96mm at Basketball Game?

[mrgooch]

Can I get away using a 96mm prime at a basketball shoot? This is a 60mm with a 1.6 crop on my camera.These games would be mostly from the stands at small gyms.

[snyderman]

Sure. I went from using a 70/200 to my 85mm f/1.8 exclusively. It's still TOO LONG a lot of times. The optimum reach of the 85 is right around the foul line (note: from about 2' behind the baseline and 2' inside the sideline) so you should be pretty good for the really inside/around the basket with a 60mm.

Take some shots with the 60mm and post them. I'm thinking of going to Canon's 24-70 and zooming to 70mm to see if I can get better inside game shots.

dave

[mrgooch]

I won't see any games until next season [ fall ].

[nateut]

Sure. I went from using a 70/200 to my 85mm f/1.8 exclusively. It's still TOO LONG a lot of times. The optimum reach of the 85 is right around the foul line (note: from about 2' behind the baseline and 2' inside the sideline) so you should be pretty good for the really inside/around the basket with a 60mm.

Take some shots with the 60mm and post them. I'm thinking of going to Canon's 24-70 and zooming to 70mm to see if I can get better inside game shots.

dave
I'm renting a 24-70 from lensrentals.com for use when covering the MAC Championships in mid-March for this very reason. I think it and my 70-200 2.8 will make a nice two-lens kit for basketball... if it works out well it'll probably make my list to buy before next season.

[snyderman]

mr gooch: my apologies. You said from the stands. Now, my answer would be 'probably not.' that's going to get a LOT of the court, BG and other things in your pictures. If you are serious about shooting at the games, try to get on the floor and to a spot like I mentioned in my previous post. Your lens from the baseline/sideline might be pretty good.

dave

[snyderman]

I'm renting a 24-70 from lensrentals.com for use when covering the MAC Championships in mid-March for this very reason. I think it and my 70-200 2.8 will make a nice two-lens kit for basketball... if it works out well it'll probably make my list to buy before next season.

Definitely let me know how the 24/70 works for the game. I've been kicking around buying the 24/70 and selling my 17/50 as it doesn't see much more than the inside of my bag.

The 70/200 is nice, but I don't do a lot of shooting on the other side of the court. And since it's usually at 70-100, the weight and clumsiness of the longer lens makes the 85mm all the more enjoyable to use!

dave

[SPORTshot]

You will have a tough time reaching from the stands, but it may not be too bad if you are in the first couple of rows. If at all possible get down to the floor.

[mrgooch]

This would be my grandsons youth league.The stands are always very small and close to the court. Would using an on camera flash [ 580ex ] be taboo?

[SPORTshot]

This would be my grandsons youth league.The stands are always very small and close to the court. Would using an on camera flash [ 580ex ] be taboo?


My son plays in a youth league where they divide a regulation court in half, so they can play two games at once. If this is the kind of setup your talking about then you should be fine. I found that my 85mm wasn't flexible enough on these really small courts. You should be able to get some nice images at 96mm, the only concern that I have is the autofocus on that lens and will it be able to keep up ? I used my 28-135 kit lens my first time out and most of my pictures came out misfocused.

I think if you bounce the flash off the ceiling or a wall behind you, you should be fine. If your bouncing it out in front of you......you might upset/blind some of the adults. Just make sure the league doesn't have any rule forbidding flash.

[MT Stringer]

I used a 70-200 f/2.8 on a 1D, standing behind the basket. No flash, just high ISO, I think someone will complain if you use on camera flash. Bouncing it off the ceiling or nearby wall might work OK.
Mike