track a breakaway, etc. I would agree that 25-30% are throw away photos. I very rarely shoot in Manual. However, I will try this at the next game. I hate shooting with an ISO over 1200, since I use the 50mm, I have to crop on several shots, and the grain is just too annoying. So, if I shoot in manual, with an ISO of 1200, at 1.4 on the 50mm, would you ever consider shooting in RAW to have more control over exposure? I know .jpg mode is more ideal for sports since I take 200-300 per game, and RAW would be very time consuming. I'm just concern that manual mode, with lower ISO would be underexposed too much.
I've used RAW in the past, but it's just way too time consuming, and since i give my shots to the coach and players, there's only so much i'll invest. Manual can be dicey due to light/dark places in the gym, it just depends on how constant the light is. there's no perfect solution. The place i shot most is so bad my setting tend to be ISO 5000 f2.8 1/500.
I have a Canon 18-135mm and 70-300mm lens with a Canon 70D. I am shooting in a low lighting basketball game...i shoot manual so what should the setting be?
try a shutter speed of 1/500 or 1/1000 with the lowest f/stop
great video thx
you're very welcome.
can you shot in f4? with good quality and with a6500?
What are your thoughts on auto iso, manual, f11, 3D tracking, for Nikon D5
f11 indoor is way too closed. you will struggle getting enough light and the right shutter speed. nothing smaller than 2.8 to be honest
Kris, I enjoyed your video and inside on shooting indoors sports (basketball). I to might be consider a "purist" about not using flash inside an event like this. Yes it could be considered districting as it would in a church doing a wedding.
I have been shooting a local basketball at a local high school and find that despite adjusting the ISO and using Aperture My photos are still coming not out the way that I need them to be. With regret I might have to using flash with a shade to buffer the strength of the flash. I am open to any ideas. For a professional level photo they of course must be SHARP & Clean. Any suggestions please let me know. I would be glad to post samples. What about" back focus"
Without a pro body, it will be hard to get great shots. I borrowed a pro Canon body and what a difference--i cant' justify the cost when I give the shots to the coach and players. The high schools i shoot at, i often hear the announcer state no flash photography. Personally, i'd rather the kids have a fair chance to play.
Thanks for answering the question. Unfortunately, I am in the same situation, since I am doing this as an experiment, I have what I have. not necessary kit lens. they are what they are. I I can sell some of the photos Iit will still take a long time to get the pro lens and body.
a little long, but it goes deep enough for a beginner to learn. Can't afford the equip he talks about right now though, need to work with what I got. Thanks.
Thanks for the comment, i struggled getting this much content in a short video.
Question for you.. I am considering either the canon ef 70-200mm f/2.8l is ii usm or canon ef 70-200mm f/2.8l usm. the price of the markII is my hang up. I shoot a lot of indoor basketball at the youth age and want something better to get sharper pics. I currently have a 6d and a 7d and use prime 1.8 85mm and a 24-100mm f4.5. Can I get away with the EF 70-200mm f\2.8 USM over the Mark II? Is there really a $1000 difference in picture qaulity?
I would get the non IS version and save a few bucks. IS will only help counteract effects of hand-shake with low shutter speeds. As your shooting action, shutter speeds should be higher, making IS not needed. I have the 70-200 2.8 (non IS) and it's a long lens for indoor stuff. I tend to stand near the goal and even 70mm is long, and "zooming" in to catch facial expressions is extremely challenging. Give the 17-55 2.8 a look or even the 24-70 2.8 a look--both are sharp and fast. Due to shorter focal lengths, you will need to get closer to the action--which I feel is the place to be anyway.
I just purchased the EOS rebel sL1 100D, I am looking to shoot some basketball games. Any thoughts about this camera's ability to shoot basketball pics? I am going to pick up a 50mm f1.4 lens, do you think this combo will work just fine? I saw another photographer say this camera was not ideal for indoor sports...? However with the right lens I'm thinking it should be fine. What do you think?
+On a personal yet simple journey It all depends on what that photographer means by "ideal". Magazine quality, not ideal, if shots to share with players and parents you should be fine. The 50mm 1.4 is a great sports starter lens, but focus may be a bit slow if your lighting is real bad, and you will need to stop that lens to around f2 to get decent sharpness. If you can drop around $800 on the 17-55 f2.8 (canon), you may be a better off. Try renting either to get a feel before you buy? Not sure what your budget is.
awesome advice, thank you for taking the time to reply! Will definitely look into renting one, to start off.
What kind of 70-200m f/2.8 did you get for $1200?
Canon L
would you recommend auto iso jn a gym enviroment with a minimum/maximum iso setting?
generally I shoot M in low light situations. Light glare off of floors, background lights, etc. can fool your cameras sensors and ruin the exposure.
Excellent video Kris, very informative and content was just about right. One thing that I notice you didn't mentioned was using AI Servo, I would like to know what you think about it, or maybe you have use it but unsuccessfully. You will have some blurry shots, but in burst mode you probably can get away with a few out of focus one. Also what do you suggest at night RAW or JPEG? Thank you Kris.
Thanks for the comments. I tend to avoid servo mode--I've never had any luck getting the focus to keep up. I've shot RAW before, but as my shots are not magazine worthy, post processing is just too time consuming. During an average game, i may shoot 400+ shots. I'll only keep around 10%, and processing and converting them is just not worth the time.
PS... thanks for putting up with the length. It's long for a RUclips video, but I could find anything worthy of cutting out.
Kris Kasprzak
Thank you so much Kris, I had the feeling your answers were going to be along those lines. It does take a little more processing specially at night if you're shooting in RAW, and that is the only time I use RAW at night, JPEG is good enough in daylight, plus you better have a few more SD cards and be a little more selective on your shots :) nevertheless, I found out that sometimes searching for a little more shutter speed, under exposing maybe by one stop, can be the difference betwwen shooting at 1/500 instead of 1/250 and then open up the shadows on post. But you're right, when you're not shooting for a client, and not getting paid, maybe your only critic would be your wife and kids :) is ok. Thank you and man! well done :)
Can I fix my settings to be able to take decents basketball shots indoors with a Nikon D3200
need better glass.. i ended up upgrading my camera to a D7500 and got a better lens..
I've been shooting HS basketball at 1/1000 but after listening to you I'm going to slow it down. Maybe a little motion blur can be a good thing.
Good to experiment! Post some shots, i;m sure my readers would like to learn more.
While 1/1000 is probably faster that you need to use, as for motion blur being "a good thing".... um, no, just no! Motion blur has a very limited place in sports photography. Good in slow shutter speed blur pans?... you bet! Wheel spin on race cars on-track so they don't look like they're parked? Yes, again. Blade spin on prop-driven planes so they don't look like they're hung from the ceiling in a museum? For sure! Players in stick and balls sports... not really. This isn't to say that any motion blur makes an image useless, but it's usually a negative even though it sometimes cannot be helped. The exception would be things like motion blur on a puck as its inches away from hitting a goalie's glove in Hockey.Flip through the pages of SI or other national publications, how much motion blur to you see? Unless it's blur pan, or something similar, the answer is close to zero. That isn't because they haven't discovered the joy of adding some motion blur into basketball, hockey, etc. photos.
Why do you not use AI Servo mode which constantly adjusts focus as you move you camera for a shot?
My focusing servo mode never seemed to be fast enough for action--I'm actually starting to experiment more with it, yet I still have mixed results. My body is 6 years old and the newer ones may be faster. Hope yours is.
you did a great job explaining the exposure triangle and the mechanics of everything about the camera and shooting. But you have a problem with your shutter speed... There's no way you can shoot basketball at anything under 500 shutter speed. I shoot with a full frame 5d mk iv set in M, 1000 shutter speed, f/2.8, iso 4000, K4200... that's my starting point, I adjust from there... I get some crisp images... I'm only interested in focusing on one person at a time... there's never enough light in a gym to shoot action with an f-stop higher than 2.8 and attempting to get multiple players in focus.... that's just my opinion though. of course there is more to taking action pics, and a lot of it depends on your camera and focus mode and focal points. If you're using the canon 7D with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, you should be getting a lot more sharper images.
Camera and lens is only part of the sharpness story generally my Jim's don't have enough light to get reasonable settings
You may have better luck with focusing if you switch to servo focus and use back button focusing.
thanks for the tip, i'll give that a try, my camera servo focus is not real fast though.
The main gym I shoot drives me crazy. I had to go to 6400 ISO f2.8 1/640 with a 70-200 lens and my pictures are mushy. They look good generally but when I zoom in 100%, horrible grainy. I'm stumped. No one ever talks about what Case number on Canon to use? I think I am on Case 4? Also have my shooting style to S. I need sharper less noisy pictures. I have the 85mm and the cheaper 50mm. Maybe I can try those?
I'm not sure a faster lens will help that much. the 50 mm is soft unless you get to f2.0, meaning you only get 1 stop improvement over iso. even at 3200 my 7D is still not very good with noise, better that most. Not sure what body you have..I've used the 85 1.8 and i did well, i'd try that one if you have it. If you dont, i'd recommend renting one first.
I borrowed a 5D mkIII, now there was a big quality improvement. Full frame cameras and pro bodies is what it takes to get high quality shots. Only downside is $$$$.
Kris Kasprzak I am shooting the 5D3 with the 2.8 70 - 200. I got good shots it one gym but last night at a different gym I got a handful of keepers. I think I got better shots with my 7D in the past which makes no sense. I concentrate on keeping the single point focus right on. But soft noisy pictures? I will go back to the other gym where I did good before and see if it is better and also give the 85 a try. still not sure on my case number or style. Evaluative single point. Thanks.
Yea a 7D out performing a 5D makes no sense. Any in-camera noise reduction settings?
Kris Kasprzak This camera is fairly new so it is set by the factory. I am not sure on noise settings and not sure where that should be set. It is set however the factory set it. The only thing I did was set back button focus.
nice
Well this is now a 4 year old video and things have come a long way. I've taken many indoor basketball shoots with results better than every image in this video, and I don't have expensive equipment. Auto focus has improved dramatically. ISO performance has improved dramatically. I'd look elsewhere for advice for basketball. I use auto ISO, set the white balance with a grey card, shoot between 1/500 and 1/1000 with an f1/4 aperture. Better to have a sharp image with a little noise than an out of focus image.
yeah I hear ya, please post some photos I love to see the difference
Give me your picture style coustom setting please ❤
sharpness = 2
contrast = 0
saturation = 0
color tone = 0
I get my images to pop by some basic image editing, basically i levels and clip the highs and lows. I do lose a bit of detail in the highs and lows, but given the lighting i have no choice.
This Flickr link should work or search HPRMan. flic.kr/s/aHsm7Di94c There are 398 boy's high school basketball images, all taken at HS gyms with lousy lighting (is there any other kind?). I shoot with a 5D Mark 3 and a 7D Mark 2. Favorite lens: Canon 70-200 2.8 (costly but worth every single penny) and 1.4 or 2.0 extender. HOWEVER, this year I'm going to stick with the 70-200 "bare" (no extenders) and the 5D (full frame). The long end of my former setup (1.6 x 200 x 2 = 640mm equivalent) gives great "reach" but I missed at least as many shots as I got, due to the limited field of view. The short end is just too long (1.6 x 70 x 2 = 224). Kris's short end is 50 x 1.6 = 80mm. Much better! "It's all about the glass".
And no, they don't let you shoot flash.
One additional piece of advice I'd offer (in addition to the MANY tidbits in this video) is that they put that rapid-fire high-speed continuous capability on DSLRs for a reason... USE IT! At an average game I take 300 to 500 images and post 30, of which 5 are "pretty good" to my taste. Stop chimping and pay attention. This game is fast!
Thanks for posting, very nice shots.
Kris, great job. I too have been working on my skills for indoor youth basketball and agree completely with your approach. I especially liked the camera/lens/budget portion. I use a Canon 60D and a Sigma F2.8 70-150 and I do pretty well but I am still wanting better shots ( ruclips.net/video/KtKLqQOEZ54/видео.html ). I think I am to the point where a need a camera body with higher ISO performance to take it to the next level. Although, based on your results, I should dig out my Canon F1.4/50 and give it another try. The depth of field was so shallow with the F1.4 I just struggled to get the shot in focus. Perhaps a 7D is the way to for both ISO, focus speed, and shots per second while yet being able to keep all my lenses. Your video length is completely appropriate given the complexity of the subject. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comments. I don't think you will get much ISO improvement moving from a 60D to the 7D--maybe but I suggest investing in a Canon EFS 15-55 2.8. Its expensive but probably the best indoor lens (and probably better than my 50 1.4). It's sharp at 2.8 and focuses very fast. You are right about DOF--with any lens a few feet is just not enough for a fast action shots.
Kris Kasprzak Kris, hate to be a potentially slow learner. However, can you confirm EFS *15*-55 F2.8 or do you mean an EFS 17-55 F2.8 USM? Thanks.
I meant to say 17-55 f2.8
Kris, Just curious. Those black areas in the images why is that? I thought you were just blocking out people....but you other people in the images so why are those areas black. Thank.
no junk I basically created a powerpoint presentation where some of the images had a graphic with a gradient placed over them--i did this so i could add some text. I basically recorded my presentation of the PPT.
just realized how crappy my telephoto zoom lens is...
all gyms have horrible lighting
pour example about sharp image vs blur why even waste the time to shoot a game if all you get is blur images the gold standard is tack sharp images not junk and blur shots
Totally agree and I even stated that in the video--try watching it with the sound on. We would all love to hear your tips on how to get "tack sharp" images while shooting indoor sports, otherwise this comment is basically useless.
you have to use a fast lens and fast shutter speed often much faster then 250 pros often use 640 + shutter speed indoors you want to stop the action each person has to practice and see just what there equipment can do not all equipment camera bodies are the same often that is the difference in camera bodies 1000 dollar vs 6000 dollar bodies the quality of iso that a camera can produce is also very important not all camera bodies are equal you often get what you pay for in camera bodies just like a fast lens cost much more dollars
another tip is to exposer comp it often can help you get a faster shutter speed its often said that film camera shutter speeds were faster then digital shutter speeds but the camera makers do not often want to talk about that
but the end result is you want a tack sharp image in shooting sports its not easy if you don't have the right equipment
it gets back to what you said about light each location is different pro nba has better light then high school on the floor of the game
AV Mode??? No no no!! Here's how should set your camera. Go to Manual mode and set the aperture and shutter speed that leave ISO on "auto". Now you are dictating shutter speed that guarentees that you can stop the action and you have the lens wide open.For indoor photography you need a camera that can handle high ISO. You say ISO 5000 is too noisey which means your camera is not up to snuff.
Your shutters speeds seems slow, for indoor dark spaces, but they look good.