Best budget camera for sports photography

I'm not an experienced photographer at all. Don't know an F-stop from a white level setting, but these days I'm able to get paid more for turning in photos with my stories. At $25 a pop, adds up quick. I've done a bunch of research on digital cameras and haven't found much useful info related to sports photography. Nevertheless, I think the two most important factors are speed and zoom, and thus I've narrowed my choices to the Casio ex-fh25 ($250 to $275 on eBAy/Amazon) and the Fuji hs10 ($308 on Amazon warehouse deals). The Casio is much, much faster, capable of 30 shots a second at 9 megapixel res. The Fuji has a 30x zoom compared to the 20x on the Casio. I guess part of the question is what's more important, speed or zoom? and is a 30x zoom really going to help or is the speed of the casio a better bet? I'm sure there are a multitude of factors that go into making a good sports photography camera (how it handles low light in dim gyms, shake, etc...), but just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on this. The photos would be mostly for the web, occasional print, but probably not Sports Illustrated. They don't need to be perfect, but I'd still like them to be as good as I can get.

 

There are two factors you need to worry about: F-stop and ISO.

Sorry, but if you don't know what they are you need to educate yourself. Start with dpreview.com - they have a couple primers you can read.

You can get away with a cheaper camera outdoors, where optical (not digital) zoom becomes important. Indoors, you need a better piece of glass that lets in more light.

A $300 camera will not produce good sports action shots. You can shoot non-action instead if the paper will let that suffice.

 

Useful info on sports photography

http://www.astropix.com/SPORTSPIX/NSC/NOTES.HTM

If you're getting paid money to shoot photos, invest in a better camera. Unfortunately, a great lens will cost more than the body.

Point-and-shoots won't cut it.

 

With a point and shoot, he might be able to get a point guard coming up the floor, or a running back coming toward him (especially before it starts getting dark). But he'd be extremely lucky to get anything under the basket.


Like others have said, you need a much better camera than a point and shoot for anything worthwhile to be able to stop the action.

 

It may be that there is no point-and-shoot camera that will get me decent action shots in the $250 to $300 range. The "prosumer" or bridge camera is pretty much a new category, and my thinking is that they might work for me. Figure I can always return it if it doesn't work out. I'm not averse to learning about manual settings, but spending upwards of $500 for a camera that I wouldn't be able to use for a somewhat extended learning period and for photos that pay $25 doesn't make sense for where I'm at right now. It might be that the camera I'm looking for doesn't exist yet, but I think within a few years it will...

 

A post on another messageboard linked to photos some guy shot at a Cowboys game using the Fuji HS10, one of the ones I'm looking at. Some of the shots are pretty crisp. Motion blur on the Cowboys cheerleaders' hair flying around sucks. Perhaps a faster non-dslr (i.e., the Casio I'd mentioned earlier) would fix that. Guy says he was in the nose bleed seats and I assume using the full 30x zoom.

http://picasaweb.google.com/nidwannaya/CowboysGame#

 

Another thing to remember: photos that may look good as a normal print may not translate well to the print medium.

Resolution will likely be fairly low on that Cowboy shot, especially if it was shot with zoom.

 

i second the "buy an inexpensive used canon, etc. and spend your money on a good lens" suggestion

 

Seriously the point and shoot will be more trouble than it's worth and will only leave you frustrated and pissed off.

Huge difference between optical and digital zoom.

Go the used route, that might hold you over, if you're extremely lucky on the body, for a year. If you take care of the lens it will last you a long time and if you stay within the family on future bodies you will be able to use the lens with the new body.

This is just one example of the industry not meeting up between cost for the worker and pay (among other things like housing, food, etc.), especially for those starting out. But if you are serious about it, find a way to make it work, even if it is just with old beaters for the next couple of years.

 

The used idea is a good one. I took a ton of great sports photos with a mid-range Nikon, and got good enough with it that it's been a major, major boost in my career. I.e. I'm fairly certain I recently avoided being laid off because of it. I've since upgraded to a much nicer camera, but with a little creativity and patience, you can do about anything you want with a five-year old mid-range camera.

Here's what I'd do:
Buy one of these two used. The Nikon D70s, what I used, or the D80, a slightly older brother.

D70s, starting at $275: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0009I4VE4/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used


D80, starting at $350: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000HGMX5M/ref=sr_1_2_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1293914684&sr=8-2&condition=used

I always thought the D70s was a little better suited to what I actually used it for, but the D80 is a little newer with a few different bells and whistles.

Buy these two lenses:

50mm f1.8, for anything inside, basketball, wrestling, scholarship signing. $120: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LEN4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1293914880&sr=1-2

70-300mm zoom, for anything outdoors during the day, soccer, football, track. $135: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-70-300mm-4-5-6G-Nikkor-Camera/dp/B00005Y3OM/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1293914976&sr=1-4

The 70-300 won't do you well outdoors at night (football) without a flash, which can be had for about $200, for a suitable Nikon one. You might be able to pick up an older model that would work OK as well, but you won't save much money. But you CAN survive without it if you learn manual mode inside and out, and keep your eyes open. Use the 50mm and wait for the action to come to you at the sideline, or shoot players and coaches celebrating.

Camera do break and repairs can add up, so by going used you'd be taking that chance. Save your money you make with the used one and invest in a $1,000 or $1,200 new model in a year or two.

 

A point-and-shoot doing 30 shots a second? Sorry, not buying it.
I'm on my fifth Nikon D1H body. My reporter now uses one and my boss got one for himself as well. Low res (2.7 MP) but 5 frames a second, fast AF and a sturdy workhorse. You can get them around $200, then get a lens like a 50/1.8. Battery life sucks but you can get batteries for about $20 or so and flashes for under $100.