Action Photography Camera

A large part of this photography is technique and skill, not fps. Having said that it wil be a huge help to have a camera with high fps and good autofocus. You need to ideally look at either the Nikon or Canon pro DSLRs (have the best choice of lenses). With repect to Nikon this will be the D# series, ie D2x, D3. Although not "pro", the D300 shooting at 8fps with the booster pack is also worth looking at. The D3 is the fastest of the Nikons shooting at 9 fps.

With repect to Canon the 1d series are what you need to look at ie 1d, 1d mkII, 1d mk III. The Mk III is the fastest of the Canons shooting at 10 fps. However there are still questions hanging over its ability to reliably autofocus. I personally use the 1d mark II shooting at 8.5 fps (which is more than enough). I use the fps to great effect to ensure I get the perfect moment. For example i shot a car rally in 2007 and this VW Beetle spun onto the grass right in front of me, shooting at 8.5fps i was able to capture the perfect moment: http://www.timaustinimages.com/p84566357 6/?photo=h20BBB338#549172024

I can't stress enough though that having a fast camera is only part of the picture (no pun intended). You need to practise over and over to gain proficiency at focusing, metering, understanding shutterspeed and aperture.

2008-03-30 16:49:52 by troy b

The attached lens is a 18-135mm standard zoom. I am not a PRO. As a matter of fact, i am a NOOBY in DSLR world. I would like to thank the people ...

what camera is the best for shooting action photos or what lens should i use

Any of the current DSLR's will certainly capture action without significant shutter lag.

Lens wise, it depends upon the kind of action.

If you are shooting basketball from just behind the backboard, then a lens like the 17-55 mm f/2.8 or 24-70 mm f/2.8 if using a FF camera.

Field games or when shooting any kind of racing, a 200-400 mm f/4, 400 mm f.2.8 or 600 mm f/4 are the lenses of choice

2009-10-23 18:26:44 by Chris

Price: $249.99

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Internal Microphone
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Does anyone know of a DSLR camera that it's good for both actiona and macro photography? Also, you can change lenses with a DSLR, right? thanks!

That's right, you can change lenses but the lenses specifically made for the system of your DSLR will fit and work without an adapter.

Only 3 current manufacturers have chosen to use mechanical/sensor-shift stabilization on their DSLRs and they are Olympus, Pentax, and Sony. Nikon, Canon, and Samsung chose to use optical image stabilization which is costlier and specific to the lens but is said to work better but this is unproven.

In my opinion, you can eliminate Sony for now. They've only entered the camera business a few years back when Konica-Minolta, the first to introduce this technology, handed over their camera operations to Sony. The lens lineup is also thin and it leaves much to be desired.

So, this leaves you with the following options:
Olympus: E-510, E-520, E-3
Pentax: K100D/K100D Super, K10D, K200D, K20D

All DSLRs are capable of taking action and macro photography. The kind of pictures you'll be getting depends mostly on the lenses you put in front of it.

There are many options for macro: you can get a macro lens, you can get filters, you can get an extension tube, or you can DIY and put a lens in front of an existing lens. For action shots, you'll probably want to get in close. For this, a fast standard zoom or fast telephoto zoom lens will work wonders.

No DSLR comes with both macro and telephoto lenses; they often come with standard zooms with macro-less or semi-macro capabilities.

You can see the lens line-ups for each of the 3 companies at the following links:
Olympus: http://four-thirds.org/en/products/lense .html
Pentax: http://www.pentaxslr.com/lenses
Sony: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stor es/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=105 51&storeId=10151&langId=-1&c ategoryId=3770

2008-06-22 11:44:04 by d.r.e.a.m.e.r.

Price: $179.00

Lowers noise levels at higher ISO settings.
Canon's HS SYSTEM with a 12.1 MP CMOS and DIGIC 4 Image Processor improves shooting in low-light situations without the need for a flash and
Full 1080p HD Video for exceptional quality and keep footage stabilized with Dynamic IS.

I have a Canon Powershot A530...not the best. I don't have an action setting on my camera...how can i get great non-blurry photos of basketball indoors?

I have that camera also. Very, very good for a point and shoot, but sorry, you cant get great bb pics indoors.

Here's my primer for getting good shots, tho: I don't have my camera handy, so this is by memory. Did this at a hockey game recently and got some halfway decent shots:

Set to manual mode, change the shutter speed to maybe 160 or 200 to (mostly) freeze action. Now your LCD screen will be very dark. Change the aperture to the smallest #, I think it is 2.8 on that model. Should be better. Now change the ISO (make the # bigger, until the screen brightens up. Dont go too high, or the images will be very grainy.

Remember, that as you zoom out, the aperture changes on that camera!!!!! That means less light coming in as you zoom out, so you will have to jack up the ISO or slow down the shutter to get the same exposure.

If none of the above makes sense, get out the manual. If it still doesnt make sense, quit worrying about it and just enjoy the game.

2008-01-09 15:43:25 by smilesandponytails

I don't want to use a flash. I have been photographing live bands in nightclub settings. Most of my photos turn out grainy and my subjects who are moving on stage appear blurry. I have the best luck using the highest ISO and selecting the action setting on my camera. This helps with the blurriness but the photos are very grainy and not sharp. Any suggestions?

You didn't say what lens you're using so I'm guessing its the 18-70mm
f3.5/5.6 lens that came with the camera. While its not a bad lens, its not well-suited for low-light, non-flash use. Conditions such as those require a fast lens to keep the ISO settings down while giving you a faster shutter speed.

I suggest buying a Minolta Maxxum 50mm f1.4 lens.* A 50mm lens on your A200 will be an equivalent 75mm lens. How will that help? The f1.4 lens is 2 2/3 stops faster than the 18-70mm at the 18mm end (f3.5) and 4 stops faster at the 70mm end (f5.6). Lets look at a few hypothetical examples to see the importance of lens speed:

ISO 400

f1.4 @ 1/125 sec.
f3.5 @ ~ 1/20 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/8 sec.

ISO 800

f1.4 @ 1/250 sec.
f3.5 @ ~1/40 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/15 sec.

ISO 1600

f1.4 @ 1/500 sec.
f3.5 @ ~ 1/80 se.
f5.6 @ 1/30 sec.

As you can easily see, its all about lens speed. You will be able to keep your ISO lower which will improve your picture quality while still maintaining a faster shutter speed.

Another benefit of an f1.4 lens will be a brighter viewfinder which will help with composition and the camera's autofocus.

Of course, a fixed focal length lens isn't as versatile as a zoom but you can do what we did when zoom lenses didn't exist - move closer or farther away.

"Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the 'ah-ha' ". Ernst Haas.

When shooting, use the camera's built-in Noise Reduction program.

Shoot in Aperture Priority with the lens wide-open and let the camera take care of the shutter speed.

* Every legacy Minolta Maxxum AF lens made since 1985 is compatible with your A200. I found a Minolta Maxxum 50mm f1.4 at http://www.keh.com for $325.00 in "Like New" condition. KEH is a very reputable on-line seller. Here are some other reputable on-line sellers:

http://www.adorama.com
http://www.bhphotovideo.com
http://www.beachcamera.com
http://www.uniquephoto.com

Of course, you can always try eBay. I saw one 50mm f1.4 at a Buy It Now price of $259.00 and one in bidding, currently at $157.50.

2008-10-06 19:29:22 by lqv99