What camera for sports??(action shots)

[elemental]

Sports type (action) photography is one of the most demanding on equipment. With a $500 budget there is very little out there that would keep me happy. If I had to... I would go with a film camera and put whatever I had left over into a good lens. Heck.. most lenses will consume the $500 budget by itself.

There is so much focus on the camera body.. but people forgot about the lens.... Shooting a K10D or K20D (for example) with a 18-55 kit lens is going to be extremely limiting when it comes to downhill mountain biking...

Depends on where he's shooting from. The other thing that led me to recommend a K10D or even the Pentax system in general is the availability of sub-$100 K-mount telephotos on eBay, so yes, I did think of that.

You are definitely right that the lens is more important that the camera, but no DSLR under $500 is going to come with an adequate kit lens unless it's a two-lens kit, and that will probably run over $500 while still providing sub-par glass.

 

[brileyphotog]

I was very close to buying the K10 myself and ended up going with Nikon.

I may still get one yet. Pentax has a very nice system and offers a lot of features of the big boys at a way lower price. The company has been around forever and actually has a pretty good following.

I would not recommend the Sony Alpha yet. You can get a used Konica Minolta Maxxum(?) cheaper and its almost the same exact thing. Sony is going to be a contender in a few years but right now I'm not too impressed by their offerings.

Side note: I heard the eye start autofocus has some glitches and makes you go through batteries more quickly than normal.

 

[Mav]

the Canon has more megapixels (8) the D40 has 6. The Canon is more upgradeable like you said, because it will accept more lenses.

Nikon has canon beat in some cameras (look at the Nikon D3) but Canon currently wins in this market.

Actually that's not true. The Nikon will accept just about any lens Nikon has made since 1959 because the mount has never changed. It just won't autofocus except with the newer ones, although I know what you were saying.

Nikon's entry/consumer level cameras have been kicking Canon's butt in the market. It's Canon's pro level stuff that has been wiping the floor clean with Nikon for years now, at least until the D3.

 

[TamiyaGuy]

Well, any digital SLR is very responsive. It might take a bit to focus, but after that, if you switch it to Manual focus and take your shot, it will be instant. However, if you want to do some frame-by-frame photos, then you'll need to spend a lot. Cheap SLRs shoot at about 2.5-3FPS, which isn't really enough for something like biking.

Still, take your pic on any of the entry-level DSLRs:

Nikon D40/D40x (more pixels, faster shooting, more money)
Canon Rebel XTi or XSi (newer version)
Sony A100
Pentax K100d
And a few more that I can't remember the names of

Basically, get a feel for each camera. A 12-megapixel SLR wonder means very little if you'll keep using that old compact of yours!

I would also recommend a long zoom lens (about 55-200mm). This will cost a bit extra, but it'll be very worth it. Much better than having a bike slam into your face while searching for a photo.

But most of all, just see which camera feels "right" in your hands, and go for it.

 

[smyth]

2.5-3 FPS is more than enough... you'll just have to work on your technique a bit.