slr for surfing? digital or film?

Hi. i'm in the bay area for the summer and go to school in san diego. i want to buy a slr and take pictures of my friends surfing and hopefully get someone to take some of me surfing. i want to buy one good zoom lens. i hope to get some of my pictures online and eventually to a magazine. do you suggest a digital slr or film? i'm hoping to only spend around a grand on the camera (only the body, not including accessories or lens). i want to be able to make large prints as well. any advice would be appreciated.
peace and love
tim
yybob@aol.com

you can HONESTLY get magazine cover sized images from ANY film/digital SLR

so, a D70/N80/F100 or a D-REBEL/ ELAN7/ EOS3 will all do you justice

LENSES to buy would be 300f4 or 80-400VR/ 100-400IS if on a normal budget(based on camera budget) But the sigma 120-300f2.8 SOUNDS good too but with DIGITAL(D70/D-REBEL) A 70-200 VR/70-200IS will be SWEET with TC's added as needed :)

PRO BUDGET... 300f2.8 w/ TC's, 400f2.8 w/ TC's, 500f4 w/TC's ADDED TO ABOVE CHOICES ;)

Not really much to add here, going for fast lenses will make life easier for you. many magazines still prefer images to be submitted on slide, however a major part of getting you image in a magazine is the ability to get it to them fast and from this aspect digital wins hands down. the only other thing you may want to look at is underwater housings for your camera and a good waterproof case. salt water plays havoc with cameras so learn to look after your gear. oh incidentally most sports photographers (including surfing) use canon as they have faster focusing systems which can be very handy when dealing with a fast moving surfer. also practise being in the water with a camera or something similar. there is a real skill in swimming a heavy slr into the break zone and staying there, using the camera and getting close enough to the action without getting hit on the head by a wave, surfer or being drowned. good surf flippers are a must (check out what the bodyboarders use) and get used to swimming without your hands, swimming whilst carrying a half brick should give you the right idea.
enjoy :-)

sorry , but I have shot EVERY 300F2.8(TOKINA, SIGMA,TAMRON, CANON,NIKON, MINOLTA), canon and nikon 400F2.8 , canon, nikon and sigma's 500f4(sigma f4.5) and canon /nikon/minolta 600f4!!

I can honestly tell you canon and nikon AFS lenses are so close in focus speed I can't tell the difference! The 70-200AFS(VR) and 70-200 L(w/wo IS) are the same way ;)

CANON lenses have a focus motor in the lenses while ONLY nikon AFS type lenses have the focus motor in the lens. ALL other nikkor lenses are focused by the CAMERA BODY . SO a N80 won't focus a no AFS lens as fast as a F100/F5.

CANON LONG PRIMES ARE CHEAPER TO BUY........that is why most pros like them in my opinion(and IS)

L glass is warmer in it's color rendition of film too :)

Just going to add one thing here. DSLR's - at least the ones mentioned - have smaller sensors than the 35mm format. This essentially crops your image a little so the angle of view of the lens is less. They do not magnify images like you might read some places.

That said, the smaller angle of view means in real life that your 200mm lens on a DSLR will have the coverage of a 300mm lens on a 35mm body. An 80-200 f2.8 lens can be bought for a fraction of the price of a 300 f2.8 and will be a lot easier (at least possible!) to hand-hold. Something to consider.

I know nothing about surfing or surf photography, except for this one tidbit that the camera shop salesman told me when I bought my camera:

He gave me the catalog of canon lenses, and told me that every lens in the catalog would fit my rebel. I turned to the back of the catalog and there was this monster 1200mm lens that cost as much as a small car. He laughed and said, "nice, huh? You know who uses that kind of lens the most? Surfers. Sports photographers who take surfing shots. They can stand on a bluff and get great closeups from there."

I found that extremely interesting.

But I'm sure you can get good shots with smaller lenses, you just have to get closer to the water....

You're right! BUT AT A PRICE OF 80K+ EACH(SO the net says) and around 10 made to order EVER ,I doubt that's in ANYONE here's budget ;)

I did read a few years ago that they are $27k though.

BUT, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED owns 2 of them I here ;)


I wouldn't doubt if CPS(Canon Professional Services) owned the others and RENTS/LOANS them out


LOOKY LOOKY :cool:

http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/images/eos1200g.jpg