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Krakkles
May 5, 2003

What's a good option for an amateur children's sports photographer? I've got a family member who wants to get good shots of her kid's football games.

Her budget is "under a grand", so I take that to mean less is better, no more than $1000. She's ok with used, so I'm thinking a used last model canon or Nikon SLR with a zoom lens, but that could be too complex, so I want to explore some other options.

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qirex
Feb 15, 2001

There's those all in one superzooms like the Sony RX10 [a mark I should be under a grand]
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2017-roundup-enthusiast-long-zoom-cameras

Kenny Logins
Jan 11, 2011

EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

qirex posted:

There's those all in one superzooms like the Sony RX10 [a mark I should be under a grand]
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2017-roundup-enthusiast-long-zoom-cameras
Yeah, the Panasonic FZ1000 in that listing also looks decent (for the purpose) and Amazon lists it at $798. It has strong autofocus and continuous shooting is quick. It's not the fastest at the narrow end but better than many.

Basically, you probably want something with at least 400mm focal length maximum, for reach, and reasonably fast at that narrow end, and with good autofocus. A fast lens meaning one with a wide aperture (low f #) when zoomed all the way in, that you can use fast shutter speeds to freeze action at that level of zoom. Kids sports aren't as fast as pro but they still move quickly enough.

The RX10 is a little low on reach but makes up for it by being pretty quick at 200mm focal length. f2.8 aperture all across its focal range. A quick amazon search shows it at $800 also. Its continual shooting is a bit slower but probably quick enough for the purpose.

It's hard to say, the FZ1000 may also be able to stick at f2.8 when at 200mm, too.

Both can do RAW, and have 1" sensors, which is also good. Sensor, as noted above, should be at least 1" at this point in the game.

Might have to try them both out in-store, might come down to how it feels in-hand but they have extremely similar-looking form factors.

Kenny Logins fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Aug 11, 2017

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


I'm gonna be a bit of a wet blanket here and say she's likely better off hiring someone with better equipment to do it. Entry level DSLRs with entry level zooms are going to basically demand to be shot in bright broad daylight. If the games are in the evening or at night it's basically "don't even bother" territory. Even with kids you're going to need good C-AF and that's going to be asking a lot of even modern superzooms.

Kenny Logins
Jan 11, 2011

EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.
Following up on last page, I posted a rookie advice thread.

It's a "provide advice to rookies" rather than "rookies post questions hoping for answers". Still a work in progress but I'm not letting perfect get in the way of good, here. As demonstrated by the title flub.

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