SLR and Lens for motorsport photography?

[ross-co]

Hi all,

First post in this section, im 19 away to turn 20 and for my birthday i thinki would like an SLR. The main use would be for motorsport photography at the likes of Knockhill but also photos of cars (static) and no doubt scenery. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what camera to start with, what features are a bonus I.E. live view etc.

A couple of camera i have looked at.

http://www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Comparison.aspx?...

The D60 is pushing the price barrier ideal would be around £350

also would you recomend staying with "camera makes" as Nikon, Cannon as apposed to mass market types like sony.

Many thanks in advance.

[beanbag]

You have a much wider choice of lenses for Canon and Nikon and both are superb pieces of kit.

Keep in mind, the camera is the lowest of all your costs and lenses will take up the brunt of your budget.

I went for a Canon back in 2003 with the 300D and have not regretted it one bit. I'm now using a 40D and have four lenses. One of which is a 70-200mm f/2.8L which is most likely going to be out of your price bracket, however I used an EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 for many motorsport events with cracking results.



You can pick these up for nowt, plus I've got one spare which I'll be putting in the PH classifieds shortly.

[spitfire-ian]

I bought a second hand Nikon D70 and have no complaints at all with it. I've done a little motorsport and generally have used a really cheap (£65!!) Nikon 70-300mm lens which is what I used to take the picture below.

[ross-co]

Thanks for the replies.

Both those pictures are stunning i realise that i wont aquire all of the kit at once but anywhere is a better starting point than not starting atall.

ETA - Should i be looking for a camera with a good frame per second fiqure what is ideal within reason.

Edited by ross-co on Wednesday 22 April 16:57

[beanbag]

ross-co said:

Thanks for the replies.

Both those pictures are stunning i realise that i wont aquire all of the kit at once but anywhere is a better starting point than not starting atall.

ETA - Should i be looking for a camera with a good frame per second fiqure what is ideal within reason.

Edited by ross-co on Wednesday 22 April 16:57

If you are looking for a good cheap start to DSLR photography I can't speak for the Nikons since I've never used one, however as far as the Canons go, I can highly recommend something like a 400D or 450D.

The 1000D is also an excellent choice as a starter SLR but it's not that much cheaper and you loose some useful features as a result.

Perhaps you could look around for some 2nd hand equipment. There's stacks about and as mentioned before, the 400D is a superb start. It'll blow all compact digital cameras out of the water.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_...

They usually come as standard with an 18-55mm kit lens which is good for learning with but you'll soon get bored of it and want something better.

[Dogsey]

For the budget you're looking at I would think you have two choices: bottom of the range brand new camera, or secondhand but better spec'd. Any modern DSLR will take the photographs you want to take, lenses will be the bigger limiting factor. Realistically there is nothing to choose between Canon and Nikon, but as already noted makes like Sony suffer from a much more limited range of lenses (although their bodies are again much the same as the Canikons).

[MikeDH]

I shoot motorsport for a living, and regularly carry around upwards of £10k worth of kit. That said I started out with a cheap (back then, they are much cheaper now!) SLR and 70-300mm probably like the one above. Great for learning with, and if it's not for you, then you haven't spent too much on gear. I'd go for one of the ones in your link above with the kit lens, and get a cheap xx-200 or xx-300 zoom for the motorsport stuff, and upgrade from there. Lenses hold their value quite well, so you shouldn't lose too much on it when it outlives its usefulness.

[10JH]

I'd second an EOS100D, nice and light and much better imo than the current Nikon equivalent. Very little difference in features compared to its bigger brother the 450D but a fair whack cheaper.

For lenses, my gf uses a Tamron 70-300 on her 1000D and it takes some great photos, good reach and not crazily expensive. Probably the cheapest telephoto around.

Check out the classifieds, there was a 2nd hand 450D for sale there the other day. Not my advert btw!

[Gold]

2nd hand Canon 450d or new 1000d with the Canon 55-250mm IS lens would be perfect for you

[RobDickinson]

Used 20D with a 55-250IS (30D if you can find one).

xxD canon bodies are ace for sport. Better AF better frames per second.

You wont get a 'good' motorsport lens for your budget they can cost thousands, even the cheapest (70-200f2.8 and 100-400) are expensive.

[ross-co]

Firstly thank you to everyone for their responses,i realise that i will not get the SLR and lens for the budget. But it has allowed me to see what i need to save for(lens wise).

This is what makes Pistonheads such a good website the wealth of information that people are willing to share to help others learn.

[Dogsey]

RobDickinson said:

Used 20D with a 55-250IS (30D if you can find one).

xxD canon bodies are ace for sport. Better AF better frames per second.

You wont get a 'good' motorsport lens for your budget they can cost thousands, even the cheapest (70-200f2.8 and 100-400) are expensive.

Seems like good advice to me.