basketball pics in gym

I have a Canon Rebel and want to get some decent shots of my son. I'm having some troubles with knowing which settings to use. I don't like the blurry action which shows in this shot that I'm attaching. I'd also it to not be so hazy looking. Any suggestions?

lower shutter
lower fstop
higher iso

i could be wrong, but the above combination will help rid of motion blur.

Did you try just putting it on sports mode? It is normally pretty good for this kind of thing. Are you using the stock lens that comes with the kit? That lens isn't the greatest.

IMO the motion blur on the ball looks great. If you totally freeze it will look static. The shot has some noise issues though.Looks like you had your ISO cranked up to 1600 so that's why you have the noise.

Your f stop was at 5.6 and the shutter speed was @ 100. Going slower on the shutter speed will cause more blur (Motion and camera shake)

Low light situations like this is when a fast lens come in handy because you can open up the aperture a few more stops allowing you to keep a faster shutter speed.

If 5.6 is wide open on your lens then I'd try shooting with a flash. The flash will help freeze the action.

Bump you ISO as high as you can go. Probably 1600 (which will cause A LOT of grain but you will have to deal with it if you want stopped motion.) Then set your camera to aperture priority which should be an A or Av or something. Then set your aperture to the widest opening (or smallest number) and blast away. That is probably the best you can do for a setting like this. Most gyms or arenas that I shot in usually are 1/250 at f2.8 at 1600 ISO. Pretty slow for most action but I had to deal with it. Luckily cameras now have lower noise at higher ISO's which is pretty awesome. Definitely one of the reasons why a lot of the images from this summers olympics were so awesome.

if all else fails, you may have to get a different lense that has a lower f stop. The lower the f stop, the more light the camera sees and can speed up the shutter. In low light, the camera slows the shutter down to get more light. A lower f stop allows for more light and a quicker shutter (less blur for action shots). I just bought a 50 mm f 1.4 to shoot in low light. The 50 f1.8 goes for around $85 and would work well for a small area like a gym.

I have a the 50mm f1.4 and my wife has the 50mm f1.8. Both take great pics but my wife complains she doesn't like no zoom (like on her original kit lens).

I have no luck at all with the sports mode. Didn't buy the camera, so I don't know about the lens.
Was using tv instead of av. If I make the switch I can go down as low as 1.0
Thanks everyone! I love WW.
Joe/Walt which one of you is opening up a school?
And here is a pic to wish everyone some holiday cheer and a happy new year

I'm also working on shots for basketball, with my Rebel XT and the 50mm 1.8 lens. One advice I have, is if you feel unsatisfied with your results, keep a point n shoot in your pocket. Shoot a couple with that, compare to your Rebel's results, and you'll feel better.

Over on fredmiranda.com you can find some hints and pics. Higher end gear, but gives you an idea about settings, lenses, technique:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/719066

For indoor sports, I have resigned myself to getting "not too bad" results, with the knowledge that to move to outstanding results the equipment budget would explode.

i totally effed that up. i meant faster shutter speed.

The 50mm lenses are a little slow with the auto focus. If you are doing indoor sports the best lens for the money is the 85/1.8. Very fast auto focus and very sharp. It is one of my favorite lenses I own.

The only lenses I use for indoor sports are it and my 70-200/2.8 IS

I agree that the 50 is very slow to focus.

How much does the 85 go for MMunger ?

hmmm looks like the 85mm is $326 at BH. Might be worth checking out, thanks for the tip!