Canon 20D?

seanbreaux1

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Hi i posted before that i wanted a good camera that shoots fast to take with me snowboarding. I kept looking around and found that the 20D seemed to fit my needs it is 5fps and 8.2 mega pixels. I wanted to know if this is a good camera for me a noob and if it takes good pictures. Also is it okay to take snowboarding in the cold. I also wanted to know what lens to get for it some one suggested a fast lens to make the 5fps work i guess( I don't know the difference). I need it to have good zoom. I was looking at some of the canon telephoto lenses and they seemed good. I don't know if those would be fast or not. I dont want to spend a fortune on a lens so lets skip the 1500 dollar lenses.

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make sure i get the right stuff.

I really appreciate everyones help

Thanks

Sean
 
Just so you know, a fast lens isn't one that physically shoots faster. The camera body is what decides how fast shots are taken, that and what file types you are using. When someone says a fast lens, that means it has a lower f/stop. Like, f/2.8, that's a fast lens, because it works better in lower light. An f/4 lens isn't fast, it's decent, sure, but it's not fast. At least this is what I've been told, maybe I'm wrong.
 
Trenton is right.

A fast lens, means you can shoot with a faster shutter speed because the aperture lets in more light.
This CAN limit your FPS, if the camera needs more than 1/5 of a second to take a shot, you can't get 5 FPS.

Since snowboarding is usually in good conditions, you won't need the fastest lens in the world...but fastest possible is what you're looking for.
The 70-200 F4L would be right up your alley if you wanna spend a little. It's under 600 bucks. 559.95 at bhphoto.com
 
That is correct, a 'fast' lens is a lens with a large maximum aperture. (smaller F number is a larger aperture). So F2.8 is fast for a zoom lens.

I need it to have good zoom
Zoom is the ability to change the focal length...say from 17mm to 85mm. Is that what you mean? Or do you mean that you would like a long focal length, so that you can get shots of things that are far away?

Getting back to the original question, the 20D is a fantastic camera. It was one of the best in it's day. I've got a couple of them.

Now, which lens should you get? If you are shooting outdoors in bright light (which I would assume for snowboarding) then the max aperture might not be too much of an issue. You could save a lot of money by getting a lens that only has a max aperture of F4, rather than F2.8.

I would suggest looking at the 70-200 F4 L. It comes in two versions...one with Image Stabilization and one without. The version without IS can be found HERE for $539. The version with IS, is much more expensive, close to $1000.
The 70-200 F4 L is one of the sharpest zoom lenses avaliable, the image quality is fantastic. Also, the build quality it top of the line, which is good when you are up on a mountain. The F4 (no IS) is also one of the best deals in terms of quality for the money.

If 200mm is not long enough, you could look at a 70(75) to 300mm lens. They can be found for less than $200 for cheap ones and much more for a better one with IS. The problem with these is that the max aperture, especially at the long end, is getting pretty small. It might be OK if the light is plentiful...but in low light, shooting sports would be an exercise in futility.
 
I'd suggest the 70-200 4L also. I love mine. Picked it up used for $425. Look around I'm sure you can find one at a good price.
 
i'm no expert when it comes to photography nor am i a pro or even an amateur. It's just a hobby for now, but I have used the 40d and 30d and both cameras produce outstanding results. There isn't much of a difference between the 20d and 30d. I believe they have the same exact sensor, the 30d has a few upgrades, i guess you could call them that. The 20d will be an awesome camera. I skateboard a lot and my girlfriend has taken some sequence shots with her 40d and they came out perfectly so you should be fine. She used a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is lens which came with the camera in a kit and it has done really well so i'm assuming that the canon ef 70-300mm f/4-5.6 usm would work pretty well for what you want to do, plus it's only like $200.

heres a link to one of the sequence photos she took.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21793414@N08/2123776228/
 
What i meant is that i would like to be able to shoot things far away. I am sorry i have been confusing. i might be able to do 500 for the 70-200 F4 L but i would rather go a bit cheaper. therustytracks mentioned the canon ef 70-300mm f/4-5.6. Is this good? Does this see things farther away than the 70-200 F4 L? I guess the only problem with the amount of lighting going snowboarding is when it gets cloudy. would the cheaper one work well in the darker light?
 
Trenton is right.

A fast lens, means you can shoot with a faster shutter speed because the aperture lets in more light.
This CAN limit your FPS, if the camera needs more than 1/5 of a second to take a shot, you can't get 5 FPS.

Since snowboarding is usually in good conditions, you won't need the fastest lens in the world...but fastest possible is what you're looking for.
The 70-200 F4L would be right up your alley if you wanna spend a little. It's under 600 bucks. 559.95 at bhphoto.com

i have a Canon 70-210 F4 ill sell to you for 200.

I love my 20D, my only complaint is the smallish LCD screen.
And dont worry about the cold. I just got done shooting the Gaylord Texan Ice Exhibit. The interior is kept at a constant 7* farenheit. The 20D performed like a champ. I filled up 2 memory cards. The only reason i stopped shooting is because i could no longer move my fingers well enough to change exposure settings.
 
the 70-200mm f/4L is a way better lens than the ef 70-300mm f/4-5.6. I believe the 300mm lens will have greater zoom capabilities, but the quality of the lens will be much less than that of the 70-200mm f4L. You also have to take into account the 1.6x crop factor which will make the 200mm lens more like a 320mm lens and the 300mm more like a 480mm. I think this is right. If not i'm sure someone on here can explain it better or correct me if i'm wrong. I'm not sure what kind of result you're looking for within the pictures. I've heard a lot of good things about both lenses, however the 200mm f4L is far superior in quality to the ef 300mm usm lens but they both take good pictures. It's a hard decision to make. You could spend $600+ on the 200mm f4L or $200 on the 300mm. I've been killing myself over the same situation. I need a decent lens to take pictures of my friends surfing but i'm not sure i'm ready to spend a lot of money on a lens. Sorry i'm not much help i just thought i could give you some useful information. hope it helps a bit
 
I am friends with a lot of snowboarding photographers and they tend to shoot with wider glass. If you look in any snowboarding magazine the photographer is usually pretty close to the action, unless a telephoto picture is desired. check out this link http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html look at all of the lenses offered for Canon and you can see the difference between them. Then check BH for the prices and you should get a better idea of what is available in your price range.
 
I shot on a 70-300 for a while, and one thing to consider in this selection is that it can become very difficult to handhold a lens at 300mm.

Secondly, I think that to take photos of snowboarding, the 70-300 would generally be fine in terms of the f-stop. 5.6 isn't terrible, and since you will generally be outside and not around twilight, there will be a lot of light (most likely even enough when it's cloudy)
 
mentioned the canon ef 70-300mm f/4-5.6. Is this good? Does this see things farther away than the 70-200 F4 L? I guess the only problem with the amount of lighting going snowboarding is when it gets cloudy. would the cheaper one work well in the darker light?
300mm is longer than 200mm...so this lens can 'see things farther away'. The 70-30omm had a smaller aperture at the long end of the zoom...but it's not a huge difference. The big difference between these two is the quality. The 70-200mm is a much higher quality lens.

I'm guessing that you will be happy with the quality of the 70-300mm...and certainly happy with the price.
 

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