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Category: Action & Sports Pictures

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Best Film for Sports Photography


 
 
What is the best film to use for indoor basketball games?


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July 17, 2001

 

Blaine T. McCartney
  I use 800 speed Fuji Film, I work for a newspaper and it turns out pretty adequate.
Blaine


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July 18, 2001

 

John A. Lind
  Blaine's answer provides a good starting point. In general you want to use the slowest film speed possible. This will depend some on how fast your lens is (widest aperture) and its focal length (how "long" it is) in combination with a suitable shutter speed.

For hand held work, the slowest shutter speed before camera shake becomes a problem is usually 1/[lens focal length]. This means if you are using a standard 50mm lens, about 1/60th is the slowest you can use. If the focal length is 200mm (a long lens), then about 1/250th is the slowest shutter speed you can use. With some bracing (using seat backs, etc.) and practice you might be able to use the next slower speed than this guideline.

Some exposure guidelines based on the typical amount of light found in basketball arenas:

ISO 800:
1/250th @ f/2 (up to 200mm lens)
1/125th @ f/2.8 (up to 135mm lens)

ISO 400:
1/125th @ f/2 (up to 135mm lens)
1/60th @ f/2.8 (up to 50mm lens)

ISO 200:
1/125th @ f/1.4 (up to 135mm lens)
1/60th @ f/2 (up to 50mm lens)

Examples:
ISO 400 film could be used with a 100mm f/2 lens using 1/125th second at f/2 aperture. If it's a 135mm f/2.8 lens, you would need the ISO 800 Jon suggested (1/125th @ f/2.8). The shutter speed would keep you out of camera shake trouble. For a very fast f/1.4 50mm standard lens you could use ISO 200 film with 1/125th @ f/1.4 or 1/60th @ f/2 (slight risk of motion blur if photographing very fast action).

I did not cover shutter speeds below 1/60th second. At that speed you might have some motion blur if you are photographing fast action. This could be desirable if it's slight and only certain parts of a players body are blurred from motion (hands/arms, feet/legs or basketball). Shutter speeds slower than 1/30th usually have too much motion blur.

-- John


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July 18, 2001

 
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