Camera Bag: Basketball
With college hoops season in full swing, my camera bag is most frequently loaded for basketball. Here’s my typical setup:
- D300 (x2) - 12.4 mp, 6/8 fps
- D2H - 4.1 mp, 8 fps
- Sigma 120-300/f2.8 - Used occasionally for cross-court shots. Mount on D2H w/strobes.
- Nikon 80-200/f2.8 AF-S - My usual cross-court lens, on D2H w/strobes.
- Nikon 85/f1.8D - Shooting from corners with D300 w/grip.
- Sigma 18-50/f2.8 HSM - Great under the basket on D2H w/strobes; also for remote on D300 w/out grip.
- Sigma 30/f1.4 HSM - Another great lens under the basket, on the D300 w/grip.
- Tokina 10-17/f3.5-4.5 Fisheye Zoom - This unique lens is great for capturing the arena atmosphere, and takes up very little space.
- Tamron 28-75/f2.8 - Largely replaced by the Sigma 18-50 as my ‘under the basket’ lens on the D2H w/strobes.
- Nikon SB-600 - For jube and other off-court shots.
- Nikon MB-D10 - 8 fps grip for my courtside D300.
- Adorama Wireless Radio Remote - for the remote camera.
- Pocket Wizards - For strobes mounted in arena catwalks, used with second D300 if not used as a remote camera, or with D2H.
- White Lightning X1600 Strobes
- Manfrotto Magic Arm & Super Clamp - For the remote camera.
- Safety cables - a must for remotes!
- Think Tank Photo Speed Racer - Used as shoulder bag for the cameras and lenses.
- RoadWired “The Pod” - Attached to Speed Racer, holds flash, batteries, foot, gels.
- Tamrac Turbo Cyber Pro - For carrying remotes, clamps, cables, etc.
- Think Tank Photo Artificial Intelligence 15 - For my laptop.
Tags: Accessories · Cameras · basketball · lenses
2 responses so far ↓
1 Matthew Sauk // Oct 20, 2008 at 8:50 am
I use nikon gear and I am wondering what your thoughts are on the 80-200 afs lens. Is it fast enough for bball in bad lighting?
Should I go with something else or in your opinion will it be fine?
I should also add I will be using AlienBee B1600’s for strobes.
Thanks,
Matthew Sauk
2 The Sports Photo Guy // Oct 20, 2008 at 9:02 am
The 80-200/f2.8 is certainly fast enough with strobes. In fact, with a top flash sync speed of just 1/250 as most Nikons have now, you will probably have to dial down those 1600’s in most instances.
With a D300 or D3, f2.8 should be plenty fast enough since you have up to ISO 3200 for useable results.
On an APS-C sensor (Nikon DX), 80-200 is just a bit long for basketball; I use this combo mostly for half-court or opposite end shots. On a film or full-frame (Nikon FX) sensor, 80-200 is about perfect from most anywhere on the near end of the court, although it can be a bit tight under the basket.
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