Sorry to interrupt

[Cannons_Soccer]

I happened upon this site because I've been trying to do research on buying a new camera. I'm totally ADDICTED to your forum. The pictures are outstanding and exactly what I'm trying to capture.

I want to capture my kids (we're into track, football, cheerleading, soccer - indoor and outdoor). I'm totally a sports mom and I'm the one always at the events taking the pics. They are no where near the quality of what you're taking. I'm using a Kodak V710 with zooms. The pics are grainy with the zoom and shutter time is horrible. The only good shots I get are on really nice sunny days outside.

Can someone please suggest a camera for me? I've got $1K for a body/nice zoom and an important track meet coming up. I'm totally an amateur and I know taking the pic is only half of it. I'm trying to learn the editing as well.

Sorry for taking up your time.
Sports Mom

[Old Timer]

Let me first say how welcome you are here Sports Mom. There are a lot of us here that started by taking pics of our kids at play and just continued right on. Several moms too I might add.
This has been the friendliest and most helpful site I have found on the internet. This is kind of a slow time with fewer pictures being post due to school being out and most of the amateur sports not in action right now.

Yours is a dilemma that many of us have faced in the past. A camera that is not suited to the kinds of pictures we want to take. Sports action generally takes a camera that can stop the action and has a very fast shutter response time. In short a DSLR is almost a must. That said let me say that all the major manufactures will have a product that will fit the bill. The most used here are Cannon and Nikon. They both have good pro-sumer models that will fit your needs and skill level. The most import item of course after the camera is the lens. The general rule is to get the best glass you can afford. When shooting outdoor daytime sports you can get away with a longer lens that has a slightly slower maximum aperture for indoor and night you will want a lens that has at least an f2.8 aperture. Now it's your turn to tell us a little bit more about what you are looking at and give us a chance to give you some pros and cons on that equipment.

[Cannons_Soccer]

Someone suggested a Nikon D60. Unfortunately I've got to stay under 1K, so it sorta fits in my price range. The reviews I've been reading for action cameras have been listing cameras I can't afford at this time.

[JETA]

Welcome to the forum! I ended up here with an entry level dlsr looking to fit myself with a proper lens. If I had to choose lens over camera for sports the lens would win every time. It's a irreplaceable piece of equipment.

Canon or Nikon will fit the bill. Chances are the glass will run over 1K especially if you want to shoot indoors.

I'm so glad you found us!

Maybe buying used equipment might be an option?

[KWEP]

Sports Mom,
4 years ago when I was in your position I purchased the first generation digital rebel (200d) with the 70-300 f4-5.6 IS lens. Along with a kit lens, this cost about $800. It was a decent camera and for 3 years I learned much about shooting motion sports. Now that my son is in the 9th grade. Also out for track and soccer, It was time to get some better equipment. So, this spring I purchased a Canon 30D and the 70-200 f2.8 IS. and the 1.4 converter. This was a $3000 purchase.

Both Canon and Nike now sell the same kit I bought, including the 70-300 f4-5.6. But the fact that you are asking questions in this forum tells me you want to know what is a step up from the kits and what will it get me.

There are a few critical features for motion photography:
1. FPS - Frame Per Second. In track you want to shoot 5 to 10 frames per second when shooting all of the field events and hurdles. The Canon 30D and 40D are ideal for this.
2. Background blur. When shooting soccer matches and track meets, your background is typically filled with all kinds of unsightly things. So, you want your subject to be in focus and the background to fuzz out of focus. This is achieved in camera by adjusting your depth of field. When a lens is wide open, you will achieve this affect. This affect can be achieved more easily at 2.8 and more dramatically than at 5.6. This is more dramatically achieved when you get your subject close to the camera, with the background far away from the camera. At a track meet, get right out on the track and fill the frame with your subject. This is more difficult to do in a soccer game, until the play comes right in front of you on the sidelines. Most of the play occurs in the middle of the field.
3. Which leads me to "reach". The ideal focal length for soccer is 300mm. But a 2.8 300mm lens is $3500. So, most of us soccer parents opt for the 300mm f5.6 or drop down to a f2.8 200mm lens.
3. Sharpness. Sharpness is achieved primarily by having your subject in focus and with a high shutter speed, freezing the image. So, the faster your lens can auto-focus on the subject and hold it in focus as it is in motion becomes critical. Again, with the lens wide open at 2.8, you can achieve shutter speeds of well over 1000. In full sun, you can get it up to 8000. This will freeze rain drops and sweat and dirt flying in the air.

So, do you want a "good" kit camera for $1000 or
Start purchasing quality equipment that you can continue to add to as your kids get older.

I would recommend the latter. And I would go with the 30D and a 85mm 1.8. This will keep you on budget and get you through your track meet and this is the ideal lens for all of your indoor events. The 1.8 will allow you to shoot indoors by adjusting your ISO until your shutter speed is fast enough to freeze the action.

Don't apologize for asking. Read this thread and all the others you can find. What pushed me over the edge in the end was the fact that quality equipment can be passed down to your kids when you're done using it. Or you can get 95% of your money back on resale if you want to sell and move up.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
KWEP

[Old Timer]

There will need to be some compromise when you have budget constraints. (And who of us doesn't have a photography budget to stick to.) The D60 is a very worthy camera as is the Canon Rebel XTi. The purchase of either would leave you a few buck in the budget to use on a lens purchase. I would think you would be looking at something in the 70-200mm range .

[mattbikeboy]

You can always go for a kit like one of these: (I show coscto since I get emails all the time-- but many reputable deals have similar set-ups).

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

or

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

I started with a similar set-up with my D80 -- then upgraded as I went. Once you start to really notice the short comings of you lens in low light or high speed sports -- then you'll want to upgrade to an f/2.8 zoom.

There are some good deals right now with Canon and Nikon offering rebates on kits.

mbb

[brmill26]

First, welcome! You're in the right place, there are some very talented people here. OT hit the main points: 1) You need a DSLR in order to have the camera respond quickly, 2) the glass (lens) is by far the most important component.

Second, in your case I would suggest a Canon. Normally we don't recommend specific brands much on here, but here's why: Most of Nikon's high-end lenses (the type you'll need) will not work with the "entry level" bodies, D60 included. Technically they will work in that they will fit the body, but the AutoFocus function does not work - an absolute must for sports. With Canon, however, you do not have this problem. The best lenses work just fine with the "lowest" body in the range. I say "lowest" b/c even the entry level DSLRs are amazingly good and very capable cameras.

Third, there isn't a perfect solution that is w/in your budget. The best lens solution would be a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L, but that lens alone blows the budget. If you can bump the budget just a little, or maybe find some good prices (try eBay), I would suggest the combination I have: Canon Rebel XTi + 70-200 f/4 L. Retail, that will put you right about $1,100, but with some searching or if you can find a good used 70-200, you can get it down to or under $1,000. I found a 70-200 New in Box for $500 on eBay, so it is possible, and the XTi runs about $500 now. Sidenote: beware of online resellers, check out forum for good/bad dealers first!

The catch: that's an awesome setup for outdoors, but at night or indoors, it's probably not bright enough. You *may* be able to get by with f/4 and ISO1600 indoors or at night if the light is good, but it wouldn't be optimal. But I think that would still be the best option for what you need to do while staying in your budget. Maybe the experts here have some better advice...

[Jaedon]

Although Canon and Nikon are the top 2 used on the site, don't discount Olympus either. Their technology in the E510 was recently compared to the Nikon D30 and the E510 was actually reviewed slightly better, mostly due to the in body Image Stabilization (IS). This means that no matter what lens you purchase you have the advantage of having IS to help keep your shots crisp and clean.

The E510 can be purchased with a 150 mm Kit lens which is very light, surprisingly small and easy to use and the 2x built in crop factor makes it like shooting with a 300mm lens on 35 mm film. In short it's a very good bang for the buck and should help you out in staying under the $1K mark money wise.

The 4/3 lens mount is still very new however (less than 5 years old), but other lens manufacturers are coming on board and there are more and more lenses available all the time.

[photo101]

You can get the D60/D80 Kits for around $900 if you shop around.