How do I choose a good Digital SLR camera for sports photography?
My main area of intrest is taking action shots and sports photos. Can anyone help or give me some suggestions to what I should be looking at? I’m planning to buy, but I don’t have an unlimited amount of funds, if you know what I mean. As a matter of fact, I’m kind of strapped. Any suggestions on the best deal with greatest performance?
The main things you want to look for in cameras for sports photography are;
Frames per second – lower end Nikons and Canons have around 2-5 FPS. It all depends on what you need for the speed.
Lens selection – You may be strapped for cash now, but what about a year from now? You want to get a camera that has a huge selection of compatible lenses so next year you can get that 600mm lens if you want.
Zoom or telephoto lens – These are nessecary in sports photography! Personally, I’d go for the zoom as it’s more versital.
A steady tripod – stay away from those aluminum pieces of junk. You will need something that isn’t going to break anytime soon. The more you zoom with a camera, the more chance for camera shake. I got a great carbon fiber one from amvona on ebay $40. (don’t buy direct from their website.)
I don’t know what your actual cash situation is but if I needed to stay on a tight budget, I would go for this setup:
Nikon D40 – $533.28 from Amazon
Nikon 70-300mm zoom lens – $483.54 Amazon
Amvona carbon fiber tripod – Around $40 from ebay.
SanDisk 2 GB, Extreme III SD card – $34.99 on sale at Adorama
If you have a little more in your budget, I would upgrade the camera body to a D80 or D200. The D300 was just announced so the D200 price should drop quite a bit (most likely in October or November)
If you’re more of a Canon type, you can find similar setups in the same price range from them as well.
Good Luck!
The main things you want to look for in cameras for sports photography are;
Frames per second – lower end Nikons and Canons have around 2-5 FPS. It all depends on what you need for the speed.
Lens selection – You may be strapped for cash now, but what about a year from now? You want to get a camera that has a huge selection of compatible lenses so next year you can get that 600mm lens if you want.
Zoom or telephoto lens – These are nessecary in sports photography! Personally, I’d go for the zoom as it’s more versital.
A steady tripod – stay away from those aluminum pieces of junk. You will need something that isn’t going to break anytime soon. The more you zoom with a camera, the more chance for camera shake. I got a great carbon fiber one from amvona on ebay $40. (don’t buy direct from their website.)
I don’t know what your actual cash situation is but if I needed to stay on a tight budget, I would go for this setup:
Nikon D40 – $533.28 from Amazon
Nikon 70-300mm zoom lens – $483.54 Amazon
Amvona carbon fiber tripod – Around $40 from ebay.
SanDisk 2 GB, Extreme III SD card – $34.99 on sale at Adorama
If you have a little more in your budget, I would upgrade the camera body to a D80 or D200. The D300 was just announced so the D200 price should drop quite a bit (most likely in October or November)
If you’re more of a Canon type, you can find similar setups in the same price range from them as well.
Good Luck!
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get the lens first then a body to fit it
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One hint – get one that doesn’t have a delay between the time you press the button to take the picture and the time the camera actually takes it.
I made this mistake with my first digital camera. It was hell trying to take baseball pictures when you push the button and nothing happens for a second. I got good at anticipating plays though and made it work.
Usually you get what you pay for. The cheaper cameras probably will have a shutter delay. This is because the electronics take time to figure out the right exposure, auto focus the camera, and then take the picture.
The more expensive cameras have more advanced electronics that do this almost instantly. But still don’t depend on the auto-focus for fast action. Often the camera can’t keep up.
You will learn to anticipate plays and/or action and can pre-focus your camera for that spot on the field, race track, or wherever else you are shooting.
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Any DSLR with 2.5fps (frames per second) will do to start out.
Faster than that, you’ll want your employer to be paying.
Lightning-quick AF will be crucial so go for AF-S (Nikon) or equivalent lenses.
Also you’ll need a fast aperture for poor lighting conditions (good luck shooting hockey and indoor soccer).
I’d go for a Nikon D80 and Sigma 70-200 f2.8 HSM to start. Get the older 70-200 used, as you don’t need the new macro version.
And get out your wallet…there’s $2000 gone already.
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I don’t know about cameras for sports, but I can say that if you want to make sure you get a quality camera, visit a camera store so you can talk to someone experienced, face-to-face.
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