Hello from Houston. Wanting new Nikon for dog action photos

muzoff · Mar 20, 2014

Hi all,
Im new here, eager to read & learn, and mostly right now just needing some expert advice to make a decision.
Im a simple hobby photographer ( tho my dad was an army photographer), I will ashamedly admit to mostly shooting in Auto mode with my Nikon D50 and have an almost new D200 rarely used, it has more of a learning curve than I have time to give it. I want to catch dog action at home and at dog shows with more clarity than Ive been able to capture and from what Ive been reading, I need a faster camera in low light to do that. I also liketo shoot Macro. Im ready for a new Nikon to help me stop the action, but one that won't overwhelm me with too many adjustments. So do I stick with DX or is what I need FX or does it matter and would it be in any way a big or confusing change for me? Suggestions for models? Realistic budget <$1500.
My most used lenses are 18-200 & 70-200mm 2.8. Also lusting to add a 24-70mm.
- Suzanne

jaomul · Mar 20, 2014

Welcome to the forum.

The d200 is a pretty fast camera and you have nice lenses but newer cameras do better in low light. I'd be tempted to recommend a d7000 as it is a step up in picture quality. The d7100 is also there but the buffer is smallish so it may not be the best choice for action. There is of course the d300 or d300s. They are the original upgrade to the d200.

First and foremost learn your d200 before you drop money on a new camera. The d200 was and still is capable. Learn about shutter speeds, iso and focus modes. You may find your camera is good enough after all, but if not you will at least know why and what you need to look for

robbins.photo · Mar 20, 2014

muzoff said:
Hi all,
Im new here, eager to read & learn, and mostly right now just needing some expert advice to make a decision.
Im a simple hobby photographer ( tho my dad was an army photographer), I will ashamedly admit to mostly shooting in Auto mode with my Nikon D50 and have an almost new D200 rarely used, it has more of a learning curve than I have time to give it. I want to catch dog action at home and at dog shows with more clarity than Ive been able to capture and from what Ive been reading, I need a faster camera in low light to do that. I also liketo shoot Macro. Im ready for a new Nikon to help me stop the action, but one that won't overwhelm me with too many adjustments. So do I stick with DX or is what I need FX or does it matter and would it be in any way a big or confusing change for me? Suggestions for models? Realistic budget <$1500.
My most used lenses are 18-200 & 70-200mm 2.8. Also lusting to add a 24-70mm.
- Suzanne

There are a lot of newer models that will give you a lot of upgrade options, however the first thing to consider is your lenses. Some of the newer nikons do not have an autofocus motor built into the camera, so to autofocus they need lenses that have an autofocus motor built into the lens. This is an important consideration for you because if you choose a camera body that doesn't have a built in focus motor those lenses won't autofocus.

Any of the newer DSLRs can be used in modes that don't require a ton of adjustments. I would recommend you take a look a look at the d7100, it has the built in autofocus motor so you won't have to worry about lens selection, and a very good autofocus system that will come in handy for your action shots.

The 7100 has excellent low light characteristics and is really one of the best crop sensor cameras on the market. I would also highly recommend you put some money towards a fast sd card or two, my personal choice is the sandisk extreme pro 95 mps cards.

These cards with the much faster write speed will allow you to fire a longer burst without the camera slowing down because the buffer is getting overwhelmed.

A 7100 and one or two of the fast sd cards should be well within your listed budget.

Sorry, model # should be 7100, not 7200. Edited for clarity

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk

smalltowngirl13 · Mar 20, 2014

Welcome aboard Suzanne!

muzoff · Mar 20, 2014

The 7200 has excellent low light characteristics and is really one of the best crop sensor cameras on the market. I would also highly recommend you put some money towards a fast sd card or two, my personal choice is the sandisk extreme pro 95 mps cards.
These cards with the much faster write speed will allow you to fire a longer burst without the camera slowing down because the buffer is getting overwhelmed.

A 7100 and one or two of the fast sd cards should be well within your listed budget.

You recommend checkng out the D7200 but dont say if the D7100 within my budget has same built in autofocus motor?. I do want all the speed for bursting I can get so thanks for the SD card info tip. I dont want to dig out my D200 and waste my time trying to learn it if its not capable of the speed in low light/no flash allowed situations Im craving. I have a big event in 2 months I dont want to miss if I have the wrong camera.

Braineack · Mar 20, 2014

The D7200 like it's even available yet and won't be until late this year.

The D7100 is a great camera, and will work well for both your dog action shots and macro photography.

pixmedic · Mar 20, 2014

these were shot with a D200 and 180mm f/2.8

muzoff · Mar 21, 2014

thankyou for the suggestions!

JoeW · Mar 21, 2014

muzoff said:
Hi all,
Im new here, eager to read & learn, and mostly right now just needing some expert advice to make a decision.
Im a simple hobby photographer ( tho my dad was an army photographer), I will ashamedly admit to mostly shooting in Auto mode with my Nikon D50 and have an almost new D200 rarely used, it has more of a learning curve than I have time to give it. I want to catch dog action at home and at dog shows with more clarity than Ive been able to capture and from what Ive been reading, I need a faster camera in low light to do that. I also liketo shoot Macro. Im ready for a new Nikon to help me stop the action, but one that won't overwhelm me with too many adjustments. So do I stick with DX or is what I need FX or does it matter and would it be in any way a big or confusing change for me? Suggestions for models? Realistic budget <$1500.
My most used lenses are 18-200 & 70-200mm 2.8. Also lusting to add a 24-70mm.
- Suzanne

The D200 is fine. The 200mm f2.8 is critical (b/c most dogs aren't going to stay still for you. I think the larger issue for you is NOT the camera, it's learning about photographing dogs...picking the right angle, anticipating good shots from the activity, setting up cute reactions. In many ways, photographing dogs is like shooting sports...you can be good with a camera and knowledgable about it and yet your photos of the football or basketball game can suck. Being a good sports shooter is a world itself.

Well, if you want to get better pictures of your dog, rather than spend $1500 for a new body, you may want to contact a photographer who specializes in dog photography (I know a couple on the East Coast but I have no names to give you for Houston) and offer to pay $250-$500 for a hands-on tutorial.

Just a couple of thoughts:
1. You want fast glass b/c your dog isn't going to stay still so you'll be shooting with a fast shutter speed.
2. Anticipation is key, like being a good photojournalist or sports shooter, you can't wait for a good shot to appear you'll need to anticipate it.
3. Some of the best shots will come with an accomplice. Get someone to throw a ball or jack with your dog. Just watch to get a sense of the patterns. Then pre-focus, anticipate, and shoot.
4. Most of the dog events I've seen (agility, rally, etc.) have been indoors. Crappy lighting. So you want a camera you can jack up the ISO on and also consider adjusting the white balance to offset arena or venue lighting.
5. For your purposes, I don't think NX vs. DX is the important decision.

Best of luck (from a fellow dog lover)

IceCanAm · Mar 22, 2014

Welcome to the site.

jamesparker1250 · Mar 23, 2014

Welcome to the site

muzoff · Mar 25, 2014

The D200 is fine. The 200mm f2.8 is critical (b/c most dogs aren't going to stay still for you. I think the larger issue for you is NOT the camera, it's learning about photographing dogs...picking the right angle, anticipating good shots from the activity, setting up cute reactions. In many ways, photographing dogs is like shooting sports...you can be good with a camera and knowledgable about it and yet your photos of the football or basketball game can suck. Being a good sports shooter is a world itself.

Well, if you want to get better pictures of your dog, rather than spend $1500 for a new body, you may want to contact a photographer who specializes in dog photography (I know a couple on the East Coast but I have no names to give you for Houston) and offer to pay $250-$500 for a hands-on tutorial.

Just a couple of thoughts:
1. You want fast glass b/c your dog isn't going to stay still so you'll be shooting with a fast shutter speed.
2. Anticipation is key, like being a good photojournalist or sports shooter, you can't wait for a good shot to appear you'll need to anticipate it.
3. Some of the best shots will come with an accomplice. Get someone to throw a ball or jack with your dog. Just watch to get a sense of the patterns. Then pre-focus, anticipate, and shoot.
4. Most of the dog events I've seen (agility, rally, etc.) have been indoors. Crappy lighting. So you want a camera you can jack up the ISO on and also consider adjusting the white balance to offset arena or venue lighting.
5. For your purposes, I don't think NX vs. DX is the important decision.

Best of luck (from a fellow dog lover)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the input JoeW from NoVa, (formerly lived in NoVa myself, FHHS class of 1970),
my concern isnt about posing my own dogs or getting the right angle, Im confident Ive got that part down ok at home and outside tho just pretty much using auto mode. Its mostly more the very low light situations at the inside dog shows, often in livestock barns where I cant seem to get good shots. Even at the shows indoors, like in hotel ballrooms, the lighting is pretty poor and some shows dont allow flash. With the 70-200 I can get decent shots of the dogs trotting around the ring with flash but when flash is not allowed the focus is slower and hard to impossible at the distance and probably just my incompetance in not knowing how to shoot in manual. I realize my D50 is entry level and never tried to learn the D200 on the shelf but can give it a shot (pun intended) if it has a good enough low light capacity sensor for bursting shots across the room, I dont know the answer to that and want to know is why I posted the question here(seems the menu is more confusing on the D200),....otherwise Id just as soon upgrade right now to a newer faster model so I can learn on that. I should and will look into getting a dog show saavy tutor as you suggested but would want to learn with lessons on the right camera for what I want to shoot better and more of.
-Suzanne