Nikon camera/lens recommendation

[Laxdad80]

I want to buy my first digital camera and I want to get a Nikon because I have 2 lenes from an old Nikon. I want a camera which would be good for sports photography (tennis and lacrosse). What camera and lens should I get? Is eBay a good place to buy (? good deals)?

 

[Light Artisan]

Nikon D3 series with the following:
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VRII
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 600mm f/4 VR

Apparently there's no budget, so let's go all out... toss in a few SB-900's and some PocketWizards too...

 

[benhasajeep52 50]

I suggest a D7000 or higher (D300s, D700, etc). Reason for this is a D7000 will work with just about any Nikon lens. Cameras below this will only work in Manual mode with no metering with older non-cpu lenses. A D7000 or higher (D300 or even used D200's as well). You can imput the lens your mounting and have metering and A mode besides M mode. Makes it a bit easier to use older lenses. Plus the build quality is better and is in general a better camera.

 

[Laxdad80]

What about a sports lens? Is eBay a good place to buy?

 

[mjhoward]

*Insert answer as vague as question here*

 

[Laxdad80]

Read #1 above genius

 

[JohnS.]

Read #1 above genius

People are only posting what they are posting because your original post is so vague. Any DSLR can be good in sports. I use my Nikon D40 for action and it is an old camera now and can be had for cheap. Great lenses are what make the difference.

How much are you willing to spend? Are you going to want more lenses in the future? If so, would you want to rather buy lenses that are more expensive with the autofocus motor or lenses that are cheaper that will autofocus via the camera (this will determine which levels of camera to buy/not to buy)? What capabilities do you want? Etc., etc., etc.

 

[KmH]

I want to buy my first digital camera and I want to get a Nikon because I have 2 lenes from an old Nikon. I want a camera which would be good for sports photography (tennis and lacrosse). What camera and lens should I get? Is eBay a good place to buy (? good deals)?

How old are the 2 Nikon lenses you currently have? Are they pre-Ai (late 70's)?

You will need one lens for tennis, and another lens with more reach for lacrosse, because it is a field sport.

Sports photographers tend to use burst mode a lot, so a good frames-per-second rate is a desireable feature in a camera body.

Another issue to address is the autio focs module in a camera primarily used for shooting sports.

Lastly, shooting sports is one of the most difficult of photography genre's to master because the action is not planned. Having a good understanding of each sport and the individual players is very helpful for antispating the action.

Typically for shooting sports a photographer will use 2 or even 3 camera bodies so they can have 2 or 3 different lenses mounted and ready to go.

For field sports I use a Nikon D3, and 1 or 2 of the Nikon D300 w/MB-D10 vertical grips.

I mount a Nikon AF-S 200-400 mm f/4 on a monopod and attach the D300 body to the lens. I usually mount a Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8 on a second D300, and an AF 24-85 mm f/2.8-4 on the D3 for the close in shots.

 

[Laxdad80]

I think that the comment above about the D7000 being better with older lens answers my camera body question.

Right now I have the following;
Nikon 50mm 1:1.8
Nikon 28mm 1:2.8
Tamron 28-200mm 1:3.8-5.6

I think that these lenses would be sufficient for most things that I would shoot (family pictures, landscapes, sports in good light). My guess is that the Tamron would not be good in low light (night games). Am I right?Therefore a zoom with low f stop I think would be helpful. Am I correct? I know these lenses are very expensive. I would want something at the lower or mid price range since I am not a professional and since this would be a relatively small # of photos taken (relative to family photos and landscapes). I was not aware that some lenses have built in motors. What does this offer over camera auto-focus- speed?

 

[benhasajeep52 50]

If you trying to keep the budget down. Look for a third party 70-200 f/2.8 lens (Sigma, Tamron, etc). You can still get a NEW Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 for just over $1000. This is a very solid performing lens with the old AF system. Yes its slower than the AF-S lenses (af speed). But it's held its own for nearly 2 decades, and stayed in production even long after Nikon basically came out with an AF-S replacement.

You can find some gems on Ebay and you can also find quite a few scams. If there was 1 place I would order a used lens from, without hesitating. That would be KEH (keh.com). They have their own site and is basically the largest used camera dealer in the world. They are very trustworthy in their rating system.

 

[MrLogic]

If you trying to keep the budget down. Look for a third party 70-200 f/2.8 lens (Sigma, Tamron, etc).

Just the Sigma.

The Tamron is not a sports lens. AF is unreliable and slow.

 

[djacobox372]

I think that the comment above about the D7000 being better with older lens answers my camera body question.

Right now I have the following;
Nikon 50mm 1:1.8
Nikon 28mm 1:2.8
Tamron 28-200mm 1:3.8-5.6

I think that these lenses would be sufficient for most things that I would shoot (family pictures, landscapes, sports in good light). My guess is that the Tamron would not be good in low light (night games). Am I right?Therefore a zoom with low f stop I think would be helpful. Am I correct? I know these lenses are very expensive. I would want something at the lower or mid price range since I am not a professional and since this would be a relatively small # of photos taken (relative to family photos and landscapes). I was not aware that some lenses have built in motors. What does this offer over camera auto-focus- speed?

That's not a bad lens kit--the autofocus tamron would be a good "everyday" lens, and the primes will help out when you need some extra quality and low-light performance.

The tamron will meter on any nikon DSLR body, but it will only autofocus on bodies with an af motor.

You don't have to spend $1500 on a D7000, to buy a dslr that will work with all the old lenses--you can spend as little as $400 on a used D200, or $750 a used D300.

Ebay is a great place to buy used, due to their "buyer protection"

As for the "budget sports lens." Here are some suggestions:

$370: AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF VR (downside: still a slow lens so freezing action may be difficult--the VR will help avoid camera shake)

$450: Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AFD

$185: Nikkor 300mm f4.5 ais. Manual focus but cheap, fairly quick, and EXCELLENT optics.

ps. I'm not so sure you should be letting your current lens collection drive your purchase choice. There are no "gems" in your collection, it only has a overall value of around $150 (250 if the 28mm ISN'T a series E), you could always sell it on ebay and start fresh. I too am a HUGE fan of old nikon glass, but not the ones you listed.

 

[point-&-shoot]

Nikon D3 series with the following:
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VRII
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 600mm f/4 VR

Apparently there's no budget, so let's go all out... toss in a few SB-900's and some PocketWizards too...

this but if your on a little tighter budget substitute the D3 series for a D700 knock off the last two lenses.

as far as where to buy id stick with b&h or adorama for their good customer service.

 

[Laxdad80]

Thanks to all! If I were to sell my 3 old lenses above ( not sure what series my 28mm is but lens states 28mm 1:2.8 D - is it a series D?), my Nikon 8008s AF camera and a Nikon SB-24 speedlight what should I ask for all? Could the speedlight be used on my new camera?

 

[Light Artisan]

The lens will work and the flash will in A and M mode, no TTL support though.

Not sure what all that is worth, maybe check keh.com and see what they sell 'em for then dock a few bucks off that price.