Basketball focus technique

Hello,

Local high school upgraded to LED lights in their gym. I've only done a handful of games over the years only because I'll get the itch, spend hours dealing with poor white balance & uneven light, then get discouraged. Now I'm looking forward to taking more basketball photos.

I've done 1 junior high & 2 high school games (JV & V in same night) and I'm curious as to others' focus technique.

Question 1 - Do you aim for the torso or the face? Torso is a bigger target so you're less likely to lose it, but shallow DoF means the face is more likely to be OoF.
Question 2 - Do you use focus points more towards the center of the viewfinder so that when they jump for a jump shot, lay-up, etc. you don't cut off limbs or do you shoot on the wider end and crop for effect later?

I'm using 5D3+70-200 f/2.8L IS (Mk I).

I've also been researching focus drive modes and will plan to experiment with some of the comments I've read on other threads.

Thanks in advance!

I shoot tight to minimize the amount of cropping, center focus point for the reason you state, and usually aim for the chest, though I go for the face when the action is slow.

Yeah that mirrors what I've done and since u use BBF with 1 focus point assigned to the2 BBF buttons, I can easily swap between chest or face.

- Back Button focusing
- I use the same lens (vs II though), but don't shoot at f2.8, I use f3.2 or 3.5 for a few reasons
- I use off-center AF and try to keep focus on the shoulders at least
- I still OFTEN chop limbs and it annoys the crap out of me, I keep trying to shoot wide, but invariably end up zoomed in. It is something I continue to work on, in addition to holding the camera level in portrait mode, another annoying habit I have with tilted views.
- I shoot high ISO, and with the 5D3, you should be able to go to ISO 12800 for sports
- I set AF so that it doesn't refocus very quickly when things get in the way, this way focus stays on the player I placed it on, for a time anyways. This means I don't use a canned AF case, I make up my own, and set the 3 sliders accordingly.
- I use single AF point, no zones.

Thanks. I also try to stop down slightly just because I feel like my lens isn't sharp enough wide open.

I'm able to get 1/1600 @f/3.2 and iso 12800 in the high school gym with the new LED lights.

I have the same bad habits of not keeping the camera level ( even though I have a grip) and not zooming out fast enough as a play unfolds.

MizzouMan_2000 wrote in post #18511211
I'm able to get 1/1600 @f/3.2 and iso 12800 in the high school gym with the new LED lights.

You don't need 1/1600-sec. I recommend trying 1/800-sec and ISO 6,400.

To get the best detail in pro ball, I shoot at 1/2000. That stops the glint in the eyes as they go for dunk, spit hangs in the air, etc. I started at 1/1000th years back and gradually moved faster. High school would be a bit slower for some things, but I would still stay at 1/1250 or higher personally. I would rather have some noise than motion on a really good opportunity.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18511564
To get the best detail in pro ball, I shoot at 1/2000. That stops the glint in the eyes as they go for dunk, spit hangs in the air, etc. I started at 1/1000th years back and gradually moved faster. High school would be a bit slower for some things, but I would still stay at 1/1250 or higher personally. I would rather have some noise than motion on a really good opportunity.

Exactly. And the 5D3 handles noise reduction very well in LR.

The lighting in the gyms when I shoot are typically poor. What's the best way to get high IQ to print when shooting ISO 12,800 on a 7d MII? My images are not as sharp as yours as in this sample.

on da move wrote in post #18516248
The lighting in the gyms when I shoot are typically poor. What's the best way to get high IQ to print when shooting ISO 12,800 on a 7d MII? My images are not as sharp as yours as in this sample.

I imagine proper use of noise reduction software is key. I've done noise reduction in LightRoom. Some use other programs or plug-ins for photoshop. Noise Ninja, I think was a popular one and NoiseWare was another.

Plus just the differences in how a 5D3 and a 7D2 handle noise from the start. I rented a 7D2 once, but didn't try it in this type of environment, so I can't speak to its noise characteristics.

Is it fair to say when shooting above ISO 10000, noise reduction software is need in most circumstances? Regardless, 5DM3 handles noise better than the 7DM2?

i use 70-200mm f/2.8. and usually shoot wide open. i use 1/800, iso 2500. i use lightroom and photoshop to adjust the exposure and noise reduction. i've shot underexposed by a couple of stops and fixed it in lightroom. i'm not sure how lightroom would do with iso 6400 and above. i can't have any noise in my pictures.

I tried shooting with a slower shutter speed, but didn't like the results. I'll stick with 1/1600. They clean up nicely in Lightroom.

on which body are you shooting? MDIII or 7DII?
Just curious as I still haven't bought my new body and can't seem to decide between the two, for basketball only with poor lighting

5D3.

I rented a 7D2 over 2 years ago, but that was in the summer.