What digital SLR is recommended

**Ogamiitto** · 7th October 2006

Hi, I want to take pics of fast moving vehicles. Was looking at digital slr cameras but am not too sure what I should buy, I don't want to buy then wish I'd chosen something else.

Does anyone have any recommendations for something to take quality pics of a motorbike travelling at 200+ mph

TIA

**{{909}}** · 7th October 2006

to take pics of fastmoving things take a hell of a lot of practice, rather then an expensive camera. Im sure there will be a guide to it somewhere.

If you do want advice on what dslr to buy, give us a price range.

**Ogamiitto** · 7th October 2006

Price range is difficult! End or racing season now so I got till spring to save. Thing is I don't want to go overboard on price but also I don't want to shell out on a camera then be annoyed that it doesn't give me the results I want. I realise this isn't going to be cheap but I'd rather spend once than twice! I haven't got 1000's but like I said.. would rather have the camera I need than be tight and have a camera that I don't use because it doesn't do what I want. Was looking at canon 300D & 350D on ebay, they seem pretty reasonable price wise?

I realise that even with the best camera in the world for a while I'm going to be taking rubbish, no doubt endless pictures of empty track and just the back end of an unidentifiable bike will be in order..lol. But we go to a hell of a lot of race meetings in a year so hopefully i'll have chance to hone at least some skills starting with the much much slower speed club racing

Will look at the guide you mentioned... sure I'll need it!

**{{909}}** · 7th October 2006

im sure someone will give u better advice than me, since i dont have a dslr either, just spent alot of time drooling over them. canon and nikon both do affordable dslrs. the d60/70 etc, if nobody else replys, theres loads of reviews for them online.

the main thing to learn is tracking the subject when taking the picture, theres a member on here that takes alot of pictures from race meets, have a look through older posts.

**Son** · 7th October 2006

Im sure Scotto will be along shortly to offer you some advice, til then have a look at some of his great pics http://www.digital-moments.co.uk/

**poocdre** · 7th October 2006

i think its a case of the more you spend the better you get

**Ogamiitto** · 7th October 2006

Im sure Scotto will be along shortly to offer you some advice, til then have a look at some of his great pics http://www.digital-moments.co.uk/

Superb

Those are really cracking pics, Sure even with a great camera would be a while before I got even close to that!

Thanks for the replies guys, gonna scan through old posts now to see what lovelys I can find

**eolair** · 8th October 2006

For high speed sports you need a few things,
* quick 'burst' mode on camera
* long (zoom) lens
* stand / tripod
* fast memory card - may help
* fast focussing - can be worked around

Most lower end dslrs do about 2.5 frames a second, and a burst of 8-15 shots continuously before it stops to write to the memory card. As you spend more money, this goes up to about 5 FPS and maybe 30-40 shots. Check out dpreview.com a the specs, it has a compare function.

Assuming you'll be standing a way off, you'll need a zoom lens, at least 200mm, and probably 300mm. Whether you buy canon or nikon camera, it's cheaper to buy 3rd party lens from tamron or sigma.

With a long lens you'll need a steady hand, and shoot at a fast shutter speed, or use a tripod. As a guide, the minimum shutter speed should be 1/lens length - so 1/200 or 1/300 - for handheld shooting.

One tip is if you're shooting at bikes/cars at a particular spot, you can pre-focus (fix the focus) at that spot, and shoot more quickly when they come around.

Canon and Nikon both make great cameras, and both will do you nicely. There's not a lot in it between them. Main diffs would be :
* Canon has lower ISO (works better in lower light), no spot-metering
* Nikon has better ergonomics, build quality, has spot metering.
* you won't see any difference between 6 and 8 mp.

Basically you're looking at a Canon 300/350/400 or a Nikon D50/70/70s. About �300 second hand, �500ish new, plus another �100-200 for a long lens, �30 for a tripod, �50 for a couple of fast memory cards.

To be honest, all these are within a gnats whisker of each other, except newer cameras take slightly more frames per second. The pictures you get will be more down to you and your technique. DSLRs have a bit of a learning curve to use and all the cameras have their own quirks.

Also to get the best out of them, you'll probably have to do some post processing in PaintShopPro or Photoshop - DSLRs usually make pictures with lower contrast, sharpening and saturated colours than the point and shoots.

HTH.

**Ogamiitto** · 10th October 2006

Thanks eolair, this is just the kind of info i need

I found all the slight differences quite confusing and was especially unsure on the different lenses! I shall now armed with this info go and have a look at what I could reasonably afford! Thanks mate!