Comments please. 2nd try at b-ball

So this was my second try at this. I know these could be better, but for the most part I am very happy with these results. I think what would help the most is a 50mm 1.4 or an 85mm 1.8. These were all taken with my 50mm 1.8 because it the fastest lens I have. But jesus is it slow and soft. Only a few of the pics came out super sharp. I had the camera on AI servo.

These are the settings for most. Shot in RAW and PP in CS3 pro
350D, f2.5, 1/200, iso 400, sigma 500 flash bounced off of the ceiling w/ a bounce card sticking up about an inch.

COMMENTS VERY WELCOME
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I didnt realize it would limit me to 7 pics per post. So heres the rest.


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IMAGE POSTING RULES only allow 8 embedded pics by the OP per thread/

They look pretty good but still have some motion blur. You might increase the speed if possible to 350-400. Also if you are using the flash you might as well drop the iso to 100. I've found I can shoot w/o the flash at 1600 iso and 350ish speed and they turn out pretty good but every gym is different.

got some good shots

trj911 wrote in post #5042563
They look pretty good but still have some motion blur. You might increase the speed if possible to 350-400. Also if you are using the flash you might as well drop the iso to 100. I've found I can shoot w/o the flash at 1600 iso and 350ish speed and they turn out pretty good but every gym is different.

no offense Tom but shooting flash will limit him to max sync of 1/200s on that camera. going to anything more bumps you to high speed sync which is not advisable for sports (to avoid a thread tangent, there's a ton posted on these forums as to why it's bad). ISO100 will definitely help on ghosting issues but will probably not be very pleasing as underexposure will likely outweigh ghosting. I think what you see as motion blur is actually ghosting.

I actually think these are very nicely done considering a single bounced flash. I would not have guessed you could get these results with one bounced flash so kudos. I'd love to know flash settings in terms of power and zoom used.

The 85 will help for sure as it is faster than the 50. But the 50 1.8 is still pretty darn good for the price. My suggestion, get under the basket to get more head-on shots. (If they will let you) Other than that, very nice colors and good action.

namasste wrote in post #5045406
no offense Tom but shooting flash will limit him to max sync of 1/200s on that camera. going to anything more bumps you to high speed sync which is not advisable for sports (to avoid a thread tangent, there's a ton posted on these forums as to why it's bad). ISO100 will definitely help on ghosting issues but will probably not be very pleasing as underexposure will likely outweigh ghosting. I think what you see as motion blur is actually ghosting.

I actually think these are very nicely done considering a single bounced flash. I would not have guessed you could get these results with one bounced flash so kudos. I'd love to know flash settings in terms of power and zoom used.

I used the Sigma 500 on full power. Thanks for the compliments everyone. If I could get a little more power out of the flash then maybe I could freeze the action a little more though. This flash autozoom's so I'm not sure what it was.

Joe Cyr wrote in post #5045504
The 85 will help for sure as it is faster than the 50. But the 50 1.8 is still pretty darn good for the price. My suggestion, get under the basket to get more head-on shots. (If they will let you) Other than that, very nice colors and good action.

Ya I would like to get underneth more but the wall is so close to the basket it would be too tight to get any good shots. They are playing in another gym pretty soon and that one has more room. I'll probably try this then . Thanks for the tips/compliments!

texasreddirt wrote in post #5045592
I used the Sigma 500 on full power. Thanks for the compliments everyone. If I could get a little more power out of the flash then maybe I could freeze the action a little more though. This flash autozoom's so I'm not sure what it was.

I have a 530 Super so basically the same flash with a different GN. If you take it out of TTL mode into M you can set the zoom to what ever you like. Come to think of it, you can do that in TTL as well by just hitting the zoom (it will show an M for manual). I think 70mm bounced at full might give you a little more power but unfortunately, images will usually be soft bouncing a single light that way (hence my surprise at how nice some of these turned out, great work).

A better body would help with the focusing as well, for future reference. Grab a used 1D (they are very reasonable now). You will be astounded how fast it focuses even with the 50 1.8. Keep shooting, good work.

namasste wrote in post #5045658
I have a 530 Super so basically the same flash with a different GN. If you take it out of TTL mode into M you can set the zoom to what ever you like. Come to think of it, you can do that in TTL as well by just hitting the zoom (it will show an M for manual). I think 70mm bounced at full might give you a little more power but unfortunately, images will usually be soft bouncing a single light that way (hence my surprise at how nice some of these turned out, great work).

Not this one. The only changes you can make is between TTL, high, and low. I wish I could though.

Joe Cyr wrote in post #5045665
A better body would help with the focusing as well, for future reference. Grab a used 1D (they are very reasonable now). You will be astounded how fast it focuses even with the 50 1.8. Keep shooting, good work.

That will probably be on my list sometime over the next year. I'm still trying to figure out which body I will get though. I think I'm going to try to get some strobes and better glass first though. Thanks!

texasreddirt wrote in post #5045688
Not this one. The only changes you can make is between TTL, high, and low. I wish I could though.

my bad, you have an ST then, yes? If you're spending any cash, another flash, some triggers, and the 85 1.8 should set you up for about $750 total. That's assuming you use Skyports, not Pocketwizards. Get that flash off camera strobist style and I bet you'll be thrilled.

namasste wrote in post #5046205
my bad, you have an ST then, yes? If you're spending any cash, another flash, some triggers, and the 85 1.8 should set you up for about $750 total. That's assuming you use Skyports, not Pocketwizards. Get that flash off camera strobist style and I bet you'll be thrilled.

Ya the 85mm is definitely coming soon. But I think I'm going to look into an AB800. I'd like to start using it for portraits also.