jus switched, canon 1dMKIII, early bball effort

[jnanpentaxfan]

I just made the switch to a Canon 1D Mark III. Here is a sample of early efforts at basketball. Using a Canon 70-200mm f/2.9 USM lens, ISO 2500, f2.8, 1/400. These are unedited except for size reduction for this post.

[Hards80]

these needed a custom white balance.

[Mark1616]

What were you shooting with before and how are you finding the 1D3?

Try to capture the ball as this is an integral part of shooting BBall (or any sport), don't worry about cutting off legs in the process in some shots.

Also don't be afraid to use higher ISO settings, I would have rather had a faster shutter with more noise than only 1/400s. ISO 3200 is fine and even 6400 cleans up pretty nicely on the mkIII as long as you are not looking to produce huge prints..

[jnanpentaxfan]

Definitely right about the white balance. I had attempted a custom white balance during that shoot and messed it up royally, so I went to one of the preset WB's on the camera (tungsten).

I was shooting with a Pentax K7 & DA* 200mm f2.8 SDM lens before the 1dmkiii. The reasons I went ahead and switched to Canon to develop some skill around sports photography were:
1. My daughter is a photography and art major and she is going Canon, which gives me the opportunity to purchase equipment that she can also use.
2. I really need to develop my knowledge, ability and technique without having the equipment as an excuse for mediocre results, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.
3. My son has developed into an outstanding athlete in two sports, basketball & football, so I want to capture his 4 years of high school, not only for me, but for him as well.

As far as getting the ball, yes absolutely a best practice and I normally do so, but this series was just a good example of my results, apart from missing the ball, and I'm just trying to get the feedback that I'm actually getting from you, Mark, and Hards80 (sorry, don't know your name). I expect that John will pipe in at some point as well, since he and I had a long dialogue about pros & cons of the 1DMKIII, so I can blame him a little if I decide I don't like the equipment. Seriously, he helped a lot with the analysis of the AF issues and also suggested the Nikon D700 as a possible starting point as well. What drove me to Canon was the fact that my daughter is already on that path and I think that, even with the AF issues, I get more bang for the buck with the 1d than a D700. The lens choices alone are incredible, compared to what I'm used to with the Pentax. I got a very nice deal on the 1d from KEH: 8500 actuations, the camera was rated EX+ but in reality was brand new, not a mark on it. Only paid $2050 with a 2 year warranty on top of the KEH 60 day warranty. I'm very happy so far with the switch, and only spent about $200 more than the money I received for my Pentax gear. I still have some of it to sell, but I also have a pretty big want list for Canon gear, so I'm sure I'll spend quite a bit more over time.

[jnanpentaxfan]

Originally Posted by Mark1616

Try to capture the ball as this is an integral part of shooting BBall (or any sport), don't worry about cutting off legs in the process in some shots.

Another thing on this series, I was fully expecting the player to drive and pass because he wasn't even close to being open enough to shoot. He missed the shot badly because of the 6'4" post player that altered his shot. This is JV basketball and this player is notorious for this kind of error, so I should have expected it. I was expecting the ball to stay about shoulder level. Here is another series from the varsity squad where the player actually found the open man. I think this series illustrates your point about the faster shutter speed and higher ISO being a better choice as well. There is clearly motion blurr that probably could be reduced or eliminated.