Express Action Sports

I have been doing photography for awhile now, and just recently started a course, I dont want a professional camera, just a decent one. Could you tell me what camera you think is a great basic?

Hey Emma, you might find this post I made yesterday useful.
Of course it all depends on how much you are willing to spend on a camera, but here are a good few to get started on. These are all entry level to intermediate level SLR cameras.

You’ll have to convert the names and prices to US though if you’re there! the 450D is called the XSi in the US i think. Don’t get the XS (1000D, uugggh, terrible)

Post below:….

Also don’t listen to people saying Canon/Nikon are better, they’re all promoting their own equipment. They’ll deny it but it’s always true. Both systems are excellent with both having their advantages or disadvantages.
I shoot one system for my own personal work and one system with my 9-5 work. I’m not saying which one’s which 🙂

Personally I would go for one of these four options:

Nikon D80 – £399.00
Nikon D90 – £569.98
Canon 40D – £549.99
Canon 450D – £379.99

The D90 and 40D are the two superior cameras. However you may prefer to get a D80/450D and invest the remaining money on some accessories such as a flash gun or a lens or two.

If you are going to continue with photography, it’s good to start your lens collection now as they will last you a lot longer than your camera body which you will probably be looking at replacing/upgrading every 2/3 years. Save up and invest in good glass! BE warned though a good lens can cost a LOT 🙂

Here are links for all four, have a browse through and make your opinions THEN go try them out and hold them in a shop to see how they feel in your hand and which one you seem to have more of a connection to. That’s my advice 🙂

LINKS:

NIKON D80 – http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imagin…
NIKON D90 – http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imagin…
CANON 450D – http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_…
CANON 40D – http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_…

There’s a nice table half way down the page showcasing the differences between the two Nikons on the D90 DPreview website here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond90…

The 40D is the largest of all of these cameras (similar size to the Nikon D300, but obviously not as good)
Here’s the Canon 50D (practically the same size as the Canon D40) side by side with the Nikon D90 to illustrate this.
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD…

Personally I’m not going to tell you which one I would choose as it’s my own preference and my own style of shooting, which may be completely different from yours!

……Edit: Ok I’ll tell you. I shoot a lot of sports so I’d personally get the Canon 40D for its 6.5fps, mag alloy body and larger size but then remember that because that’s my style and fast action is what I shoot!, You’ll probably be completely different 🙂

In a nutshell all those cameras will serve you well throughout your entire course! Have fun trying them out in the shop!!.. and don’t buy a Canon 1000D or Nikon D40/D40x (shudder).

Hope I’ve helped 🙂

Rick

I love taking pictures and my brother has the nikon D40. I’ve taken lots of pictures and I really would like a Canon instead of a Nikon, I know the T1i has HD video taking option, but what is the big difference between the XS and XSi? Aswell I would like the cheaper one but I want one that can take good close up’s and I love taking action shots, like sports (hockey, skiing) What would you recommend? Pro’s and Con’s.

Real simple: Except for slight speed difference;
The XS is a base model with a 10.1MP CMOS sensor (better for low-light than Nikon D40/D40x/D60/D3000 – which all have a CCD)
The XSi adds live view ( but focus is much slower in LV mode) and 2.2MP more.
The T1i adds HD video but won’t AF in video mode, so you must focus before recording & hope your subject doesn’t change distance or manually focus. It also ups the resolution to 15.1MP.

The lens matters more than the camera (all three should work for you). I’d recommend getting it at a camera store as they will help if you have any problems (try getting photo help @ Walmart).

I already have a canon 7D for action/sports photography; however, I am torn on choosing a new camera…the new 6D or the 5D Mark II.

Option 2: save for another year and get the latest and greatest

Which one would you chose and why?

I specialize in portraits, long exposures, and light painting!

Thank you!

Going from a 7D to a 6D or 5DMkII (or MkIII) will give you practically nothing. The difference in performance between the 3 cameras is so minimal that it’s not even worth talking about.

If you were talking about upgrading from a Rebel XSi or a Rebel XTi then i’d consider it but not from a 7D.

This was shot with a Rebel T1i

This was shot with a Rebel XSi

Skill trumps camera.
Lenses trump camera.
Light trumps camera.

Spend you money on classes, better lenses, lighing gear … anything but a new camera … unless you want to ADD a second camera to your kit (so as to have a backup/secondary camera).

I can say what I would do in your position because I don;t know if you are shooting for fun or for profit. I don;t know what lenses you have. I don;t know what lighting gear you have.

EDIT @Tim
"I disagree with Eric about the difference and train the 7D and the 5Dmk2.
I own both cameras, any difference in image quality is huge, especially at higher ISO’s."

But is the difference significant enough for a enthusiast to consider selling a 7D to get a 5DMkII? I own a XSi, a T1i and a 5DMkII and I agree, the 5DMkII’s performance at high ISO is amazing. I shoot at 3200 without hesitation and I don;t feel complete dread when I have to bump that up to 6400 but look at the types of photography the OP is interested in. Portraits, long exposures and light painting … none of those are done at high ISO so the OP would gain next to nothing by "upgrading".

I don’t know what its called or where to find one! It’s like a long pole thing, lots of people use it to take action shots at football games and stuff, its for my birthday so i’d appreciate your help!

It’s called a ”mono pole”.
I never use one because you can’t follow the action very well. Unless you ae shooting at a very high shutter speed like 1/1000 of a second
or higher.