HS BBall with 5D MK II

I had the opportunity to try some bball with my new mark II, quite a switch from using a 1dmkIIn!!! I was surprised at how quick focus was and at high ISO it is quite nice. All of these are at ISO 4000 shot with a 70-200@f2.8, 1/400th which was still under exposed and needed a push in post.

C&C welcome.
1)

Look really nice for iso 4000! You caught some great action in the third shot. All three are nice.

Yep. Good action. Ball in right place. Good stop action. Look forward to more shots from your games. Keep 'em coming.

One thought to share with you. I began the season (total rookie/noob) shooting with the 70/200 2.8 as well. Now shooting with the 85mm 1.8. It's amazing the better shots I'm seeing shooting at f/2.0 and 1.8 on rare occasions. Depending on the HS gym, ISO 1600 sometimes available but usually H-mode on my 30D. The lens is seeing enough light to shoot at 1/500 all the time and 1/640 sometimes.

The most noticeable improvement moving to the 85mm is that the kids faces are well lit where with the 70/200 they were dark like I see in your pics. Plus, when I get the exposure and focus right, the good ones are 'wow' shots--even for ambient light only.

The trade-off for me using the 85mm exclusively is cropping the action near the 3-point line a good bit and for in the paint area action, I can only shoot from the knees up. The extra stop of light on the 85mm has been worth the switch for me.

dave

look at the two back feet in # 1,2 its the same positioning. ITs just a little funny.

Nice shots btw

ISO 4000 looks solid, nice job.

Can you post a 100% crop of one of those shots?

snyderman wrote in post #7286757
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One thought to share with you. I began the season (total rookie/noob) shooting with the 70/200 2.8 as well. Now shooting with the 85mm 1.8. It's amazing the better shots I'm seeing shooting at f/2.0 and 1.8 on rare occasions.

dave

Thanks Dave for the comments, I usually use the 85 f1.8 or even the 135 f2 depending on how much room I have on the baseline, I was shooting with a friend and let him use my 85 on his 1dmarkII to show him exactly what you are talking about. I put his 70-200 f2.8(did not even put mine in the bag that night) on the 5D just to see what I would get at 2.8. I was very pleased needless to say!!

Sauk wrote in post #7290035
ISO 4000 looks solid, nice job.

Can you post a 100% crop of one of those shots?

I will try tonight, these three if I am not mistaken are cropped but not that much.

Thanks everyone else for the comments,
Pete

very nice at 4000! sure adds a lot when you can shoot ambient in tough lighting situations. well done.

Please tell me that you PP'd the snot out of these...

I love the separation from the background in these. They look almost 3D. Very nice.

DDCSD wrote in post #7291327
Please tell me that you PP'd the snot out of these...

I love the separation from the background in these. They look almost 3D. Very nice.

Very little PP, just a touch of contrast, push up the exposure as they were under exposed by a half stop at least. Sharpened after resizing.

Oh, and your white balance appears spot-on on my monitor and the colors really POP like on #3. WOW!

dave

They are really good, especially from a camera thats not specifically for sports