I bought the wife a Nikon D3100 this past xmas and we were able to use it outdoors at my daughters soccer matches this weekend. Bought a camera package with a 70/200 lens and a 64gb sd card. It did well, we have a bit to learn on it but for our first test, it did real well. No blur action shots from a distance. Cant wait to get out there again and take some more action shots.
Nikon D5000 now they have a D5100. I took all the pics at this link from my son’s football games. Most of today’s cameras will take good pics. It’s the lens that will give the best results. You need a fast lens with a decent zoom length. I have the standard 55-200mm f3.5 - 5.6 lens from the kit. A really good one will cost about $800.
http://hkcougars.com/Pictures.asp?isteam=1&snid=jMHFX2J5\&org=hkcougars.com
The pictures have been cropped and re-sized but they came out pretty good.
give a budget range for this wish list...
describe the sports action you want to capture...
do you have other uses...
do you think that you will use it more and more if capabilities are there or is this a single purpose camera...
are you far-sighted and use reading glasses...
As others have mentioned, a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses gets you into a new level of capability for two reasons:
1. Sensor size. The current affordable DSLRs have a sensor that is 6/10 the size of a traditional 35mm frame, and this is much larger than most point-and-shoot or low-end (built-in lens) DSLRs.
The actual sensitivity comes from the size of each individual pixel, however. So don’t be overly impressed by high pixel counts if you’re going for fast action capture in iffy lighting. High pixel counts means smaller pixels, assuming the same size sensor.
2. Availability of big glass. Go for the biggest aperture lens(es) you can afford. The focal length of lens (or its range of lengths, if a zoom) is also a factor in producing well-composed shots, so consider what kind of shots you want to go for. Indoor or outdoor? Close-up near the field/court, or from the stands?
For a 6/10 SLR, I like the 70-200 mm range zoom. I settled for an f/4, because the price and size of its f/2.8 sister were just a bit racy for me.
There are many tradeoffs among focal length/zoom range and lens aperture. More of each will cost you more. At least with an interchangeable lens SLR, you can build slowly over time toward the big glass; in the meantime, you may be able to borrow or rent lenses from stores or friends until you find what works best for you.
A note about image stabilization. Many manufacturers now offer versions of their lenses with stabilization built in, at a hefy premium. It allows you to take a shot with exposure times up to 8 times as long as without it, which is great for stationary scenes like landscapes. But if you’re into action, you’ll have to use shutter speeds so high that image stabilization won’t make any difference.
In my case, I do a lot of still subjects, such as in museums, so image stabilization was worth it for me. However, the option on my 70-200 cost me about $400.
3. If you can use flash at your events, get an external one. Of course, the flash does the work of stopping the action, and it will compensate for not having a larger aperture. Take shots both with and without the flash and decide which kind of look you prefer.
If you don’t have the flash, or can’t use it, or don’t like the way the shots look, try shooting your action at various sensitivities (ISO settings) up the camera’s maximum. The highest ISOs will cause the camera to choose the highest action-stopping speeds, but will probably be too noisy (grainy) for your taste. Try to find an ISO setting that allows for acceptable shutter speeds and also tolerable noise.
There’s always tradeoffs. If you get into the mainline DSLRs like the Canon Digital Rebels or the equivalent Nikons, you WILL spend some coin any way you look at it. The only saving grace is that you may not have to do it all at one shot.