Will a 40mm 2.8 prime work for indoor basketball?

I have a 6D and the 24-105 F4.

I want to shoot boys high school basketball tonight, indoors.

I'll give my sole lens a try, of course, but was wondering if a 40mm might work (I can borrow one).

I know very little about indoor basketball (in terms of photography), and don't have time to learn or buy equipment.

Any quick suggestions based on what I have (6D, 24-105, and 40mm)?

Probably a little wide. How close will you be to the court and how close of a shot do you want?

I'll be in the corner, mostly taking shots of players within the three point line who are shooting the ball or making a run on the hoop.

Give it a try and report back. You might find yourself cropping a lot in post but who cares really.

EOS-Mike wrote in post #17442329
I have a 6D and the 24-105 F4.

I want to shoot boys high school basketball tonight, indoors.

I'll give my sole lens a try, of course, but was wondering if a 40mm might work (I can borrow one).

I know very little about indoor basketball (in terms of photography), and don't have time to learn or buy equipment.

Any quick suggestions based on what I have (6D, 24-105, and 40mm)?

The basic lens for indoor basketball has long been a 70-200mm f/2.8 unit. This kind of lens allows good coverage and framing of most action on a basketball court from end line to end line. Find a televised major college or professional basketball game, look carefully at the photographers sitting on the floor behind the end line and you'll see the familiar shape of a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens in actual use. This has been the case for deadline photographers dating back to the 35mm film era.

A 40mm lens will let you get images, but you'll be limited to covering play a short distance in front of you.

From the corner, 40mm is too short. If you sit under the basket a little off to one side, 40mm is about right for layups. It's still too short for guard play out by the three point line.

Most folks use 70-200 lenses because they can cover everything from layups (70mm on a FF camera is OK) to guard play and long jump shots at 200mm.

Your lens is fine. Push the ISO to get 1/640 or better SS using center point only AF assist points on.

Your close enough to need what you have, actually. The only reason to go fixed length is aperture, and the wider that gets the harder it is to get shots consistently in focus. F4 is good enough. F2.8 will give as lightly better look.

Just FYI your after facial expressions with the ball in play. Try for it. You'll be pleased. So shoot tight.

My 50mm on a crop was just about right for under the basket. 40mm on a FF may be a bit wide like others have said. Ditto on the 70-200. Hope you get some great shots!

I hope this makes sense. Our high school gym has great lighting between the foul lines where there is complete coverage from the court lighting. That lighting stops directly over the end lines, resulting in less light for shots from the foul line to the basket.

My settings
Under the basket: ISO 6400 f/2.8 and SS 1/640 sec.
Mid-court: ISO 6400 f/2.8 and SS 1/1000 sec.

I could use ISO 6400 f/4 and SS 1/500 sec. under the basket if the light fixtures went a few feet past the end line. SS 1/500 sec. is the minimum to get most shots without motion blur. There is a 100% chance of motion blur with SS 1/400 sec.

Take your 24-105 in the chance there is enough light to use f/4 and be able to use at least 1/500 sec. shutter speed.

Some gyms are too dark for a lens at f/2.8 and have a shutter speed fast enough to stop any kind of action.

There is always the chance to try your 6D at a really high ISO.

I typically shoot 85/1.8 from the corners, bottom-to-middle rows of stands. The IQ is good enough to crop 4-5X with no significant loss. Also, the auto-focus (centerpoint)is fantastically fast - you can just swing with the action and click away. I have a 40.2.8 and yes, it will work under the basket - nice for capturing warmup layup shots... but you can't crop longer shots and keep IQ. I also had a 50/1.8 - but it's auto-focus was much too slow for action shots.

If you're stuck far away from the court, try a 200/2.8 L - that has good IQ.

Shoot Tv, 1/500, ISO 3200 or higher if needed - take some early shots to judge the lighting.

Thanks, everyone. Great advice.

Great info, was actually going to pick this lens up for shits and giggles to go with my new 1D4

I've often used a 35mm lens for basketball, getting good results sitting in corner, sitting behind basket and sitting along the long end of court facing one of the benches. I start by orienting camera horizontally with my left hand on top, ready to switch to vertical if situation changes. For example, if you're set up on long side of court facing a bench you'll get great wide horizontal shots of action in the paint. This is neat because you'll usually get almost all ten players in the frame. But if a player tries a jump shot just in front of you, switch quickly to vertical to get a great shot behind a player shooting. You'll find that photos in which a player's face can't be seen on such a jump shot are just as good as photos in which players face can be seen. I've sold many of them.

bubbygator wrote in post #17443127
I typically shoot 85/1.8 from the corners, bottom-to-middle rows of stands. The IQ is good enough to crop 4-5X with no significant loss. Also, the auto-focus (centerpoint)is fantastically fast - you can just swing with the action and click away. I have a 40.2.8 and yes, it will work under the basket - nice for capturing warmup layup shots... but you can't crop longer shots and keep IQ. I also had a 50/1.8 - but it's auto-focus was much too slow for action shots.

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if I shot basketball I would get the (relatively) inexpensive 85 1.8

Amateur with a crop here, and for highschool and younger I'm usually at 1/250 and max'd out on the ISO and aperture. Any faster on the shutter and the images get dark with either my 18-135 or 55-250. I do well enough for family use but would need a faster lens if someone was paying me. Most shots with the 55-250 seem to be in the 55-200mm range on my crop 60D. I rarely need the short/wide third of the 18-135 until I get to the family hugs when the game is over, or when I sneak in some candids sideways in the bleachers.

Just my 2cents worth from a cropped amateur's point of view. If you're going to use a 40mm on a full frame then I think you'll be swapping lenses a few times during the game. Two of the three local Press photographer's who show up at the games have two camera bodies. None of them are constantly shooting, and only one usually stays to the end of the game. A 4th pro who shows up sometimes always comes late and leaves early and if he takes more than 50 shots then I'd be surprised. I think the guy who always stays the whole games is also writing the small newspaper stories as well.

Hope my perspective helps at least a little.