Suggestions for a fast action camera, for MMA/boxing pictures.

[strychnine]

Hi,
First time here. I have been reading some of the advice/critique/suggestions. I am just getting into "sports" photography and film making. For my birthday last year, I was lucky enough to get a "Hot Pit Pass" from my brother for the Indy Car Race at California Motor Speedway in So Cal on Oct 3rd. I was in the pits the entire race and was able to get some good amateur shots, I will post a couple of pics to see what you all think.

I have a Canon Powershot A70 which for the most part does OK... BUT, my dilema... I've been a big fan of mixed martial arts fighting for a long time, go to a lot of events and know some fighters. So it's an oppurtunity to get some good fight shots right around the ring. I've tried using the A70 and I can't get good fast action shots like punches or kicks. Either to slow or to fast, that type of thing.
I am looking for an affordable (affordable for me is $400-$500), best buy for $$$ for this type of photography. Specifically a camera that takes a couple of action pictures in 1-2 seconds. I am not sure what a camera that has this feature would cost on a low end?!?!?

I have an event this friday and would appreciate any help. I'll prolly rent a suggested camera to try it out for this friday.

Thanks,
strychnine

[SmartWombat]

What I think is far more important for action photos is timing, rather than speed.
You may be missing the shot because of the lag between pressing the button and the camera taking the photo.

The key thing is to get it all repeatable, so that the lag between you pressing the button and the camera taking the shot is constant. Once you've done that it's a question of practice to get your timing right.
Of course a camera with as little lag as possible is a great help

I'd suggest a few things to increase your chances of getting the right shot.
Pre-focus, because the autofocus gives you a random delay before it takes the shot.
Pre-set exposure, because calculating that takes time, too.
If you have a two-stage shutter button, where you press it half way to focus and set exposure - keep it half-pressed so that you know the slightest pressure will take the shot.
Of course that won't guarantee it, but it might improve your chances of getting the action.


Even with the Canon 20D, I've found that I can get the action I want with just one shot. Using the high speed burst on that camera was unreliable. I would get plenty of action, sure, but perhaps not THE shot except by random luck. The 33 frame buffer in JPEG mode is fantastic, but still I might miss the shot. Where it really scores us inexpected action, like a car spinning or an engine letting go, I can just point, squirt, and hope

My wife now has a Panasonic Lumix FZ20, and for the first time she's actually managed to get an F1 car in the frame rather then empty track !
So for action shots it's better in her hands than the Minolta Z1. A friend borrowed the FZ20 when his Nikon was in for repair and took good shots around the pit lane (he has a friend in the Ferrari garage).
The US price looks to be around the $500-550 mark, so it may be out of your price range.


If you really want fast bursts of shooting, it'll be difficult with that low budget, you'll have to sacrifice something. Beware the time taken to empty the buffer, you may end up losing opportunities!

My Minolta A1 had a really fast frame rate, about 3fps, but only in 640x480 mode.
So I sacrificed quality there for speed.

If I went for quality, I lost speed down to about 1frame/second and it took 1 1/4 MINUTES to write the 5 frames it took into the memory card. That was a whole LAP of the circuit.

My wife's Minolta Z1 had a medium frame rate, but far worse viewfinder than the A1.
The advantage was that the viewfinder didn't go totally blank for so long while shooting.
The disadvantage was it was hard to manual focus.

I hope our experiences have helped.

[Photo-John]

It sounds like you're getting pretty serious about your photography. The reality is, for the most instantaneous response, you need an SLR. Since your budget is too low for a current digital SLR, you might consider going completely old-school and buying a good film SLR. You can get one with a decent lens for relatively cheap, and you'll be investing in a system for your future. Shutter-lag won't be an issue anymore, and image quality will be as good as your ability and the film you choose.

If you absolutely must have digital, see what used Canon Digital Rebels are selling for.

And share some photos with us. I don't think anyone has posted any fight photos here. Maybe some boxing stuff, a long time ago. But I don't think there are any martial arts or boxing photographers posting here right now.

Hope this helps - and welcome to the site!

[strychnine]

Thanks for the tips.

I am pretty serious about getting the best shots I can... for the $$$ I can afford, so I think I'll be saving a bit longer.

Here are a couple of the Indy Car pics. Two collages and two full pics. Let me know what you think.

I am currently in the process of moving, so I will post some MMA pics ASAP.

[terryger]

since you are in s. cal i am sure you aware of the cloacl frys store.

they have the best deal i have seen on the 350d slr.

i believe i saw it for about $750 give or take.

that is a-only a few bucks more than what you were looking at.

it is the minimum i would get for the fast action you are trying to capture.

the advice given is all good and on the mark.

vere the less you cannt anticipate a punch and would be totally lucky to ever get it.

look at my post below called test of a test.

the series was caught with a 20d which is a hair faster than the 350 but it was the speed that was important to me. there is not way i could set up for a single and get this action.

i am at the same place you are. i thought of the 350 and came close but streatched a little more for the 20d.

it was worth it to me but i more than likely could have gotten by pretty well with the 350.

cars are differnt than the human and dog sports we take.

the bigger the burst the happier you will be as you will find things your camera saw that your eye never did.

check it out!