HS Basketball

I was wanting to shoot a HS basketball game on Fort Knox. I have a 70-300 lens. I know the f stop is 2.8. Will the pictures not turn out as well with a lens higher then 2.8f? And I dont want to shoot with a strobe or flash. Any suggestions?

Is your lens a 70-200 or a 70-300? There are no 70-300 f/2.8 lenses, only 70-200.


With that said, f/2.8 isn't fast enough for many HS gyms. Its hard to know what the lighting will be in your particular gym. I guess all you can do is try!

The 70-300 wasn't designed for sports it was designed for taking pictures of your family vacation and still objects.
You may get lucky and get a couple of good pics if the action isn't fast.
The advice you get depends on what you want to do with the photos.

jbradfordphoto wrote in post #9200222
I was wanting to shoot a HS basketball game on Fort Knox. I have a 70-300 lens. I know the f stop is 2.8. Will the pictures not turn out as well with a lens higher then 2.8f? And I dont want to shoot with a strobe or flash. Any suggestions?

Basketball with a 70-300mm IS lens, available light and no flash.

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DC Fan wrote in post #9210773
The 70-300mm IS USM lens is good, versatile equipment that can handle a large number of tasks, indoors and outdoors, including basketball.

Sorry DC, but just don't find those as keepers and having owned this lens and comparing it to the several others it just does not do well side by side. I have mine upstairs collecting dust at the moment after the comparisons of results.

70-200 2.8 in some gyms does well depending on the body and ISO ability though usually there's good reason so many shoot with strobes. It depends what you want to do with the pics, time and ability to set up external lights, but I'd stay away from direct flash as much as possible.

However, nobody can sit here and say it's going to work or not unless in that particular gym with the same equipment, it's impossible. Derek has the best response already, just go try and see what can be done with what you have.

5.6 is a tiny aperture for indoor basketball. I can hardly get usable, non-flash shots at 2.8. I would pick up a used fast prime and see what results you get. If you don't like it, sell it for what you paid here on the forum. Cheaper than renting because if you get a good price, you'll probably get what you paid for it. That is, if you decide to sell it!

Well I went. I had to shoot and black and white at 1600 ISO before the pics wouldnt be blurry. Not happy. Need to get a better lens. I know.

No worries man. I got that lens in an ebay package with my XTi before I knew how to shoot anything but full auto. Save a little cash and buy something cheap and fast. 85 f1.8 or 50 f1.8 or f1.4 would be decent options.