Canon Camera's

[john182rs]

Ok i am looking at buying a camera that will have a high shutter speed as im generally wanting to take pictures of fast moving object, mainly people ice skating.
I was offered a Canon D40 with a lense and bag + batteries cahrge and other bits an bobs for £160.
Also some one tried to say i would be better off with a second hand D60 at £250 but would have to buy the lenses for it.
Looking for upto the £500 mark, i have seen people talk about the D90 but i feel a pants down moment coming on?

ps i know literally sod all about camera's So if a D40/60/90 is not canon dpmt shoot me for it.

 

[Revels]

You've put Canon but named all Nikon cameras..

 

[Feirny]

You've put Canon but named all Nikon cameras..

Can we berate him? Please, pretty please!

But yeah all the one's you've mentioned are Nikon, Canon has the D after the number.

 

[john182rs]

I will highlight just one line then.

ps i know literally sod all about camera's So if a D40/60/90 is not canon dpmt shoot me for it.

I tried to warn people i know sod all, so when said person from work starts saying do you want to buy my D60, i aint got a scooby doo.

 

[Ian]

Unless it's a big event I imagine most ice skating will be indoors and poorly lit? That's not a situation where it's easy to achieve high shutter speeds.

It will be possible to use a D40 (Nikon), or D90 (Nikon), but most of the 'pros/enthusiasts' use at least a d300, if not a D3. Basically you need something that is comfortable at high ISO. From what I've seen on TP a lot of people end up using flash for events such as basketball, which I suppose is similar.

What camera do you have at the moment?

 

[john182rs]

Well ice hockey is very well lit i would say, other than this i would like to take it to some of the car shows i usually go to but my camera is ok but just not quite good enough, itsonly a panasonic tz7

 

[Ian]

If it's well lit then you should be alright with a D60 I guess, a decent lens is just as important (and just as expensive). The panasonic range of cameras are pretty good though tbh, might take a while to see the benefits of a dslr.

 

[john182rs]

Well fi anyone knows how to get pictures of people moving without too much blur on the TZ7's then please tell me as i have only just found out it has a min shutter speed of 1/350, also should the ISO be 1600 or 400 in bright light?

 

[Ian]

According to here it has a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000th, but I dunno how you would set it.

The ISO should be lower in bright situations, for example on a very sunny day you should be looking to use ISO 100 or whatever is lowest. Indoors it might be more like 400 yeah.

It looks more compact than the models I was thinking of, so a D60 might be a decent step up.

 

[john182rs]

So a Nikon D60 ?(or is it Canon) would be one of the better ones to go for?

 

[vibrio]

I'd not bother with the Nikon D40 (or the other entry level nikons) they are too restricted in their functions compared to other entry level cameras.

 

[Ian]

So a Nikon D60 ?(or is it Canon) would be one of the better ones to go for?

I chose the Canon 450d over the Nikon D60, but if you're being offered a D60 then it's up to you whether you want to take it or not. The 450d is better than the D60 in a number of areas, but the D60 is still a capable camera.

It might be worth borrowing one for a while and seeing how you get on with it, if possible.

I'd not bother with the Nikon D40 (or the other entry level nikons) they are too restricted in their functions compared to other entry level cameras.

I'd agree, but I'm not sure John can justify the cost of the prosumer/pro cameras.

 

[dunganick]

Uce skating will need decent ISO performance and ideally a fast aperture lens.

I believe the D60 is one of Nikons cameras that can only use AF-s lenses? Which somewhat limits your choice.

I would say look at a D90 (Nikon) or a 50d (canon).... maybe a 500d.

 

[Ian]

Just found this on Talk Photography (I know in your opening post you say ice skating, but later you say ice hockey?):

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=207275&highlight=ice+hockey

According to his flickr (link after photo #6), the 2nd photo was taken with a 450d at ISO 800, 1/160th shutter speed and f5.6 aperture. Not sure how he's processed them, but trust me when I say the 450d should not create photos with that much noise in them!

Soo.. it's just about possible, depending how the light compares, but you're on the limits.


Here's some photos on flickr with people using a 450d, there's some good ones:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=450d ice hockey&w=all

 

[john182rs]

Well i thourght i would cut the list down to ice skating as its generally ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating an so on.
An how much would i be looking at for one of the Canon 450d's?

 

[Ian]

Not saying you should get a 450d, it's just what that guy was using. You can pick them up new for around £480 according to camerapricebuster, or around £430 body only (if you want to buy a different lens than the kit lens, which I would probably recommend). Worth noting that they are due to be discontinued soon though, as the 500d and 550d are both out now. So you could either grab a bargain 450d, or get a 500d if you want a newer camera.

Obviously 2nd hand prices would be cheaper and the Nikon D60 is pretty similar in most respects to the Canon 450d.

 

[riz]

Only problem with the D40, and maybe the D60 im not sure, is that you have to use AFs Dx lenses which have a limited variety compared to others.

I have a D40x and its a quality camera for a noob and even a serious amateur. But if i chose again i would either have gone for a canon or a slightly better nikon. Purely for the choice of lenses.

But £160 for a D40 is decent i paid £450 ish 2 years ago

 

[riz]

P.s D90 is way above what you need tbh, it is £800 iirc. For car shows etc a D40 would do nicely or the CAnon

 

[dunganick]

Im not convinced by some of the figures going around if i'm honest. Whilst i'm not doubting the Exif Data, but 1/160th of a second is far too slow a shutter speed to freeze the action. You would want something more like 1/400th and as such will probably need a much higher ISO.

Shooting under artificial lights is a real pain and AF performance suffers massively.

When shooting basketball/hockey i try to keep a minimum shutter speed of 1/400th @ f2.8, which usually equates to ISO 3200. At a fairly good indoor court.

It might be worth to going to a game and seeing what people are using and what sort of results they are getting.

 

[Ian]

Im not convinced by some of the figures going around if i'm honest. Whilst i'm not doubting the Exif Data, but 1/160th of a second is far too slow a shutter speed to freeze the action. You would want something more like 1/400th and as such will probably need a much higher ISO.

Shooting under artificial lights is a real pain and AF performance suffers massively.

When shooting basketball/hockey i try to keep a minimum shutter speed of 1/400th @ f2.8, which usually equates to ISO 3200. At a fairly good indoor court.

It might be worth to going to a game and seeing what people are using and what sort of results they are getting.

Yeah I'd say 1/160th is too slow too, I think he just got lucky, or chose his moment well. I meant he's on the limits as with a 450d he's only got 1 stop of ISO left and perhaps another stop with a faster lens.. (but then that's another cost for John to consider) looking at maybe 1/600th max. Indoor sports are really gonna push any sub-£1000 camera to it's limits, pretty much. Just saying it is possible with lesser kit, you might need to be a bit more creative though.

 

[dunganick]

Without a doubt, its not what you have its what you make of it. Tell my bank account that lol.

It wasn't a dig at you btw Ian, more a comment on the setting the guy in the Flickr link was using.

 

[JJ!]

Getting crisp low noise images of sports indoors = expensive lens. All depends how good you want your shots to be TBH.

 

[john182rs]

Getting crisp low noise images of sports indoors = expensive lens. All depends how good you want your shots to be TBH.

Looking at possibly taking it to some thing more than a hobby in years to come, i went to look at the canon 500d an it felt alot smaller than i thourght it would be.
Just weighing up the pro's and con's of each camera an lens kits.