New with a tight budget for sports kit

[ChainPain]

Good afternoon.



The budget is $1250.



Since I'm not a professional and I'm on a tight budget, I was considering the Nikon D3300 but I'm opened to suggestions.


I usually photograph indoor sports, specifically volleyball, and I also like street photography.




I saw these lenses for the D3300. What do you think?

- Nikon 18-200mm VR II AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G ED

- Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Nikon

- Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG OS

- AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

- Nikon 55-200mm F4-5.6G AF-S DX IF-ED


Thanks in advanced.

 

[robbins.photo]

Good afternoon.



The budget is $1250.



Since I'm not a professional and I'm on a tight budget, I was considering the Nikon D3300 but I'm opened to suggestions.


I usually photograph indoor sports, specifically volleyball, and I also like street photography.




I saw these lenses for the D3300. What do you think?

- Nikon 18-200mm VR II AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G ED

- Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Nikon

- Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG OS

- AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

- Nikon 55-200mm F4-5.6G AF-S DX IF-ED


Thanks in advanced.

It's pretty doubtful you'll get acceptable results with any of the lenses you've listed, they are "slow" glass - by that I mean the really don't let in a ton of light. As a result for shooting indoors in most gyms you'll have to push your ISO to very high levels and introduce a lot of noise into the final results.

My recommendation? Refurbished D5200, A Nikkor 85 mm 1.8 AFS-G for shooting indoors, and then maybe an additional "walk around" lens for when your not shooting in the gym. That should keep you within your budget and get you the kind of results your after.

 

[tirediron]

Increase your budget a bit and pick up a used D700 & 80-200 f2.8. You should be able to pull that off for around $1600.

 

[bryguy_ASU]

Go for a Samsung NX30
Or... Sony A6000

 

[Iloper]

Pentax k3 - great ISO till 3200
the d700, omd-1, fuji xt...

You need one of two things: good high ISO body or a zoom 2.8 lens.. and a body good till 1600 Iso and a good framerate (50D?)
above i talked about the.cheaper option...

 

[curtyoungblood]

Shooting at 1600 and 2.8 is still not enough for most of the high school gyms I shoot in. 3200 or 4000 is usually much better.

 

[robbins.photo]

Shooting at 1600 and 2.8 is still not enough for most of the high school gyms I shoot in. 3200 or 4000 is usually much better.

Same experience here - and on a crop sensor camera you'll need every ounce of high iso to low noise ratio you can get - and in the listed budget range for both body and glass I think the OP's best bet is going to be the D5200 and an 85 mm 1.8 AFS-G. The lighting in most gyms is just terrible.

Granted something like a full frame camera and a 70-200 mm F/2.8 would be great to have, but not really feasible in that budgetary range.

 

[Braineack]

I was thinking the D5200 (~$500) and 85mm 1.8G (~$380) as well. Should be able to make that happen well under budget.

the 80-200 2.8 (push pull ~$300) would be a great zoom for a body like the D700 ($1200); this isn't a bad option either. It's a still very beastly/capable body.

or the 70-200 2.8 Sigma (~$700), couple that with a cheaper refurb'd consumer body like a D5200 ($500) and you're in business. Right around $1200 or so.

 

[ronlane]

Increase your budget a bit and pick up a used D700 & 80-200 f2.8. You should be able to pull that off for around $1600.

Agree with John on this.

 

[EIngerson]

Increase your budget a bit and pick up a used D700 & 80-200 f2.8. You should be able to pull that off for around $1600.

Agree with John on this.

Agreed. It will be worth the extra money to you.

 

[shadowlands]

Inside most basketball gyms, I'm at ISO 3200 at least... often times 6400 is better.....

 

[shadowlands]

Increase your budget a bit and pick up a used D700 & 80-200 f2.8. You should be able to pull that off for around $1600.

Agree with John on this.

Agreed. It will be worth the extra money to you.

Ha, sorry I didn't see this earlier... that's what I did!!!
I would show up to an indoor game with a D300 and 70-300 VR. AWFUL!!!!!
Grabbing the D700 and 80-200 f2.8.. Game changer!!! Not looking back!!!

 

[ChainPain]

Thank you all.

I saw one D700 for $950 with 1 year warranty and the seller say that the shutter count has 30 000. I'll see if I can get it.

Is the Canon 70D (new for 1000$) a good choice for this purpose?

Thanks in advanced.

 

[ronlane]

Thank you all.

I saw one D700 for $950 with 1 year warranty and the seller say that the shutter count has 30 000. I'll see if I can get it.

Is the Canon 70D (new for 1000$) a good choice for this purpose?

Thanks in advanced.

The 70D is the newest in this Canon line. Would it be good for sports? It would work but still not the best choice. The 7D from Canon is more suited for sports and just had a price drop to $999 for body only. You can get a used 70-200mm f/4 L to go with it for about $500. Still a little more than your budget but it's not a bad start.

 

[jaomul]

Agree with Ronlane but in real use the difference between the 70d and 7d isn't that much, but the new 7d price makes it very attractive over the 70d.

However, your biggest obstacle here is low light and the D700 is a better performer here than either Canon models