Help! Blurry basketball photos.

[skiingwife]

I have a digital Canon Rebel Xti. All of the pictures I take of my son's high school basketball games are turning out blurry. I have it on automatic focus with the dial turned to the sports setting. I'm holding the camera still, I think. What could I be doing wrong? Please help, only 2 more games left and I'd really like to get some good pictures.

Thanks

 

[LaurieG]

Canon Rebel Xti!! Wow!!! You are in a toatally differnt class then I am with my little Canon A620, I have been getting blurry and dark basketball photo's as well.
I also was in Auto, the sports mode on my camera seemed to make them blur more so I swithced to P Mode, ISO 400 1/30 and F4.1. I had tried goofing with the AV mode at another game and for the life of me as I sat in the gym could not remember what the setting was supposed to be, so that's how I ended up in P mode.
I have 2 games left as welll (she's a senior!) and was also trying to get a least 1 picture that was not simply a steak of black and orange (her school colors)
I have been trying to refrain from going out and buying the Canon S5 until I master a few more of the settings and have a better idea of what I am doing other then point and shoot, but I saw some pictures that someone posted here of a hockey game and I gotta tell ya, with 2 games to go it just might be the excuse I am looking for!! I might have to stop at the store on my way to the game tonight
Sorry, I don't have an answer, but you are not alone. I did see a post earlier this week where someone else was asking about settings for indoor basketball games

 

[Jalva22]

Your shutter speed is probably too slow. You need to have a shutter of AT LEAST 400 to freeze the action. If you can get 500 or 640, even better. I shoot with a 40D and can sympathize that indoor basketball in poor light is very difficult. My recommendation would be:

-Set your ISO on 1600 if available to get your shutter speed up to levels that will freeze the action.
-If the xti has a Servo mode for autofocus, use it. And use center point focus. This allows you to half-press the shutter and lock focus on a particular player. Then the camera will adjust to keep that person in focus as long as you keep tracking him. You need to track the person for a second or so before shooting to allow the camera to get the focus.
-What lens are you using? Some are faster-focusing than others. Perfect lenses would be the 85mm f/1.8 or the 100mm f/2.0. I started with the 50 1.4, but it wouldn't lock focus fast enough. I bought the 100 2.0 and am getting MUCH sharper pictures with the same technique I had previously been using.
-And just keep trying! You're technique will improve the more you pictures you take!

Good luck!

 

[handicap18]

What are you using for a lens?

 

[skiingwife]

I'm using a Canon zoom lens EF 80-200mm.

The camera had been set at iso 1600, shutter speed
1/125. That was giving me blurry pictures. I changed it tonight to 800 and the pictures were better but still not great.

What to try next? Is this the right lens?

 

[Steve's Girl]

I'm using a Canon zoom lens EF 80-200mm.

The camera had been set at iso 1600, shutter speed
1/125. That was giving me blurry pictures. I changed it tonight to 800 and the pictures were better but still not great.

What to try next? Is this the right lens?

Depends on the f number on the lens. You want a lower number (ie, 2.8). I have had pretty good luck using a prime f1.8 lens in a gymnasium.

 

[handicap18]

I'm using a Canon zoom lens EF 80-200mm.

The camera had been set at iso 1600, shutter speed
1/125. That was giving me blurry pictures. I changed it tonight to 800 and the pictures were better but still not great.

What to try next? Is this the right lens?

What is the f/stop for that lens? It would either say something like 1:2.8 or 1:3.5-5.6 or something like that.

Changing the ISO from 1600 to 800 should actually make the photos more blurry.

I would keep it at 1600, then put the camera in Shutter Priority and start with 1/250th to see what you get for an f/stop. 1/125th might give you some decent results at times (free throws), but might not be fast enough to stop the players in action around the boards or while take a shot and running.

If your lens is an f/2.8 all the way through the zoom range then use aperture priority and select 2.8. With ISO 1600 that should give you a fast enough shutter speed depending on the lighting situation in the gym.

If the lens has a f/stop range like 3.5-5.6 then it might not be right lens. What this means is that at the 200mm end the widest it can go is f/5.6. The widest the lens can go is f/3.5 and that is at the 80mm end to probably about the 85-90mm range. In other words, the aperture gets smaller the more you zoom in. But I don't know what your lens is. If it is a variable aperture then you might want to look at getting a faster lens like a 100mm f/2 or 85mm f/1.8. Or if you do want a zoom and have the money then the 70-200mm f/2.8 is a fantastic (and expensive) lens.

 

[dmccarty]

A rule of thumb is that the shutter speed should be at least the reciprical of the focal length. So if you have a zoom at 200 you need a shutter speed of at least 1/200. If the lense was at 80, then a shutter speed should be at least 1/80. Hand holding with no shaking is hard at 1/80.

Sounds like you are going to set the lense open as much as possible and the ISO set high to get a fast shutter speed.

But that might not be good enough if the light is really bad.

Remember that the pros are shooting with flashes in the rafter's above the court. Got an overhead synchronized flash? I have not been able to get a decent shutter speed at my daughters basketball games with f2.8 lenses.

I'm going to sell my F100, N70 film cameras along with the SB-28 flash to get a 50mm F1.4 lense for our next WDW trip. Sent a note the camera shop to start this up. All my lenses have f2.8 apperatures and that tain't always open enough.

You might have to keep your lense towards the low end of the focal range to reduce shake/blur and crop the photo.

Later,
Dan

 

[GrillMouster]

A rule of thumb is that the shutter speed should be at least the reciprical of the focal length. So if you have a zoom at 200 you need a shutter speed of at least 1/200...

That is correct, but that is only to minimize the effect of camera shake from hand-holding the camera. The rule goes on to say that if your subject is moving, DOUBLE IT, and if you're moving (like in a car or on a boat), DOUBLE IT AGAIN. So, if you're shooting at 200mm, your shutter speed should at least 1/400 sec (1/500 sec would be better) if you're standing still.

The problem is that as you increase the shutter speed, you're shortening the time that light hits the sensor, so you need to compensate by opening the aperture larger to admit more light (also decreasing your depth of field). If the image is still too dark, then increase your ISO to make the sensor more sensitive to what little light it's receiving.