DC for sports

spirit · 3rd June 2003

hi guys,

after seeing ur pics, i definitely have a long way to go, man. anyway, would like to seek ur opinion on what r the factors to be considered for me when buying a dc for sports photography. i m shooting golf competitions. do i need something like 10 x optical zoom , higher megapixel, iso setting, battery life etc.. for the dc, i m allocating abt $1500.
n if i wanna print it at home , any type of printers to recommend.

thnx

ericp · 4th June 2003

Have never shot a golf competition before, but opening my trap anyway :

- long zoom ... yes, you will likely be standing quite far from the golfer, especially when he's on the fairway.

- many megapixels ... yes, you will need to crop the photos to get rid of those yobbos verbally abusing Monty from the sidelines

- iso setting ... as high as possible, golf competitions can last until late evening, unless you only follow the ones on top of the leaderboard

- battery life ... a round lasts for more than 2 hours, more if you're covering several players

One that you did not list, but which I feel is important for sports or action photography is shutter lag. Many prosumers have a 1-second or so shutter lag that feels like it's 5 minutes long. That means you will have to anticipate the action to catch it precisely where you want it.

The other thing is the ability to do multiple shots in sequence. This more or less negates the shutter lag problem above.

One camera which I feel is suitable is the Fuji S602Z ... nice long lens (35-210mm), wide aperture (down to f/2.8), etc. Look through the specs ... better yet, go to http://www.dpreview.com and read the review. Best of all I think it fits in your budget.

And buy lots of rechargeables ...

Another thought is that with your budget, you could probably fit in a used DSLR, eg. Fuji S1 or Canon D30. Couple that to a used 70-300 lens and you're in business.

3rd June 2003	#1
spirit Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 53	DC for sports hi guys, after seeing ur pics, i definitely have a long way to go, man. anyway, would like to seek ur opinion on what r the factors to be considered for me when buying a dc for sports photography. i m shooting golf competitions. do i need something like 10 x optical zoom , higher megapixel, iso setting, battery life etc.. for the dc, i m allocating abt $1500. n if i wanna print it at home , any type of printers to recommend. thnx

4th June 2003	#2
ericp Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 577	Have never shot a golf competition before, but opening my trap anyway : - long zoom ... yes, you will likely be standing quite far from the golfer, especially when he's on the fairway. - many megapixels ... yes, you will need to crop the photos to get rid of those yobbos verbally abusing Monty from the sidelines - iso setting ... as high as possible, golf competitions can last until late evening, unless you only follow the ones on top of the leaderboard - battery life ... a round lasts for more than 2 hours, more if you're covering several players One that you did not list, but which I feel is important for sports or action photography is shutter lag. Many prosumers have a 1-second or so shutter lag that feels like it's 5 minutes long. That means you will have to anticipate the action to catch it precisely where you want it. The other thing is the ability to do multiple shots in sequence. This more or less negates the shutter lag problem above. One camera which I feel is suitable is the Fuji S602Z ... nice long lens (35-210mm), wide aperture (down to f/2.8), etc. Look through the specs ... better yet, go to http://www.dpreview.com and read the review. Best of all I think it fits in your budget. And buy lots of rechargeables ... Another thought is that with your budget, you could probably fit in a used DSLR, eg. Fuji S1 or Canon D30. Couple that to a used 70-300 lens and you're in business.