Choosing A Lens For Basketball Sport Photography

If you are a dedicated sports photographer, you should be very careful about choosing the right lens before making any major decisions on purchasing a new camera.

Basketball shooting, in particular, needs a good lens with wide apertures and a few other key factors.

Key factors for choosing a lens for basketball shooting:

• Focal length: Usually outdoor sporting events like basketball need a telephoto or super telephoto lens with a focal length exceeding 300mm. A lens of 600mm and 800mm focal length helps to magnify the players, fill up the frame and brings gritty action right up into the photograph.
• Maximum Aperture: Choose a maximum aperture of 70 – 300mm of zoom, depending on the focal length of the lens. This will enhance the clarity of sports photographs sufficiently.
• Image stabilization: Many lenses are now well equipped with image stabilization and vibration reduction techniques. Shake reduction technology can make the difference between razor sharp and blurred pictures at the same shutter speeds.

Usually wide-angle lenses are not suitable or practical for most sports applications. Powerful telephoto lenses with 400 mm to 800 mm and upwards will totally enhance the shooting of basketball events.