Intramural College Basketball

Hey guys, shot some more intramural basketball 2 weeks ago. Finally getting time to upload stuff for a little bit of constructive criticism. I missed focus on a couple of these.

*Strobist info*, 2 sb-26s on ten foot stands aimed at top of the key fired with ctr-103s. I don't remember flash settings off the top of my head.

Pretty sure I need to calibrate my monitor. There is no post done on these other than cropping.

Keith:

All 4 images are OOF and soft. #1 the focus is on player at back and not on ball carrier. Other 3 are all blurry. What shutter speed were you getting (sorry I don't have a good EXIF viewer for Chrome yet). May need to tweak your shutter / flash synch settings a bit.

1/200 fastest sync for my camera. Also, I still consider myself a complete noob, so any criticisms/help is more than welcome.

I'm no pro, but I've had enough experience trying to use the nifty fifty for basketball to know it doesn't do well with tracking focus. Microdrive motor is way too slow.

I have hundreds of shots similar to these (although, using ambient light) and finally had to pick up an 85mm f/1.8. Difference between the two lenses for basketball is night and day.

I think your timing and framing are great, but IMHO the 50mm will let you down almost every time for basketball, especially the faster the action gets.

rhuel wrote in post #9949679
I'm no pro, but I've had enough experience trying to use the nifty fifty for basketball to know it doesn't do well with tracking focus. Microdrive motor is way too slow.

I have hundreds of shots similar to these (although, using ambient light) and finally had to pick up an 85mm f/1.8. Difference between the two lenses for basketball is night and day.

I think your timing and framing are great, but IMHO the 50mm will let you down almost every time for basketball, especially the faster the action gets.

Thanks, I'll start looking into it! being a poor college student with expensive hobbies ain't easy lol

It also appears that 'panning' the camera to get the shots, (great action shots, btw!) might have contributed to some of the softness of the shots. #1 and 2 clearly show focus behind the action.

If this is your first time shooting basketball, it's not as easy at it seems, is it?!!! Keep 'em coming ... it gets better.

dave

I've shot a handful of games, but this is only my 3rd game using strobes. so I'm very much a noob when it comes to strobes, I'm learning though. Also looks like my next purchase won't be external battery packs for my strobes, but an 85mm f/1.8. I also was moving with the action to get the shots i desired. So that would give it the effect that I was panning. Thank you all for the comments and help.

-Keith