BMX? Best camera for the job?

[fragilepetal]

Hi,

My partner rides BMX and i'm interested in getting a camera that will be able to capture good images of the tricks that he does.
I have read a few forum's and i'm not too sure which one would be the best.
I am not an experienced photographer, and i use a pretty basic camera now, and would like to upgrade. The one i have takes shots very slowly so i have to time to get the best shot. If i had a camera that took x amount of fps then i could get a succession of shots and hopefully a good one.
I'm looking at a budget of maybe $800 total for the camera and accessories or equipment.
Any advice is better than nothing.

Thanks

[blazing fire]

Because he wishes to take sport photos, he should be looking for a camera which is

1) Light sensitive sensor in order to increase the shutter speed
2) Quick and accurate auto focus
3) High iso performance
4) High FPS
5) Lens with high aperture

Am I wrong in saying this?

[brmill26]

Well blazing, all camera sensors are light sensitive; that's how they make the photo. Maybe you meant to combine that with # 3 to say he may want a camera that has good high ISO performance, because at higher ISO settings you can get a higher shutter speed.


Fragile, there are basically two ways to go. One, you can get a DSLR which will get you very fast performance, super quality, but moderate FPS - about 3.5 per second. On the other hand, there are P&S cameras that shoot much high FPS, but have slower autofocus and poorer image quality. But some P&S cameras like Casio's EX-F1 can shoot at ridiculously fast speed (photos at 60FPS; video much faster).

So which way to go? I would recommend a DSLR. Reason being, 99/100 times, the best photos are made by planning a shot, not by lucking into it with a barrage of frames. Plus the higher quality and higher performance of a DSLR will help you make better photos in the long run.

There are a lot of good options out there. Check out the Canon XS and XTi, the Nikon D40 and D60, and Olympus, Pentax, and Sony all have good options as well.

[blazing fire]

Well blazing, all camera sensors are light sensitive; that's how they make the photo. Maybe you meant to combine that with # 3 to say he may want a camera that has good high ISO performance, because at higher ISO settings you can get a higher shutter speed.

. Yup, good iso is the correct term.

(photos at 60FPS; video much faster).

Are you pulling my leg?

[SmartWombat]

No joke, that Casio is a very special camera, useful for golf swings, or other sports performance analysis. But for other work the image quality is so-so I wouldn't recommend it for what you're doing I don't think it's needed.

[freygr]

Even with a DSLR there is very small shutter delay. It doesn't mater which camera you end up with you will have to understand the cameras operation and how to get around shutter delays.

Just remember the SMALLER the image sensor is the poorer the photo quality will be at higher ISOs and may even be limited to 400 or 800 ISO as with the DSLR even on my OLD D70 I can get usable photos at 1600 ISO.

I my self will say that you will disappointed with any thing but DSLR as far as getting the photos. And inside an ARENA's you will also need FAST lenses F2.8 at a minimum.

[blazing fire]

I my self will say that you will disappointed with any thing but DSLR as far as getting the photos. And inside an ARENA's you will also need FAST lenses F2.8 at a minimum.

Just a note, the lesser the F, the bigger the aperture. So try to get a smaller one.

I have a question, if the aperture is too large, would it cause softness?

[SmartWombat]

Softness wide open? Only on a cheap lens
My 70-200 f/2.8 L IS is sharp wide open, as is my 300 L IS prime.

But the 100-400 L IS is a little soft wide open and has slight vignetting, it improves a lot at f/8
But then that's not a lot of use on a cloudy day for sport.