Anyone here use the 50mm f1.4 for basketball?

Thanks guys for the info.
wilzdezign, let me know what you think and post some images once you shoot with the 50 f1.4. I almost bought one today and then backed out. I had just heard about the 50 f1.8 MK I version. But after some research, it seems like just a more solidly built MK II version with the same crappy focus motor. I think you're right about the 85 f1.8 being just too tight under the net on a crop body. That's why I'm so interested in the 50 f1.4. Hmmmmmmm...

I shoot a lot of HS basketball in dim gyms. I like to get close to the baseline when I can and mostly use the 85 and the 135. Sometimes I'll use a 50 when I can get right behind the basket. At first I used the f1.8 Mk II but didn't like the way it focused, too slow. I got the 1.4 and it would focus a little faster but became more inconsistent as the light got lower, and the shallower DoF at it's widest aperture didn't look good for basketball. I went back to using the 50 f1.8 and learned to live with it's shortcomings. I can't use it for bursts of a moving subject but at least it gives good sharpness without having to be stopped down.

Well I rented a 50mm f1.4 last Friday for that evenings basketball game. I shot at ISO 640 and 500, ss250 and f2.2, and two wireless trigger speedlites bounced off the back wall set to either 1/4 power and then later to 1/8 power. I still wasn't happy with the lack of keepers. I got more in-focus shots from me using the f1.8 MK II. But to be fair, I had a flash unit ontop of the camera then. So maybe the focus assist light was helping out some, but I'm not really sure. On Saturday the kids had picture day and I took my camera with me to that. After they got done with the team picture the kids started to mess around and played a bit of BB with the moms mixed into the team. Really funny to watch btw. So I took the camera out and put the flash on top with the 50mm f1.4 and got only marginally better shots than the previous night. WB was all goofy, but that's not what I was concerned about. So is it me? Can I not just not shoot this game with the gear I have? I've seen other people's results and they seem to be able to do it. Could it be that the copy of the 50 f1.4 I rented was messed up in some way? It is a popular lens to rent.
I did the rental to see if I would like this lens before going out and buying one. At $10 a day it was a cheap test, but the reason I did it was because I wanted to shoot BB. The lens is stunning with still life stuff. The DoF on it is totally killer, but I just want a few kids playing BB to be in focus. I'm a little frustrated.

I'll post some of the images from Friday and Sat. in a bit.

ChasWG wrote in post #9378783
But to be fair, I had a flash unit ontop of the camera then. So maybe the focus assist light was helping out some, but I'm not really sure.

If you were in AI Servo mode, the focus assist light wasn't helping you out at all.

jacuff wrote in post #9378886
If you were in AI Servo mode, the focus assist light wasn't helping you out at all.

Ah, good point. I was wondering about that. Hmmmm. OK, I suck! Or the lens sucks, but something is sucking here.

Any suggestions? I've been reading the Storbist blog and found some interesting bits of info. Maybe gelling the lights and going direct with them, but that doesn't help the lack of focus issue.

ChasWG wrote in post #9379018
Any suggestions?

Perhaps your issue has more to do with how you track the players in AI Servo mode than the lighting or the lens. I went through similar frustration with my 40D and the 85/1.8 or the 50/1.4. After shooting thousands of ambient bball, I narrowed down my issues to my technique in using AI Servo and 40D's tendency to quickly jump focus. AI Servo needs a bit of time to catch and you need to stay on a high contrast area of the players uniforms for the 40D to keep its focus (you should be using center focus point) and not jump. Practice tracking players and shoot in bursts of 2-3 frames if you want to try ambient.
The AF speed of the 50/1.4 is slower than the 85/1.8, but it is certainly useable. I think my 50/1.4 struggles only when the speed of the action is very rapid which usually is not the case with youth bball.
My 2

Interesting Sibil. I will try to working on my tracking skills. But here's a funny thing. A couple games earlier I was using the 50 f1.8 Mk II version and my keeper rate was much, much higher than this last game. That seems unlikely, but true. I am narrowing it down to the particular lens I rented. It seems like a back focusing issue. Unfortunatly I don't have the lens anymore to test this. But I will take what you have said to heart and try working on that. Your idea is a good one and it's the cheapest solution as well.

ChasWG wrote in post #9384822
A couple games earlier I was using the 50 f1.8 Mk II version and my keeper rate was much, much higher than this last game. That seems unlikely, but true. I am narrowing it down to the particular lens I rented.

That is very possible. I have rented pristine lenses and I have seen beat up junk that I've refused to rent. With a rental lens, you just don't know what you are getting. I have both versions of the 50mm, and in my experience, there is no comparison between how well the 1.4 focuses compared to the 1.8. If the rented 50mm was in a good condittion, there may have been differences in how you used the camera for the games. There could've been differences in camera settings, and so on.

A few more words on the 40D and focusing. In using the AI Servo, the camera's focusing is in predictive mode and that's why you are not getting a focus confirmation beep. If you shoot a moving object in AI Servo, in a series of burst, assuming your techniques is perfect, you might notice that some of the shots in the series are out of focus. That's the nature of AI Servo, and since the xxD bodies do not have options to tweak tracking sensitivity, it's up to the user to master how to get the best focus tracking out of their xxD bodies. I have read that the 40D focus tracking is especially sensitive and easily jumps to surroundings. Wait for players to be closer to you so that the 40D has easier time staying in focus.

Let us know how it goes for you.

Good luck.

Edit:
I looked at your photo gallery. In the bball images you have posted, both teams are wearing black shorts. If your 40D's center focus point was falling on the black shorts, the poor camera would be having a hell of a hard time finding anything of contrast to focus on. Just another thought to share.

With my 40D and 1DII bodies, in shooting sports both indoor and outdoor, if the center focus point was on any part of the player that was of solid color, both had a hard time with focusing.

from the baseline with the 50mm 1.4. To give you a better idea, the player shooting the ball was 12-15' from the lens. I believe it's also not cropped at all.

Sibil, so where are you placing the center focusing reticle? With a longer lens it's easier because the image (person) is larger in the frame and easier to track. That's the way I see it when I get to use my 70-200 f4L. I just can't see being able to use that lens indoors without a whole lot more light.

I place the center focus point on a high contrast portion of the player's uniform, which is often not the shorts if they are solid color. You can move the single focus point to another point to help framing but you lose the extra sensitivity that the center point has compared to the rest, in 40D, when using a 2.8 or faster lens. The way I described requires cropping and I can't use the full frame as shot. The disadvantage to me is that excessive cropping a high ISO image doesn't always yield the best final result in post processing. It really comes down to trade-offs.

As far as the players being too small in the frame, you ought to wait until they are closer. I haven't had much luck with focusing on players, in the distance with low light, when they are moving. I wait until the player is filling a good chunk of the frame before getting focus. Sometimes, the movement towards the camera is quick enough that you have a very brief period between getting focus and pressing the shutter. To me, it all comes with practicing, timing, and all that.

Thanks Sibil! That helps. I'll work on it again this Friday night.

I used a 50 1.4 with a 40D for low light basketball and found it very poor focusing .. probably gave me half the keepers I got from my 85 1.8 or 135 2.0. I bought it used so it could have been that copy. But the 50mm focal length was a good fit with the 1.6 crop and smaller gyms where you have no room at all behind the baseline.

I'm mostly in smaller poorly lit gyms so have a 1DMK2 on the way which should help with the focus.

mmahoney wrote in post #9386736
I'm mostly in smaller poorly lit gyms so have a 1DMK2 on the way which should help with the focus.

I went the same route. I find the 1DII (1.3 crop) a good match with the 85/1.8. That combo is now my standard for shooting youth basketball in those horrible gyms.