Decent digital needed for cars/sports

[WouldBWelder]

Hi, I want to try and take some nice action shots - sports, cars etc but don't need anything TOO brilliant as it's only for occasional use - what is the basic kit I should be looking at? Any pointers? How many mega pixels etc

You have to bare in mind I'm coming from a 3meg pixel Sony Cybershot DS9 here! I beleieve it's a separate body one I'll need and then a couple of lenses maybe ... what about the focus though? Is that always manual? No experience at all in this area but would like to have a go.

Tell me to stick with the heads and shoulders Cybershot if you like!

[recalluk]

Whats your Budget ? When I did this step a little while back I went down the Nikon D50 dSLR route ... about 480 with a 18-55 kit lens at the moment.

Not the Daddy of action shots by a long chalk but not the Daddy of prices either. Had mine at croft ( although I added a longer lens to the kit) a few weeks back. 90% of shots were bang on the money.

dSLR cams are what you need for ultimate speed. But they do take practice to get the most out of them. First few weeks you may even think you have wasted your money as some shots not as good as your compact. Then you get addicted, read the internet (ok not all of it)a lot and bingo, your hooked and your shots improve.

As for autofocus ... yes they dom if you buy an autofocus lens, and most are. I am willing to bet focus is a damn sight quicker than your compact two.

Dont get sucked into the Megapixel myth. Yes more is good as you get more detail, but 6/8 MP is more than adequate for an A4 print and often A3 if you process it correctly as you are looking from further away. The disadvantage of going higher is that files ara larger so need more processing resources (PC or Mac) and take more space on a memory card.

>> Edited by recalluk on Thursday 25th May 13:36

[recalluk]

Actually less than £400 now. (You dont have to have silver)

www.jessops.com/Store/s29390/1-136-481/Home/Cameras/Digital-SLRs/Nikon/D50-(Silver)-%2b-18-55mm-f-and-35-56-G-ED-Lens/details.aspx

Can probs get a little cheaper rummaging on the web.

[WouldBWelder]

Thanks recall for the info - yes, budget similar to yours ... £500/£600ish - what about the focus though - do you focus on a thing at the side of the track before the cars come and then snap as they pass it or manually for each shot ?? You can get some cracking deals on the 'net for these so it seems - just did a search on the D50 ...

What hacks me off with the digi I have now is the auto focus - by the time the thing has beeped and is ready, they've gone ... or the moment has passd - ok for staged pics but not what I want from it now.

Also, presumably you're able to keep shooting, bang bang, bang etc, no hold ups ...

[recalluk]

Opps I edited just as you wrote so you didnt see my comment on autofocus.

Basically, even the most basic dslr has a continuous autofocus mode.. so switch it on... focus on the car, hold the button and it will adjust focus as it comes closer. Press the button and Robert is your mothers brother.

Add to this the fact you can turn on "dynamic" mode which switches on ALL the autofocus areas and uses the info it sees to predict where focus will be when you press the button and your hit rate improves.

Bit simplistic but hard to explain until you get your hands on one.

This aside, to get a true pro looking shot it is often best to pre-focus and pan with your subject.

One thing I would say is, if you get an SLR pick the one you like, some people prefer Canon some Nikon some Sony/Minolta but
if you pick one that "feels" right you will get better shots than one that feels wrong but has nice features.

The D50 shots 2.5 Frames Per Second .. not the best but damn sight better than a compact but not as good as the pro models.

>> Edited by recalluk on Thursday 25th May 13:43

[Polarbert]

recalluk said:

Press the button and Robert is your mothers brother.

I didn't know that I was.

[Gemm]

I use AF almost all the time now. Some entry level cameras (particularly with a kit lens) may not be capable of tracking the cars in some situations, but it's not the end of the world. You can always pre-focus and the results should be just as good. I think Canon may be the way to go considering the speed of AF together with USM lenses if you are looking at this specific issue

BTW, selecting a single AF point rather than multi points would be the fastest way to autofocus. (At least for Canon. I don't know about other makes)



>> Edited by Gemm on Thursday 25th May 16:08