Digital sports photography ?

danger99 · Aug 1, 2007

Howdy, I just got a job shooting photography of whitewater raft customers and need a camera. These will be action shots so I'll need to take at least three shots/sec, with a zoom of <30- ?mm, and used under ~$600 with everything included. I'll also need to sync it to my laptop w/ a USB cable. A friend suggested a Canon D10. Any other thoughts/ suggestions?

Thanks, Dan

DSLR noob · Aug 1, 2007

Nikon D40 with 18-55 kit maybe? This assumes you aren't really serious about photography or plan to get an array of super nice lenses later on.

JIP · Aug 1, 2007

Are you serious $600 to shoot 3 frames a second from what I will assume is going to be the riverbank??? Not gonna happen!!! Find out what they are shooting with and go from there. I will assume you will need like a D200 with a 70-200VR 2.8 and neither one of them will be anywhere near $600. Remember you will probably be dealing with some rough wet and dirty conditions and you need a fast body and lens $600 will not get you close to that by the way where did you come up with the $600 figure??

danger99 · Aug 1, 2007

Canon EOS D10 on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-D10-C...yZ107906QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm looking for a camera similar to this one. Maybe a Nikon D40/ 50? What's the difference? Any other thoughts? Is Canon any more reliable than Nikon? My wife's camera is a Minolta Diamage and at 1.1 frames/ sec. is too slow.

Dan

Garbz · Aug 1, 2007

No canon / nikon are equal in many models. Reliability is no different between companies only between models. The Nikon D200 is the one I recommend because 5fps shooting, a large buffer so it can shoot at this speed for a long time, and it has environmental seals so it may survive in the humid / wet conditions. However that is way out of your budget.

I don't know what else I can say. I doubt a D40 is going to be anywhere near good enough reliability and build quality wise. Does it even do 3fps? The D80 or Canon EOS350D may only just scrape in too. The 10D is fairly old and there you may have reliability issues. Being an older camera there's no guarantee it hasn't fired off 100000 frames and may died the first day you take it out. Repairing shutters costs quite a bit.

This is not counting the lens. If you look at sport shooters in general they typically have multi thousand dollar bodies, with lenses costing many times more.

S2K1 · Aug 2, 2007

Sports Shooting = $$$! You might try a used Canon 20D around $700 which will shoot at 5fps. Who knows how it'll hold up to the water though.

cecilc · Aug 2, 2007

danger99 said:
... so I'll need to take at least three shots/sec, with a zoom of <30- ?mm, and used under ~$600 with everything included.

Well that's a pretty tall order ... not the equipment itself, but the equipment requirements with a $600.00 ceiling !! The equipment that will do the best job for you with those specs will be more than $600.00 "everything included" ....

If the specs you've outlined are real and not "suggested", then I wouldn't get anything less than the equivalent of a Canon 20D (and whichever brand you get it should have the same features and speed of a 20D). I'd even go so far as to recommend a used 1D body (which, used, you can probably get for about $800.00 - it'll handle the speed you need, and will offer more flexibility in other features, too). As for lenses ... shooting sports usually requires fast lenses for good reasons: subject isolation and fast shutter speeds (or, at least, the option of fast shutter speeds!). And if you need a fast (f2.8) zoom lens at <30mm, then you're going to spend some bucks on it ... the Canon 16-35 f2.8 zoom used will go for about $900 or so. If you can get by with a prime lens at <30mm, the Canon 20mm f2.8 you can get for about $350 used. Or a 28mm f2.8 you can probably find even cheaper used.

First, though, make sure that the specs and requirements you've listed are real needs ....

danger99 · Aug 2, 2007

This one seems to meet my needs: http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-10d-Digit...ryZ43454QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Any reason NOT to get a 10d? It's an older discontinued model but it shoots 3 frames/ sec and has a lens range of 28- 200mm. Seems like a good deal. And they seem to have good resale so I could always resell it this fall after my job ends.

Thanks for everyone's continued suggestions and patience with a neophyte such as myself.

Dan

DSLR noob · Aug 2, 2007

I just think the 10D has a feature list compaired to that of the original Digital Rebel which is pretty obsolete but if it does what you want it to do and you're willing to risk a small shutter life then go for it I guess. Not like you'll need some of the more advanced features from the newer cameras. I guess we all just try and look at photography as an art and that camera is a tad harder to use compaired to todays entry levels even for really artistic shots, doesn't mean it cant get good shots though. go for it I suppose.

Tolyk · Aug 3, 2007

I'm sorry, but I have to ask. How did you land the job as the photographer without the gear? Did you already work for the company?

Jon, The Elder · Aug 3, 2007

For $600.00 your going to have a tough time getting the results you are looking for. It sounds like you are relying on a friend for your info. Photography is not a passion here, but a facet of the job.

Good luck......

Come back and let us know how it all turns out.