[tanchiro58]

Hello,

I am not so good in this hobby and try to find a reasonable price of a digital SLR camera with I could take up to 5 shots in a second (mostly I take fast action pictures) and produces nice pictures. I know Canon and Nikon are top seeds but too expensive for my budget.

I would appreciate your help.

Many thanks,
Tan

[JohnR]

What is your budget? (including lens)

[tanchiro58]

What is your budget? (including lens)

Less than 1K would fit my budget for now. Thanks John

[JohnR]

Hm...

If you can live with 3fps there would seem to be a lot of choices in that range.

If you really need 5fps... I don't know...

[tanchiro58]

Hm...

If you can live with 3fps there would seem to be a lot of choices in that range.

If you really need 5fps... I don't know...

John,

What kind of digital SLR camera do you suggest?

Thanks,
Tan

[Bob in St. Louis]

I love my D40, but it's only 2.5fps.
I'd label myself "below novice level" so I understand what you mean regarding "I am not so good in this hobby".
They (must have) designed this to be used by the ignorant, as I learned how to use it with good results without a users manual (in my language ).

Since you're looking for a new camera and appear to be needing assistance, one piece of advise I can give is learn about "gray market cameras". Careful of buying online.

Bob

[nicksgem10s]

Hi Tan,

I am new the hobby of photography but am really into it.

I owned a Nikon D80 for a few months and learned a lot with that camera.

I then later upgraded to a Fuji S5 and absolutely love it.  It was about twice your budget when I bought it but have now come down in price.

I have to tell you that you want to spend some time on Fred Miranda and DP Review to learn more about the available cameras.  I thought audiophiles were bad with gear.  Camera enthusiasts are very similar.  Many like to constantly upgrade and are always chasing the latest camera.  This creates opportunities for newbies or people who want more value.

Fred Miranda is kind of like Audiogon for camera gear.  I bought that Nikon D80 for about $800 (like new) used if for about 4 months and sold it for $800.

It seems to me that camera bodies lose their value rapidly so there are probably many excellent used bodies available to you for reasonable prices from Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, etc.

The glass holds it value much better and the glass that is desirable has very little if any depreciation.

I have been stuck with only one lens for the past 6 months Nikon 50mm F1.4 AIS manual focus.

I just recently scored 4 lenses from one seller on FM and am thrilled with the deal I got.  Now I need to find some time to practice using them.

I am also going to enroll in some photography classes (in the next year) at a local college.

Good luck in your search.

Regards,

Nick

[F-100]

Tan,
   You need to do a little sweet talk to the boss and get the Canon EOS 5D  . That is my next camera. Want to buy some cheap Nikon gears? 

[ooheadsoo]

Tan,
   You need to do a little sweet talk to the boss and get the Canon EOS 5D  . That is my next camera. Want to buy some cheap Nikon gears? 

Um...what do you have?

[Zero]

No shit.  I'd love to have some cheap Nikon gears...  haha

[Levi]

I would check the Sony SLR.  They are not too expensive and does atleast 5fps.

[F-100]

Um...what do you have?

Change my mind!!! 
I'm going to wait a few months for the price of the Nikon D700 to come down a bit.

[low.pfile]

Tan

5fps DSLRs:

Used (body only)
Canon 20D  5fps  8MP        used $450
Canon 30D  5fps  8MP        used $700
Nikon D200 5fps  10MP      used $900
Nikon D2H  5fps  4MP        used $700

New (body only)
Sony A700         5fps   12MP   new $1200
Nikon D300        6fps   12MP   new $1450
Nikon D700        5fps   12MP   new $3000
Canon 40D         6.5fps 10MP  new $900
Canon 1D mk3   10fps  10MP  new $3600
Canon 1Ds mk2  6fps    21MP  new $6800

Typically current <$1000 DSLRs are 3fps, so you've placed a tall order for a 5fps body AND lens for under $1k. So, used it the way to go.

In case you did not know: the various brands produce images with a different look due to different noise reduction algorithms and sensors. Just like audio, it is a subjective matter.

HTH

[low.pfile]

You said "fast action shots" that usually means some type of sports, which typically requires 100mm and larger lenses. Those telephoto lenses are the most expensive type compared to others. Which makes meeting your $1k goal even tougher. Makes those Pointandshoot cams with wide to super tele seem like a bargin.

BTW I don't shoot sports myself so my D80 is fine for me with 3fps.

cheers, ed

[tanchiro58]

Thanks for all your help and suggestion,

It looks like you guys outhere are pro and/or semi-pro photographers to me. I will learn a lot when I have questions about techniques of taking pictures and buying lenses. I have to save some cash here. Many thanks.

Low.profile,

You said "fast action shots" that usually means some type of sports, which typically requires 100mm and larger lenses. Those telephoto lenses are the most expensive type compared to others. Which makes meeting your $1k goal even tougher. Makes those Pointandshoot cams with wide to super tele seem like a bargain.

What I mean fast action shots is to shot the fast action of my son's martial art training and demonstration (since I am not a pro!!!).

Tan

[mcullinan]

Canon 50D is coming soon, plus the successor to the 5D... the 50D between 5 - fps From what I read.
Mike

[low.pfile]

I think there are some pro photographers here on AC. I am not one of them- I've had 35mm cameras since high school (25 yrs). And briefly taught kids photography w/ darkroom back when film existed.

Based on what your type of action shots, I personally think you really could get away with 3fps. Your real need is controlling shutter speed which all DSLRs can do (1/500 sec and higher to stop action). I believe most martial arts is held indoors. If the lighting is poor inside you either need a lens with a large aperture (f/2.8 or smaller) or need a flash with a fast recycle time (the built in mini flash won't cut it for fast action). I'd say the fast lens is the ideal. Fast means the lens allows more light in, allowing one to use faster shutter speeds. Unfortunately, fast lenses are $$$. An alternative would be a decent zoom lens in the range of 24mm-135mm f/3.5 and a full size flash may be a less pricey route to take than a fast pro lens. Depending on the light level and ISO setting, with a fast lens you may not need a flash at all.

Sorry there is no one size fits all set up in photography either.

I suggest that you head to your local camera shop for some hands on.

Now on to the pros....

[BobM]

There seemed to be 3 primary camps when I was looking for something about a year ago, similar to yourself.

- Nikon guys
- Canon guys
- all the others

I went with a Nikon D40 with an 18-135mm Nikon lens. As others have stated, watch out for grey market goods though. Levi turned me on to a great place down south that had great prices on new cameras. They also have a great used inventory and are a trusted source of photo supplies.

Levi - what was that store?

Bob

[Levi]

That's KEH dot com.  Good luck and happy shooting!

[JohnR]

What I mean fast action shots is to shot the fast action of my son's martial art training and demonstration (since I am not a pro!!!).

A lot of people seem to be in this situation. While I'm not, I was thinking about this and here are some suggestions from me (I'm not a pro either so take them as just that - suggestions from an amateur) -

• First off, fast lens. As noted above, low f-stop lenses will improve shutter speed. This is what people think of first but if you want long and fast, it gets expen$$ive... so move on to...
• Noise performance. Another thing to examine then in prospective purchases is the noise performance at higher ISO settings. Each step in ISO performance (for equivalent noise) is the same gain as a stop faster lens. Using additional noise removal software in post processing would be another thing to look into here.
• Flash. Noted above already. But to do that anyway you will need to...
• Get closer. See if there's a way to get onto the mat, for example. Maybe not possible in a real training or demonstration situation, so try to...
• Fake it. Do you really need to take photos during the "real thing"? e.g. your son and a friend could do the same things specifically for a photo shoot for you. Or you might be able to take some photos during the warmup for a demonstration, when you can get closer and maybe use flash that would not be allowed in the real thing.
• Finally, think bigger. Not all action shots need to be closeups. Sometimes you can use the setting itself to advantage.

A final point is that sometimes motion blur can be effective in action shots, you don't always want to completely "freeze" the action.