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- #16
Pentax was very late to the digital game and Sony are very new to the DLSR market (even though they bought out an older camera company). As a result Canon and Nikon stole the market and share massive parcels of it - as a result the average person generally has move experience of one of those two brands over others like Sony and Pentax.
On the DSLR front I would say that a Canon 7D is certainly an ideal way to start this area, giving you a high quality body with fast AF, good build and video - heck if you want more you've got either a 5MIII or a 1DMIV either of which would basically eat up your budget and leave nothing for a lens - and in this field of photography a good lens is expensive and important.
As for what lens to go for that is more tricky. Canon side you can consider:
300mm f4 IS L - with a 1.4TC as well you get a fast lens that has good image quality and the support of IS. You can use it for the sports field or use the 1.4TC and get out for the countryside with 420mm f5.6 IS L in effect (1.4TC increases lens focal length by 1.4 times, but "costs" one stop off your maximum aperture).
400mm f5.6 L - sharper than the above and the sharpest in this price bracket - good quality and fast AF and very popular with bird photographers. Downside is you might find it a bit long for some sports (its an iffy statment though since many sports shooters will use 400mm prime lenses). As a budget fitting easy choice for both this might be the best bang for your buck lens.
100-400mm IS L f4.5-5.6 - this has a variable maximum aperture and also the lower image quality being as its a zoom. However it will deliver perfectly usable images (it is an L lens) and if you can stop down a little at the long end you can get some very very sharp shots.
As you can see the biggest downside with this price bracket of lenses is the maximum aperture. Sports and wildlife both put strong demands on your gear as they both need quality long reach, fast shutter speeds and also often both have less than ideal lighting. With the above combos you'll find you'll have to raise the ISO higher and higher as you hit that f5.6 400mm barrier.
Another option is to consider the second hand market - a Second hand Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 is a quality lens that should fit your budget with a bit of room to spare to allow for a 7D. It gives you a faster working maximum aperture and a good zoom range for the sports pitch. Combine with a 1.4TC and you've an impressive range up to 420mm and if you can stop down it can do decently well with a 2*TC so I've read (though it might prove a bit of a quality drop for some).
It has got a newer and optically improved version now in the 120-300mm OS edition - however that lens new costs $3.2K and thus would leave far less budget for your camera body. You might get lucky with one second hand (Sigma lenses tend to drop off more in value second hand) and then maybe pick up a second hand 7D or you could get a 60D for reduced cost.
On the DSLR front I would say that a Canon 7D is certainly an ideal way to start this area, giving you a high quality body with fast AF, good build and video - heck if you want more you've got either a 5MIII or a 1DMIV either of which would basically eat up your budget and leave nothing for a lens - and in this field of photography a good lens is expensive and important.
As for what lens to go for that is more tricky. Canon side you can consider:
300mm f4 IS L - with a 1.4TC as well you get a fast lens that has good image quality and the support of IS. You can use it for the sports field or use the 1.4TC and get out for the countryside with 420mm f5.6 IS L in effect (1.4TC increases lens focal length by 1.4 times, but "costs" one stop off your maximum aperture).
400mm f5.6 L - sharper than the above and the sharpest in this price bracket - good quality and fast AF and very popular with bird photographers. Downside is you might find it a bit long for some sports (its an iffy statment though since many sports shooters will use 400mm prime lenses). As a budget fitting easy choice for both this might be the best bang for your buck lens.
100-400mm IS L f4.5-5.6 - this has a variable maximum aperture and also the lower image quality being as its a zoom. However it will deliver perfectly usable images (it is an L lens) and if you can stop down a little at the long end you can get some very very sharp shots.
As you can see the biggest downside with this price bracket of lenses is the maximum aperture. Sports and wildlife both put strong demands on your gear as they both need quality long reach, fast shutter speeds and also often both have less than ideal lighting. With the above combos you'll find you'll have to raise the ISO higher and higher as you hit that f5.6 400mm barrier.
Another option is to consider the second hand market - a Second hand Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 is a quality lens that should fit your budget with a bit of room to spare to allow for a 7D. It gives you a faster working maximum aperture and a good zoom range for the sports pitch. Combine with a 1.4TC and you've an impressive range up to 420mm and if you can stop down it can do decently well with a 2*TC so I've read (though it might prove a bit of a quality drop for some).
It has got a newer and optically improved version now in the 120-300mm OS edition - however that lens new costs $3.2K and thus would leave far less budget for your camera body. You might get lucky with one second hand (Sigma lenses tend to drop off more in value second hand) and then maybe pick up a second hand 7D or you could get a 60D for reduced cost.
i am leaning towards 7D with 100-400. But a friend of me brought his a77 over a hour ago. He has the 70-300 G SSM lens.. it focus so fast. But as the 7D is outdated (by date) by the A77, shouldn`t you have better time tracking a bird with the A77?
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