Equipment Recommendation

[ockham]

Hello.

About five years ago when my son was just starting youth football, the club we joined didn't have anyone taking photos of the games. I went out and bought a relatively inexpensive 3MP digital camera with a 10X optical zoom built in and started shooting.

Since that first season, I have shot literally thousands of shots - some of which were quite good I thought, and the parents seemed to like them, but honestly they were mostly crap. I wore out that camera and a second one just like it.

Its time now to get a third camera, but I have decided that I want to do a better job this season, and get better action shots. I'm willing to invest the time and money to do it better because the kids and their parents just love these silly pictures, and I've come to really enjoy providing them.

I would be very grateful if someone could recommend a good, yet relatively inexpensive digital SLR for this purpose. I've been reading reviews and am thinking seriously about a new Nikon D40, but so many of the games are played under stadium lights after dark, and much of the action is on the opposite side of the field. By league rules, I have to stay on our sideline.

I would love to find the right camera / lens combination to handle those kinds of shots well.

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.

 

[Mike_E]

Tough call, anything that will mate up with an f2.8 x-200. If you go Nikon then you can get a used f2.8 135 that has been AId pretty cheap. It is a manual but works out to 200mm at f2.8 but I think you'll need at least a D80 to meter with it.

I took this with one and an 11mm extension tube in a fairly dark hallway from about 6 feet. The carpet is actually a sand color. The catchlight is from a window behind me.

This is Aahz by the way.

 

[Buszaj]

quite a few companies make entry level dSLRs just for people like you. Canon has the Rebel XT and XTi, Nikon has the D40s and D80s, and Sony, Pentax, and Olympus also have their own entry-level SLRs. Look around, research cameras, see how they feel in your hands, and also plan ahead of time for lenses.

 

[JIP]

I think the D80 is the best choice for you so you can try and find a decent deal on a long 2.8 lens.

 

[WDodd]

I would say that any entry level dSLR would work for your purposes. The more important purchase would be a long, fast lens such as a 70-200 f/2.8. These are quite pricey even if they can be found used.

But if you had previously been shooting with a point and shoot and getting shots to come out in these conditions you might not need a 2.8.

 

[photogincollege]

I would just like to point out that maybe also look into the canon entry level models, the main reason i say this is that even with stadium lights some shots im sure wont be very well lit, and canon does tend to have better noise control at higher iso which you will likely be using, except for nikons new models that is, but those cost a bundle.