Sports Photography Forum

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  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Sep 2005
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    West Virginia
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    Student Needs Help!

    Hey All,

    I'm new here so excuse me if I come off as clueless (not far from the truth!).

    At the beginning of the summer, I was elected to be the sports editor for my school's paper for the next two years (or until I graduated. You never know!).

    When I took over, the sports department was lacking. The newsroom has photographers and staff writers along with school owned cameras. The sports department, on the other hand, is myself and no camera.

    I use Quark Express to do 3 full-size newspaper pages a day. And, for the last 5 years, there has never been a photo in the sports page because we were never given a camera. I've tried to get funding through the communication department and straight from the state, but nobody will help out.

    So I'm buying one myself to make the sports page about 100x better.

    My question is: What camera should I buy?

    I'm willing to spend over $250 but that needs to be able to take images that are paper quality. We don't print many color photos except for the front page so black and white photos are the usual. And a nice zoom would be nice too (maybe a 10x).

    I'm really new at all the terms about shutter speed and stuff but I know the numbers need to be high for sports photography. Any help would be great.

  2. #2
    News & Rum-or-ator opus's Avatar
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    Southeast Wisconsin
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    Re: Student Needs Help!

    film or digital?


    If film, I recommend this:

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

    and maybe this:

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

    Although you will have trouble in low light with these lenses, but you can use high ISO film. This combination will take you from about 28mm to 300mm, which will cover pretty much everything you'll ever need. Yeah the pros have better equipment and can get the better shots, but I shot two years in H.S. with a 35mm and a 400mm telephoto lens and got great shots. (everything can be cropped, after all)

    I think this combination is PLENTY of quality for a school newspaper, which cannot print sharp photos anyway. I'm not familiar with brands like Vivitar, Sigma, Phoenix or Tamron, but you can get those lenses even cheaper. For school purposes, they just might be good enough.


    I'll let others recommend digital options. I know digital is better for workflow, but for the money I think you can get more options in focal length with film.
    Drink Coffee. Do stupid things faster with more energy.


  3. #3
    Junior Member
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    West Virginia
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    Re: Student Needs Help!

    Yes, I should have mentioned that it needs to be digital. Sorry about that. We do have a dark room and junk and I took photo journalism my freshmen year to learn how to develop but it is way too time consuming with daily deadlines looming.

    But, I still might look into that camera for my own personal use. I love shooting sports just for fun. And the price is great for a good camera.

  4. #4
    Moderator
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    Mar 2004
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    McCordsville, IN
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    Re: Student Needs Help!

    See if you can find an Olympus C2100-UZ. I used to use one and the local paper ran a ton of my shots from it. You will need a flash for it though as the built in flash is too little. I shot everything from racing to all high school sports with it. Got some great shots with it too. You have to learn to antisipate a bit though as, like all early digitals it has shutter lag.

    Oh, this camera is a 10x

    Now if you can scrounge up the $$ I's suggest a Cannon Digital Rebel, anyone of which will work and give you more flexability lens wise.

    If I were you I'd try and talk to some local businesses, especially those that support the athletics dept and see if they can donate some $$ to buy the school another camera.

    JS

  5. #5
    News & Rum-or-ator opus's Avatar
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    Re: Student Needs Help!

    If you're getting it for yourself, I would recommend you research and compare all the cameras in the REBEL series. If you go up in price, you get a few more things you might be happier with, for instance 3 frames per second rather than 1-1/2.

    And when you settle on the model you like, you might be able to find a used one for a lot less money, since they're film and a bit "older".

    Then you'll have more money for the lens, which is the most important factor in getting good quality shots.




    I started out with a Rebel Ti and it was, and still is, a great camera.
    Drink Coffee. Do stupid things faster with more energy.


  6. #6
    Jedi Master masdog's Avatar
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    Somewhere north of US 10 and east of Wausau, WI, USA
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    Re: Student Needs Help!

    Before you go out and buy a camera for yourself, have you considered having one of the staff photographers assigned to get sports pictures? I don't know how your paper works, but you could possibly put in photo requests with the editor and have a staff one sent out to get them for you. It would save you a lot of money.

    Otherwise, you might want to look into a Digital Rebel series camera. Unfortunately, anything useful for sports, including a decent lens, could run you at least $1500. There is probably a good point and shoot that will fit your needs, but I am not too familiar with any models.
    Sean Massey
    Massey Photography

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