Need help b4 the tournament!

[ljame]

im not sure what I am dong wrong in these photos..just want to get some indoor action shots of my step sons basketball team...


I have a Canon Rebel Xi
i tried manual shooting for faster shutter speed and they come out too dark..
when I shot in sports shooting i comes out too blury
do i need another lens 55-80m is what i am using now...

[lputman]

Yes, you will need a faster lens. If you can, get a 50 1/8 or an 85 1.8 if you can swing it, bump your ISO and go no lower than 200 on your shutter speed. Starting with that combination will get your better shots than what you've been getting. You might still have a little motion blur but you'd be able to see the photos.

[oldwolf]

use the highest iso possible and the lowest f/stop possible. they still might come out dark though.

[dhparsons]

F/2.8 or faster ISO of 1600 or higher. Use the tracking servo mode if you have one and dont use image stabilization if your lens provides it. Dont use a lens hood. Take off all filters even the UV. I also find that panniing and taking a lot of pictures helps get a few good ones.

You can scan the court with your camera and look for the light and dark spots on your exposure meter. That is set the camera for aperture priority and set to max (f/2.8 preferably), depress the shutter button half way and scan the court from your shooting position look for increases in the shutter speed in your viewing window then concentrate shooting in the areas that have the best lighting...

I prefer a zoom telephoto with the canon 70-200 f/2.8 "non IS" being my favorite for GYM (basketball volleyball) work.

If you can use a flash unit..Angle the flash up preferably above 45 degrees so you dont blind the players and use a good diffuser screen on the flash to dampen the light a bit. Of course this is for tip offs and free throws since the flash will not keep up with high frame rate shooting...

The 430 or 580 EX give you control of the strength and are powerful enough to do the job...

After all that some post processing may help produce a few winners. Being a good indoor or night game sports photographer takes a lot of practice!