HS Basketball (7 shots)

[davidmigl]

Recently started shooting this sport and have about 3 games under my belt. The gym was incredibly dark, maybe about 2-3 stops darker than usual. It was a junior high gym, so I guess that could be the reason. Anyways, all these are 1/400 f/2.2 ISO 1600 and pushed about a stop or more each. Most with 85mm f/1.8. These are pretty much the best I know how to make them; any criticism appreciated.

You can view the entire gallery here: http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/gallery/2390882

First some everyday tusseling, rather mundane, but these kind of shots are easy to come by:
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660277-L.jpg

I think this one is more interesting with the crowd behind:
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660271-L

Ah, yes: faces make photos.
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660295-L.jpg

Now for some more interesting stuff:
Getting fouled; not as sharp as I would have liked it, but meh...
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660288-L.jpg

Some rather intense passing action:
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125664259-L.jpg

Now a question: these next two shots are back to back, but in the second, the camera randomly decided to focus on the crowd. That's very disappointing, as the second shot would have been better than the first. I had several images like this. Switching from the 50mm 1.8 to the 85mm 1.8 helped, but did not completely eliminate the problem. What can I do about this?
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660267-L.jpg

http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660290-L.jpg

Meh, I'll end with a layup shot:
http://davidmigl.smugmug.com/photos/125660365-L.jpg


I tried shooting the first of the game with the 50mm 1.8, but I got waaaay too many OOF shots (about 50%). So, I switched to the 85mm 1.8, which gave me about 75-80% in focus. I really Really REALLY liked the wide angle of the 50mm, though - I could get entire body shots that showed much more of the player than the 85mm 1.8. I could only get back about three feet from the back of the court; there was very little space between the court and the wall.

Do you think the 50mm 1.4 would satisfy my needs for a fast autofocus? The 1.4 would be ++++++, as these JH gyms are terribly dark.....


Thanks so much for taking the time to view these! All comments appreciated.

David Migl

[basroil]

why uase f2.2? the sharpness increase after f1.8->f2.0 isn't much, so just stick it to f2.0, iso 1600, 1/500th. if you need more light, drop it to 1/320. if 85 mm is too long, you're standing too close to the hoop...