Wakeboarding and Wakeskating Photography

[nick7068]

Hello Ive been researching digital slr's and im having trouble deciding which camera to buy based on what i wanna shoot which is wakeboarding and wakeskating. This is a fast sport (20+mph) so i wanted to know which camera i should buy that would be no more than $2000 including a lens that would do the job. I was considering the nikon d300 or the canon 40d. Any suggestions on what digital camera would be good for this sport. Thanks

[brmill26]

You really only need two things for wakeboarding, and those are: 1) weather-proofing 2) fast frame rate. I don't recall perfectly, but I think both of those cameras would be considered "splash proof" - I wouldn't throw it in the water, but if it gets dripped on or splashed, there's no need for a heart attack.

Frame rate will be very important for capturing tricks. The speed at which the wakeboarder is moving (~25mph) isn't that important; in fact it's quite slow compared to race cars, baseballs, footballs, etc. But what is much faster is the movement of the rider when he throws a trick. If you're shooting good riders, you'll need a very fast frame rate if you want to capture a sequence of their tricks (or falls).

The 70-200mm tele zoom should be a perfect choice for either Canon or Nikon, preferably with IS/VR (stabilization) due to the bouncing boat. Canon makes two stabilized 70-200 lenses, an F/4 and an F/2.8. The F/2.8 will blur the background more and allow you to shoot more around sunset when the light is low, but you'll also have to contend with a ~3lb, huge lens all day. The F/4 version is much cheaper and much lighter, and is every bit as good in quality.


Now, all that said, you don't need all that to be able to shoot wakeboarding. I shot some this past weekend with a Canon XTi and the 70-200 F/4 L (non-IS) and had no trouble at all. Granted we're beginners, not trick masters, but it'd have done that fine too.

Excuse the backlighting in these. This is my friend Robert's 2nd ever time to wakeboard.


Attempting to get up


Which he did, eventually


If only to stuff the board and go down again...


Better lighting on this one. The 70-200 will give you plenty of range for tight shots like this (but is plenty wide too).

[Homer]

A quick question. Is this just for fun or do you plan on shooting competition style wake boarding?

You mentioned the Nikon D300 or the Canon 40D. Well, I don't know anything about Nikon so I'll go with the Canon. From what I've seen and read on other forums the 40D is a nice camera to have and I've been thinking about getting one for a backup. Currently the Canon 40D is going for $939 (after $200 Instant Rebate) at B&hphotovideo. As for a lens, I personally like the 70-200 f/2.8L, but this will run you about $1600 alone. The next best will be the Canon 70-200 f/4.0L, which is currently going for 1,069 with B&hphotovideo. So for just a bit over $2000 you can get a decent camera and some great L-glass.

I thought I'd share some shots I took during our last trip to the lake.