Digital camera for sports photography.

[se6b]

Hi, can anyone recommend a digital camera for me? It needs to have a near instant shutter response as it will be used mainly for photographing showjumping where timing is absolutely crucial. Unfortunately the old Fuji digital camera I have at the moment has such a shutter delay the horse is usually 20ft past the point at which I took the picture and has gone out of frame.

Obviously I'd like a decent optical zoom and good resolution.

Budget is up to £500. Preferably the lower the better.



Oh yes, since I have quite a few gig of XD cards, that format would be preffered....

>> Edited by se6b on Saturday 8th April 18:45

[GetCarter]

Nikon D50 with a 70-300 lens sounds perfect (though it'll stretch your budget with that telephoto).

Steve

[se6b]

That looks like a nice bit of kit. Whats the shutter release lag time like on that? Will I actually get horses on my pictures or will I still have to keep pressing the button a second or two before the jump?


Also, is 6 megapixels a bit small these days?

>> Edited by se6b on Saturday 8th April 22:59

[agent006]

se6b said:

Whats the shutter release lag time like on that?

I'm aure there is equipment available to measure the delay, but you'll not notice any. It's a "proper" camera so no delay at all.

[fergusd]

d50 delay is about 150mS, google for "d50 shutter lag" . . . as a comparison d2x (8x the price) is 40mS . . .

as for 6Mpix being 'enough' . . .

Here's a 6Mpix image



and here's a crop from that at more or less 100%



plenty people shoot 6Mp (and even less) for sports stuff . . . it's not the megapixels that is important for sports stuff IMHO.

Fd

[se6b]

Just wanted to say thanks for the recommendation! I went out and bought one from Jessops last week and haven't been able to put the thing down since Its brilliant, takes me back to what I enjoyed about photography before digital came along with its ludicrous shutter lag. I also got the infared remote control which was a steal at £15. I'm constantly amazed by all the features I'm still continuing to find e.g. the image viewer storing camera setttings for every picture taken - SUPERB!!!!

Just need a telephoto lens now.......

[chris.mapey]

ebay is your friend for lenses.

I picked up a 75-300 Sigma AF for £60 inc P&P - admittedly not the greatest lens, it's soft at the longer length, but I got it to see how much I'd use a telephoto before splurging on a 70-300 ED Nikon, or a 70-200 f2.9 Sigma (a la Simpo's)

I'll be reselling mine soon to upgrade...

Chris