Looking for help from the sports photographers!

bog master

Looking for help from the sports photographers!

Looking for advice on a Digital SLR and appropriate lenses and pc software package for shooting GAA. Have a fair bit of ancient camera knowledge, many moons ago, had my own darkroom and did a fair bit of shooting starting with my trusty Maymia Sekor and moving on to Minoltas. Have very little knowledge of the digital side, but starting on my homework now.

I will primarily be shooting GAA as my local club has been looking for someone to cover the team. Therefore, will have sideline access which will get me that much closer to the pitch.

So, looking for reccomendations, and in particular zoom or telephoto lenses required.

Am hoping to keep the budget to around €1,000.00 if possible.

Paulw

I've only shot one GAA game, so wouldn't be the best to ask. Try Onlooker.

A GAA pitch is probably one of the largest pitches in field sports. A long range lense is needed.

Something greater than 200mm usually. I've even found a 300mm lens being a bit short, depending on the action.

You will want a camera body that has decent fps.

Ideally, to start off, you'd want a Canon 40D/50D/7D body. ~6fps is a good place to start to shoot burst action.

If course, if you're very good with timing, then you can use a body with much lower fps (Canon 450D).

I've no idea about Nikon or other kit, since I shoot with Canon gear.

Hopefully that will be a starting point for you.

hcnyla

All of what Paul says above is spot on. You have a few options.

A good starter kit would be a Canon 40D (6 fps) or Nikon D200 (5 fps) and a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens. You should be able to get both second hand on adverts.ie or ebay for your budget. You could buy a cheapo (<€100) kit type (18-55mm) lens for team shots etc. Canon/Nikon branded lenses are much more expensive than Sigma.

Of course you can start lower down the food chain and get yourself a Canon 450D (3 fps) or Nikon D60 (3 fps) and either a Canon/Nikon 70-300 or Sigma 70-300mm lens. These lenses are a little slow though and will only be useful on sunny days. Overcast or dull days then they will really struggle to allow you to get high enough shutter speeds to minimise motion blur.

Obviously you can mix and match as well using the 70-300 with the 6fps cameras. If budget is very important then I'd prob recommend the 6fps camera with the 70-300 and get a cheap wide angle lens as well like an 18-55mm for team shots etc.

The camera should cost you around the €500 mark. A sigma/Nikon 70-300 will cost around €150 and the Canon will be around the €350 mark. The Canon one has Image Stabilisation on it which isn't really useful for sports. You should be able to get a wide angle lens for around €150 as well and a Canon 430EX flash for €200 odd. You would be able to get the Nikon flash equivalent for the same price. And get yourself a couple of 4GB CF cards as well. All this will be less than €1K.
This kit isn't the best out there, not by a long way, but it will get you on the road and you can always upgrade down the line if you find yourself limited by the lens speed and/or quality.
If you're in Dublin/Kildare area, I have a 40D that you can borrow for a few days to test it out if you wish.

bog master

Thanks for the info guys, been researching a good bit and the head is swimming. Just a few questions,if I may?

FPS-do you reckon 3fps is to slow for sports?

Auto-focus-how good is it or do we stay with manual? A lifetime ago I remember struggling with Auto Programme on Minoltas where it set your aperture automatically !!!!

Lens Length-do you feel 300mm is adequate?

Shutter delay-have used few mickey mouse digital cameras and there is a significant delay from when pressing the button and when the shot is finally taken,is this apparent in the SLR's?

But will continue on with the research, just thinking the budget may have to be upped slightly ouch! Anyone know of hobbies that dont cost a fortune lol!

Again, thanks to all :)

hcnyla

bog master wrote: »

FPS-do you reckon 3fps is to slow for sports?

Not really. You're doing it for the local GAA club so if you miss a shot then no big deal. Obviously 6fps would be better but it's totally up to you

bog master wrote: »

Auto-focus-how good is it or do we stay with manual? A lifetime ago I remember struggling with Auto Programme on Minoltas where it set your aperture automatically !!!!

It's pretty good. The cameras do a good job of tracking a subject and keeping it in focus. There should be no need of having to manual focus at all.

bog master wrote: »

Lens Length-do you feel 300mm is adequate?

Yep. Especially if you are going to be on the halfway line.
Anything above the 300mm you are talking big cash.
You can always use a 1.4x converter which entends your reach by 1.4 so turns a 70-200 lens into a 280mm. You lose a stop with this though so your 2.8 turns into f4.
Also, seeing as you are used to film, the digital cameras mentioned above have a crop factor of 1.6x (1.5x in Nikons case) so this also extends your reach over the old 35mm camera 300mm lens. So, if you have a Canon 40D with a 70-200mm lens and 1.4 extenter then in film parlance you have in actual fact approx a 448mm f4 lens!
The 1.4x converters will only work with f2.8 lenses though and not the 70-300mm ones.

bog master wrote: »

Shutter delay-have used few mickey mouse digital cameras and there is a significant delay from when pressing the button and when the shot is finally taken,is this apparent in the SLR's?

There is a little but barely noticeable lag on the lower spec dSLR's. Nothing like the compact cameras you would be used to.

boswell01

Agree with the other lads but if you are going to be rigid with the 1000 euro then you can't expect the best equipment on the market.

3 f/s is fine if it is for your local club. If you want faster you will have to pay more.

Auto-focus all the way (except in rare circumstances).

300 should be fine for the width of the pitch but it won't cover the full length. another option would be the sigma 50-500 (or something like that).

Shutter delay will depend how fast the camera will focus which can depend on the camera, the lens, the way the camera is set up and also how well you track your subject.

To make a long story short buy the best camera and best lens that you can afford.

Why don't you ask the club for a contribution?