Which SLR to pick?

startingjourney

I am having a hard time choosing which SLR to buy for action/sport photography. I've been looking at Pentax, Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic. I've also browsed flickr for sport photos and found many nice ones taken with older Canon SLR's. So now i'm also not sure if I want to buy an older Canon with 8 mexapixels or go with the one of the newer cameras that are 10 or more mexapixels. I have a budget of around 1,200. Lens quality is more important to me than the camera body. Also one other requirement I have is that the SLR has to be on the small side. I also will not be carrying a tripod with me or using flash, etc. I will be taking photos of indoor ice skaters, and outdoor horse racing.

Qarik

hmm. with no budget constraints..the d300 ($1800) plus the 70-200mm VR lens from the nikon camp ($1700)

on a budget?

the d200 (on sale for $599 at best buy website) or d90 ($900) + 55-200mm VR ($200?). The d200 has more robust autofocus but is is few year old. Teh d90 has better ISO performance and great LCD + 720 video

swintonphoto

If you want a great DSLR that is a smallish size for a great price look at the Olympus E-620. I have it and it is a remarkable camera. There is an instant rebate going on until the 31st for $100 off making the E-620 only $599. I would then add a high quality telephoto zoom like:
Zuiko 50-200mm 2.8-3.5 SWD (this lens is reported to be one of the fastest in the world at AF performance), however it may be out of your price range ($1100).
Or for less money you could get the:
Sigma 70-200 2.8 for $799 - it is also very fast

If you want indoor shooting at a great price and size you really can't beat this setup. You could get cheaper lenses, but they will generally not be as well suited for indoor sports shooting.

MarkR

A piece of advice:

DO NOT base your purchase on the number of megapixels. :nono More megapixels does not equal better Image Quality.

If I'da been smarter, I'd've bought a used body the first time around and saved up for better glass.

Art Scott

swintonphoto wrote:

If you want a great DSLR that is a smallish size for a great price look at the Olympus E-620. I have it and it is a remarkable camera. There is an instant rebate going on until the 31st for $100 off making the E-620 only $599. I would then add a high quality telephoto zoom like:
Zuiko 50-200mm 2.8-3.5 SWD (this lens is reported to be one of the fastest in the world at AF performance), however it may be out of your price range ($1100).
Or for less money you could get the:
Sigma 70-200 2.8 for $799 - it is also very fast

If you want indoor shooting at a great price and size you really can't beat this setup. You could get cheaper lenses, but they will generally not be as well suited for indoor sports shooting.

Jonathan forgot one thing.....IMAGE STABILIZATION....is built in to the bodies of the Oly's.......so every lens you buy is going to be stabilized.....not just certain ones that wind up costing you an extra 500 - 1000$ just for the stabilization.thumb

ziggy53

startingjourney wrote:

I am having a hard time choosing which SLR to buy for action/sport photography. I've been looking at Pentax, Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic. I've also browsed flickr for sport photos and found many nice ones taken with older Canon SLR's. So now i'm also not sure if I want to buy an older Canon with 8 mexapixels or go with the one of the newer cameras that are 10 or more mexapixels. I have a budget of around 1,200. Lens quality is more important to me than the camera body. Also one other requirement I have is that the SLR has to be on the small side. I also will not be carrying a tripod with me or using flash, etc. I will be taking photos of indoor ice skaters, and outdoor horse racing.

Startingjourney, welcome to the Digital Grin.

$1200USD is not a lot of budget, especially wanting to do indoor sports. Some of ice skating is fairly predictable so that might be doable with a number of camera bodies, but a professional body with an advanced AF system is what I would recommend.

A very fast lens, in terms of both AF speed and large aperture, is also indicated.

Unfortunately, these things do not come cheaply.

You are good to want a geat lens and to place emphasis on that first. I have to imagine a lens with a constant aperture of f2.8 is going to be the minimum starting point for indoor sports. A prime lens of f2 or better is another possibility.

Depending on your vantage point you may need at least a 70-200mm(ish) lens.

For sure I think horse racing would require a very fast AF speed or special technique (manual focus on a point that the horse will hit and then trip the shutter at that point.)

Can you tell us a bit more about your intentions?

Do you wish to do this for fun/yourself, or do you want to publish or sell the images?
Are these events something where you will be close to the action? If not, how far away will you be?
What level of competition are the events?

swintonphoto

Art Scott wrote:

Jonathan forgot one thing.....IMAGE STABILIZATION....is built in to the bodies of the Oly's.......so every lens you buy is going to be stabilized.....not just certain ones that wind up costing you an extra 500 - 1000$ just for the stabilization.thumb

Oh ya! There are just so many reasons to choose Olympus for the price I often forget some of them... not to mention the articulating LCD screen, the best dust-reduction system in the business, lenses that are acclaimed everywhere, and the list goes on...

startingjourney

Ziggy those are good points that you bring up. I have future plans to buy a pro camera after college if I end up liking working with the SLR I get. I would be doing this for fun and maybe for friend events but also I want to develop my skills so I could advance later on with nice equipment. I thought I would start out with a rebel perhaps and a $500 lens to see if I have any talent and then upgrading to a new body and lenses if it's what I really want to do. I also have the option of starting out with a kit and then maybe getting better glass in a year. So I will probably have to be loyal to a brand, right so I could switch lenses, etc later on when I have more equipment. For ice skating I would be pretty close to the rink. I would be taking photos of a ice dance team so full body zoomed in shots of individuals and some of the entire team. All I expect is to get shots that are not blurry or trash material. So basically I don't want to get pro equipment yet or go pro but I also don't want to be stuck with snapshots and occasional good photos.

ziggy53

startingjourney wrote:

... So basically I don't want to get pro equipment yet or go pro but I also don't want to be stuck with snapshots and occasional good photos.

With a total budget of $1200 I suggest that you will not be able to get a new camera/lens combination to do indoor skating and horse races without a considerable amount of failed images. That's just the nature of the equipment versus your budget.

The good news, really great news, is that digital imagery is relatively inexpensive on a "per shot" basis. Once purchased, the equipment itself amortizes across the numbers of images that you take. The more images you take, the less is the cost per image. This works nicely until repairs are needed.

I do think that the lens you need for the ice skating competition would be either a 70-200mm, f2.8 or a good prime, maybe a 85mm, f1.8 or 100mm, f2 (in the Canon lineup). I do hear that the XSi is a somewhat better AF than previous models in the dRebel line.

You might also consider a very old pro model body. You can get a Canon 1D with battery and charger for around $700 in "EX" condition from KEH.com. This would get you a very nice pro AF section that should work reasonably well in low light. It's only 4 MPix but the quality of those pixels is what's important.

The major difference in that body that would interest you is the special AF sensor and module that works well in low light, like an indoor arena, along with speed and accuracy. The Canon 1D/1Ds series cameras use an "Area SIR" (Secondary Image Registration) passive AF module that is greatly superior to the simpler "CT" (Cross Type) module used in most other cameras. It is both more sensitive, by about 1 f-stop, and more accurate in low light. It will also AF on subjects without a strong vertical or horizontal edge. (A "CT" AF module is only sensitive to strong vertical or horizontal edges.)

There is an unfortunate high-ISO banding issue and you would need to use ISO 1600 for the indoor stuff, which may display the problem.

Still, couple that camera with an EF 100mm, f2 USM and you have a chance at a fair percentage of keepers, and stay within your budget.

DPReview has some images at ISO 1600 that shows the banding can be controlled:

http://a.img-dpreview.com/gallery/canoneos1d_samples/originals/7e9a1810.jpg
http://a.img-dpreview.com/gallery/canoneos1d_samples/originals/7e9a1812.jpg
http://a.img-dpreview.com/gallery/canoneos1d_samples/originals/7e9a1827.jpg
http://a.img-dpreview.com/gallery/canoneos1d_samples/originals/7e9a1835.jpg
http://a.img-dpreview.com/gallery/canoneos1d_samples/originals/7e9a1881.jpg

(Note that these samples used an EF 70-200mm, f2.8L USM zoom which, by itself, would consume most of your budget. The 100mm I mentioned, while not a zoom and not as long, is much more affordable and pretty fast to focus. The fast AF speed and large aperture are qualities you want for indoor sports.)

You can also use the settings that Sports Illustrated recommends for setup for that camera. (Yes SI shooters used that camera body for years.):

http://www.siphoto.com/?canon1D.inc

The 1D body is heavy and extremely durable, but not for everybody. Be sure to find a 1D or 1Ds series body before a purchase if you think the camera interesting.

NikonsandVstroms

startingjourney wrote:

Ziggy those are good points that you bring up. I have future plans to buy a pro camera after college if I end up liking working with the SLR I get. I would be doing this for fun and maybe for friend events but also I want to develop my skills so I could advance later on with nice equipment. I thought I would start out with a rebel perhaps and a $500 lens to see if I have any talent and then upgrading to a new body and lenses if it's what I really want to do. I also have the option of starting out with a kit and then maybe getting better glass in a year. So I will probably have to be loyal to a brand, right so I could switch lenses, etc later on when I have more equipment. For ice skating I would be pretty close to the rink. I would be taking photos of a ice dance team so full body zoomed in shots of individuals and some of the entire team. All I expect is to get shots that are not blurry or trash material. So basically I don't want to get pro equipment yet or go pro but I also don't want to be stuck with snapshots and occasional good photos.

The D200 was mentioned earlier and that with a 3rd party 70-200 2.8 would be in your budget, you would not get IS/VR but you will be able to isolate the subject with the small aperture.

I have never owned a D200 but my Fuji is the same exact body just a different sensor/boards, and it is an amazing tool to work with.

rookieshooter

FWIW Best Buy is selling the D200 for $599 at some stores

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7633313&type=product&id=1130987191339

The D300 is a great sports camera though with a pro AF system.