For indoor basketball shots, I'd lean toward the 85mm f/1.8 or the 135mm f/2 L. Both are great portraiture lenses, however, you need room with which to work (more so with the 135L). I wouldn't suggest the 50mm f/1.4 because I don't think it would be long enough for indoor basketball.


While you can push the ISOs on modern cameras a bit more than you used to (and still get acceptable images), f/2.8 is the absolute narrowest aperture I'd try to use for indoor/lowlight gymnasiums. For me, at least, that rules out the 70-200mm f/4 L (even though that is a fantastic lens--just not for this particular need).