Newbie saying HI and needs help.

[Enigman]

Hi everyone,

total newbie to photography here so I would really need and appreciate your advice.

I have never own a camera and I intend to get one soon. Besides general use, I like to focus on taking sport, landscape, animals/nature photos. For sport, particularly the sport of Olympic Weightlifting which consists of 2 lifts/events: the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk. Both lifts are executed very quickly and are done with within 2-3 seconds. Please take a look at a video of the snatch if you haven't seen it before.

[youtubehq]D--uhjvj-Fk[/youtubehq]

Thus, the camera needs to able to take multiple quick shots so that the motion can be captured into sequences like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/38313689@N00/, different stages of the lift.

Video recording function will be required as well to record the lifts.

Should I get a DSLR? My budget is about $1k. I browsed the forum and some are saying Pentax k-x?

Your advice is greatly needed!

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

DSLRs with very fast "rate of fire" are usually the more serious (read: expensive) models.
The cost goes up almost exponentially as the fps rate increases 1 by 1 (ignoring all other differences in specs, hehehehe)

K-x is probably the best "bang for your buck" camera out there.
Do you have any brand preference?
Best is to go down to your friendly camera store (clubsnap has a list... search for it) and try the shooting speed if possible. Get a friend to simulate the action and see if you can capture it.

 

[madmartian]

Welcome to CS

 

[Rashkae]

For videos, I'd rent a handycam. For fast FPS, you could rent a pro-level cam (or 2 or 3). This way you could video while taking the lift at the same time from 2-3 different angles.

 

[pokiemon]

For videos, I'd rent a handycam. For fast FPS, you could rent a pro-level cam (or 2 or 3). This way you could video while taking the lift at the same time from 2-3 different angles.

to add, you need to get the right lens as well. some things to note - for sports, how far will you be from the action will determine what zoom u need.

 

[Numnumball]

HI,

Welcome to CS

U will need a cam with high FPS and a fast lens to capture the images u wan in this area.

 

[pinholecam]

Welcome!
A Pentax Kx fits your budget of 1k, and fills a couple of criteria that you need.
Pros
----
1. Price (within budget)
2. 4.7fps for taken the motions for weight lifting
3. Good high ISO performance (weight lifting are done indoors which will generally need high ISO)
4. HD video option

Cons
----
1. Comparably slower continuous auto focus (AF) compared to a Canon on Nikon system; Its not as bad as it sounds though, and for weight lifting, the lifter standing position is static anyway



Generally, sport (esp indoors) is hard on any camera system. If you want the best image quality, the fast telephoto lens itself will cost more than the body.
A Sigma or Tamron 70-200/2.8 will be in the ballpark of S$1700

 

[cleonbus]

Welcome to CS

 

[Enigman]

to add, you need to get the right lens as well. some things to note - for sports, how far will you be from the action will determine what zoom u need.

it will be close up and as far as about 20-40m if I am in spectator stand.

What recommendations are there for lens for my usage? Budget conscious :sweat: