Camera Help Please

[lee3]

Ok I am currently using a Sony a380 with kit lenses. I am looking for a better starter camera to get better quality photos. I see mostly Canon and Nikon users on here. I am looking for a descent starter camera with a lens for shooting outdoor football and indoor cheerleading. I will be on the field sidelines for football and about 5-50 feet from the cheerleading stage. Is it possible to get good shots that far when flash photography is not allowed some places. Im am looking for a price range around $2,000 hopefully. Any input and advise is greatly appreciated.

 

[Forkie]

What do you mean by "better quality"? Sounds to me like you need to learn how to take good photos, not get a new camera. Your photos won't be any better if you get another camera - they all work in the same way. Perhaps you could post some pictures up and we could take a look and give you some pointers?

 

[lee3]

I cant get close enough with my Sony a380 55-200 lens. Do you have any suggestions on a better faster lens for a Sony. I was thinking of a 300 or 400mm

 

[mhk1058]

One of the best lens for sport is the Sigma 120-300mm but it's pricey. Decent 400mm is going to be expensive unless you get a slow lens, although a lot of people are very pleased with their Sigma (Bigma) 50-500mm lenses, which may be worth considering. They're cheap for what you get and there are always plenty second hand knocking about. (which may also be an indication of how good they really are)

 

[KmH]

Football basically requires 2 camera bodies and 2 lenses.

One body and lens for the telephoto work, the second body and lens for the close in action.

Both indoor action and nighttime field sports require camera bodies that have good high ISO performance and lenses that can open to a wide aperture.

Because of the inverse square law of light and light spread, strobed (flash, or speedlight) lighting is pretty much limited to close in action.

There are some speedlight attachments, like the Better Beamer that help the light spread issue somewhat: Visual Echoes FX3 Better Beamer Flash Extender for Use FX3 B&H but doesn't address the limitations imposed by the inverse square law.

Shooting sports well requires having a pretty good technical understanding of how the camera, lens, and light work. Because of the lighting conditions and distances involved, shooting sports requires some of the more expensive photography gear. (the Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 lens mentioned above is a $3200 lens, new. I use a Nikon 200-400 f/4 lens that is $5670, new, though I was able to buy the lens used for just $4000, an unusally low price.

The inverse square law is a physical law of nature. The amount of light that reaches a subject is a function of distance, and it is a square function. If the subject (or you) is moved to twice as far away, only 1/4th as much light reaches the subject. If the distance is again doubled, only 1/16th (the square of 1/4) of the light reaches the subject.