Digital Camera

[masherdong]

Hello all,

I was wondering what is a good digital camera that will take good action pictures of people in karate tournaments or seminars. I dont want to pay an arm and leg for it either. So, any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

From my experience, there are none. You'll always have some blur in the shots. That's a good part of why I went the DSLR route.

Now, if you can get a good flash, and a fast shutter speed on a pocket cam, that'll help you out greatly.

I'll add more later, gotta run for now.

 

[Sukerkin]

Well, the sad truth is that digital camera's are simply not very good at dealing with 'action'. My missus has a top-of-the-line Canon that cost something like £1500 and that is still not up to the job of taking shots of, say, motorsport.

I know that things have improved dramatically in the last couple of years tho' so the problems of 'shutter' lag and pixel 'blur' may have been overcome.

At the end of the day you'd be far better off with a 'proper' film based pocket or SLR but I'm given to understand that this is actually becoming impractical these days due to problems getting the films developed?

 

[Monadnock]

Bob's right. Most of the point and shoots are going to have lag between the time you press the button to the picture, and also have slower shutter speeds which will cause blur. Also, the flashes do not reach so if you are not right next to the action, it could be a little dark, even if the camera does have a sports setting or shutter speed control.

The DSLR's start around $500-600. 35mm has gone way down in price, so if you have a good scanner, that may be an alternative.

Mike

 

[Omar B]

As they all said, shutter speed is key. At this point I don't think digital still cameras get images as regular old film. If you are taking pictures you can use a cheap digital for some stuff and a disposable regular film camera from the pharmacy for action.

 

[MBuzzy]

I bought a top of the line point and click about a year or so ago....basically the best you can get without going into the realm of a DSLR and higher performance. It still had lag and was horrible at action shots.

My wife has a Nikon D50, though and it is awesome. I take pictures of her riding her horse pretty often and she's taken a lot of martial arts pictures for me and they have all come out very well. I've also found that its a very versatile camera - it is great for people who actually know a lot and know how to use it......but people who have no idea how to use it can also take great pictures easily.

http://www.jesterjigger.com/pictures/craig/karate16.jpg
http://www.jesterjigger.com/pictures/craig/karate20.jpg

These were both taken with the D50 and obviously had a lot of motion....

 

[terryl965]

I bought a top of the line point and click about a year or so ago....basically the best you can get without going into the realm of a DSLR and higher performance. It still had lag and was horrible at action shots.

My wife has a Nikon D50, though and it is awesome. I take pictures of her riding her horse pretty often and she's taken a lot of martial arts pictures for me and they have all come out very well. I've also found that its a very versatile camera - it is great for people who actually know a lot and know how to use it......but people who have no idea how to use it can also take great pictures easily.

http://www.jesterjigger.com/pictures/craig/karate16.jpg
http://www.jesterjigger.com/pictures/craig/karate20.jpg

These were both taken with the D50 and obviously had a lot of motion....

Is that a digital and if so how much does it cost. I need something because all of my digital look like ****.

 

[MBuzzy]

Yep, digital....It is a very reasonably priced high performance camera...seems to be at the bottom of the professional range. The D50 has been replaced now by the D40 and D70. I don't have either of those, but they should all be in the price range of about $500-$800....still kind of pricy, but WELL worth it.

 

[ewhip]

To do it right, I'd reccommend a digital SLR rather than a point and shoot. Go ahead and spend the extra $$ for a Canon Rebel or Nikon D40 - you won't regret it. I don't want to start a big controversy here, but the thought that digital images don't stack up to film is now a myth - it may have been true as recently as a few years ago, but now it simply isn't. Spend a little extra on a good digital SLR - they are very light and compact these days - and there will be very few action shots that you can't capture, and capture with quality. I was a film guy for a long, long time and now I shoot digital with glee. The advantages of an "SLR" will be in the areas of shutter lag (time it takes for the camera to actually take the pic once you push the button), buffer speed (time it takes to send the pics to the memory card so you can take another picture), auto focus speed, flash, etc. Oh, and don't get caught up in megapixels - anything above 6 or so will do you just fine. Just my opinion of course..

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/371194-REG/Canon_0206B003_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XT.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/471716-REG/Nikon_25420_D40_SLR_Digital_Camera.html

 

[MBuzzy]

To do it right, I'd reccommend a digital SLR rather than a point and shoot. Go ahead and spend the extra $$ for a Canon Rebel or Nikon D40 - you won't regret it. I don't want to start a big controversy here, but the thought that digital images don't stack up to film is now a myth - it may have been true as recently as a few years ago, but now it simply isn't. Spend a little extra on a good digital SLR - they are very light and compact these days - and there will be very few action shots that you can't capture, and capture with quality. I was a film guy for a long, long time and now I shoot digital with glee. The advantages of an "SLR" will be in the areas of shutter lag (time it takes for the camera to actually take the pic once you push the button), buffer speed (time it takes to send the pics to the memory card so you can take another picture), auto focus speed, flash, etc. Oh, and don't get caught up in megapixels - anything above 6 or so will do you just fine.

This is a great point, when my wife and I bought her D50, we spent a lot of time worrying about the megapixels.......then we started asking some friends who were into cameras and photography. Basically once you get into that category of cameras, megapixels aren't an issue anymore. I mean, there is of course a difference, but not noticeable.

With the advances in digital, there is simply no reason to go with film anymore. This thing is AMAZING - the best part is that you don't have to know ANYTHING about cameras to use it either! Its basically a professional point and shoot camera.

The pictures, not sized, are usually well over 1 MB, sometimes bigger depending on the settings. We have Shutterfly print our photos and send them to us and they are usually better than we could get with a film camera. Plus, we have noticed that even when you're not trying and with amatures, we will get some professional quality photos. I was amazed how much difference the camera makes. I just can't say enough good stuff about it!!! Nikon D50s (D40s & D70s included) are AWESOME!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The Nikon D70 has been replaced by the D80.
The D50 is replaced by the D40

Amazon has a D40 with an Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX and 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens with 2 Nikon School DVD for under $600

I use a D50 for my work now.