What settings should i use for my camera while shooting an indoor basketball game?

i have a canon 40d i recently purchased and would like to know what settings i should use to shoot an indoor basketball game. i don't want to use a flash and i want to accomplish images that are the proper colors, clear, concise and free of blur.What settings should i use for my camera while shooting an indoor basketball game?
To do what you want requires a fast lens - one like the Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM which will cost you $1,699.00 at B%26amp;H or the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM which is $1,190.00 at B%26amp;H or theTamron 70-200mm f2.8 Di LD IF AF which is $679.00 at B%26amp;H.



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An f2.8 lens like the ones listed is 2/3 stops faster than an f3.5 lens and 1 stop faster than an f4 lens.More importantly, all 3 are constant aperture zooms. A constant aperture means you don't lose shutter speed when you zoom from the 70mm end to the 200mm end.



A fast lens will allow you to shoot at a lower ISO which gives a better image while still keeping your shutter speed high enough to stop action.



At ISO 800 with an f2.8 lens you might get a shutter speed of 1/125 sec. An f3.5 lens would require an ISO of 1250 to get the same shutter speed and an f4 lens would need ISO 1600. If you use an f4-5.6 variable aperture lens at ISO 1600 and zoom from 70-200 your shutter speed will drop from 1/125 sec. to 1/60 sec. To maintain 1/125 sec. at f5.6 your ISO will have to be 3200 - you lose a full stop from f4 to f5.6 so you need to compensate by +1 stop with your ISO.



If the only lens you have is an f3.5-5.6 or f4-5.6 and buying a fast lens just isn't possible then about all you can do is set your ISO to 3200, use the camera's Noise Reduction and shoot in Shutter Priority. Start at 1/250 sec. If there isn't sufficient light for your aperture range the camera will let you know and you can drop down to 1/125 sec. Since 1/125 sec. is a little slow for stopping action you may need to shoot at the peak of the action. Of course, a little blur can be used to show motion.What settings should i use for my camera while shooting an indoor basketball game?
I agree with Edwin, 100%. For indoor sports you really need to shell out for a fast lens.



To answer you questoin about "proper colors", you just need to choose a white balance for the type of lighting used. If none of the built-in settings are appropriate, you can make a custom setting specifically for that space. Consult your manual for the exact steps, but basically all you need to do is take a picture of something in the room that's white and then choose that image for the custom white balance.