Action Shots...

[mom2rtk]

I'm not sure of the details of what happened. I was only in the audience.

This woman photographer was going around the stands taking pictures of people and taking pictures of the Globetrotters. I don't know if she's a local photographer or if she's with the Globetrotters themselves.

But, yeah, she got SPLASHED with water. Goes to show...not only do you need FAST glass, you also need FASTER reflexes.

I guess we can all hope she was a plant from the Globetrotters with an old camera.........

 

[zackiedawg]

Any DSLR, with the right lens and right photographer, will be able to shoot action with little trouble. No worries there.

The keys would be a more sensitive lens of course, something F2.8 or better would be best, higher ISO as needed, to enure shutter speeds of 1/250 or better. A fast continuous shooting mode might be useful too, though you can get by without those if you have good timing. It requires a wee bit of skill and practice, but the DSLRs will give you the latitude to learn.

Shooting slightly wider, and cropping in does help with action - both in allowing you to ensure you get the subjects fully in the frame, and to allow you to nicely compose the shots by cropping for best effect. You don't want to crop a lot, or you lose resolution for printing, but most DSLRs have enough room to trim 20-30% of the original, and still print large.

Don't overlook any brand - feel, handling, and features play a part of your decision - you should be comfortable shooting with and holding the camera. Sony has larger, stable cameras with built in stabilization in the body, and their newest bunch have some of the better high ISO performance available. Pentax make small and light DSLRs with solid ergonomics and also have in-body stabilization. Olympus makes both small DSLRs as well as a new class of cameras that use the same sensors, but drop the mirror systems, so they perform as well as their DSLRs in low light, speed, and image quality, but are half the size of DSLRs - a tue hybrid between P&S and DSLR. So while Canon and Nikon are both excellent, there's a lot of feature content and creativity going on with the other three major brands too...and they're all worth a look and feel.

 

[MICKEY88]

here is a full court shot, from the baseline...80mm

here is a shot from the baseline to the top of the key..70mm

from the side of the court to the basket, at 75 mm

from the sideline shooting 2/3-3/4 of the way across football field at 200mm

 

[My2Girls66]

Does the D5000 have a focus motor? If not, the $130 50mm 1.8 won't focus on it.

 

[NLD]

Nope, no focus motor in the D5000.

In Nikon world you need a D90 or better for the in-body focus motor.

The 35mm 1.8 lens would auto-focus, but that might be too wide.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I'm not sure of the details of what happened. I was only in the audience.

This woman photographer was going around the stands taking pictures of people and taking pictures of the Globetrotters. I don't know if she's a local photographer or if she's with the Globetrotters themselves.

But, yeah, she got SPLASHED with water. Goes to show...not only do you need FAST glass, you also need FASTER reflexes.

I think that perhaps the splashing with water may pertain to something that I haven't seen mentioned here yet and that is the simple fact that use of flash is distracting to the players and is often frowned upon or downright banned in gyms and other performance venues. In which case, the OP should get the fastest glass she can afford and a dslr that is capable of high ISO. The D5000 has the same sensor as the D90, so that would be a good choice for affordable high ISO. I have the 50mm 1.8 and if I had to do it again, I would get the 50mm1.4 The extra light is so worth it and it's only a couple of hundred more. I also have the 85mm 1.8 and that works well too, but I'm sure the 1.4 is a heck of a lot better and for the price it better be! With the D90, I've been able to get decent usable shots with the 70-300VR lens and that is not a fast lens at all. The high ISO helps a lot!

ETA: Just read he post above, and dang forgot that the D5000 won't af with older lenses. OP, just get the D90. LOL. Or Sigma has some 50mm lens with HSM that works with the D5000 and IIRC, Nikon does too. But those lenses are not going to be $100. I would get the D90 and the older 50mm lens. Costs a little more, but you won't have to worry about which lenses you can/cannot use.

ETA2: Here's the link for the newer 50mm 1.4 lens that will work with the D5000 if anyone is interested.
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-1-...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259544202&sr=8-5

 

[LoraJ]

I love the shots of the Globetrotters.

Did you see Big Easy's big blunder on Amazing Race last night?

If I ever get to a basketball game, I should try these tips out with DH's Canon D7. If he will ever let me touch it.