What camera do you use?

Looking to buy a camera for taking action type pictures. Here's the thing, not looking to spend a year of select soccer fees on a camera/lens. Does anyone have any suggestions on what you use that works for a beginner. I goggled this and it made my head hurt..lol so many choices. I know I need a high shutter speed but that's as far as I understand.

a mid range DSLR Nikon or Canon would work just fine. What will impact it most is the lens used. No need to break the bank to get quality pics. Ive got a mid range sony camcorder that will even snap pretty good HD pics mid action as it records.

Sunny, day time matches don't really present a lot of challenges, other than technique, which you'll have to work on.  Almost any of the big name DSLR's with a "kit" lens like a 70-300 will work great, and are relatively inexpensive.  You'll want to consider DSLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, rather than a point and shoot camera (which are small and convenient) but will likely leave you very frustrated and poorer.

Don't get caught up too much on fast shutter speeds, as almost any camera will allow for fast shutter speeds, but you need lens with a large enough aperture to utilize those fast shutter speeds.

The challenge will come on evening/night games where lighting is poor, and you need a "fast" lens. This is where it gets very expensive very fast.

ballhead wrote:Sunny, day time matches don't really present a lot of challenges, other than technique, which you'll have to work on.  Almost any of the big name DSLR's with a "kit" lens like a 70-300 will work great, and are relatively inexpensive.  You'll want to consider DSLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, rather than a point and shoot camera (which are small and convenient) but will likely leave you very frustrated and poorer.

Don't get caught up too much on fast shutter speeds, as almost any camera will allow for fast shutter speeds, but you need lens with a large enough aperture to utilize those fast shutter speeds.

The challenge will come on evening/night games where lighting is poor, and you need a "fast" lens. This is where it gets very expensive very fast.

100% You can use any decent DSLR...spend your money on 70-300 lens or something like it...don't go less than 300 or you will wish you had more lens. Put the camera on the "sports" or action setting in the store and hold the shutter release down to see how fast the body shoots. As they get more expensive, they get faster. For most amateur shooting, you are looking at a base kit (camera body and 35-80ish lens), but add the 70-300 lens when you can...A lot of people will sell a body as they move up into a faster model. Take more picture than you will need, then edit at home when you download...remember, you can delete any out of focus, but you can't go back and shoot the ones you missed.

I just did a quick check on the Canon site and their basic camera with 35-80 lens is about $350, a GOOD 70-300 lens that will work in ALMOST ALL soccer situations is about $600...there are lesser lenses, but you will wish you had spent more on it if you do. Get large capacity storage card for it too...and an extra battery...

Thank you all for the information..Great advice from all...we Always have been blessed with a parent on team who took great photos. Its been a long time coming but looking forward to getting and taking good pictures.

I like the NIKON DSLR products. Canon is great too. But I have purchased several Nikon lenses so I stay in that family. There are kits that include the 70-300 lenses. That will work great except it gets real tricky in low lighting. Fast low light lenses can get very costly. Have to be serious about it to justify those lenses. Good luck!

Look on craigslist

A Nikon 3200 is what I used until I upgraded

with a 70 by 300 lens used you can find the whole thing for 3 to 4 hundred

Yes. Great advice. Both Nikon and canon make quality stuff. Shot with both. Personal preference is canon, but produce equally good pictures. They just zoom opposite directions from what I remember...kept losing shots when I would alternate.

Do you more experienced photographers recommend sports mode or aperature-priority mode for us novices?

AbEnd wrote:Do you more experienced photographers recommend sports mode or aperature-priority mode for us novices?

I would recommend using the sports mode until you're very comfortable with where you are and the shots you're getting, but want to get "more".  I started on a 6 megapixel Nikon and shot that way for years.

I shoot primarily aperture priority (occasionally shutter priority in low light) but it does take a bit more thought to make sure you have enough light to get the result you want with the aperture you've set.

ballhead wrote:

AbEnd wrote:Do you more experienced photographers recommend sports mode or aperature-priority mode for us novices?

I would recommend using the sports mode until you're very comfortable with where you are and the shots you're getting, but want to get "more".  I started on a 6 megapixel Nikon and shot that way for years.

I shoot primarily aperture priority (occasionally shutter priority in low light) but it does take a bit more thought to make sure you have enough light to get the result you want with the aperture you've set.

100% agree and would add that the camera will do its best to adjust for you when it can...and will do a pretty good job...until you get fancy and stop it. One way to learn though is to look at the pictures and the info. It is encoded into the shot and the camera will list your f-stop, aperture etc. when you take a good shot in low light make a mental note of what the camera did. Also, click over as you shoot to see what the camera would "choose" then go to you priority and adjust from there.

The "action" setting is a great baseline. Then play with it beyond that...but remember, you can always manipulate AFTER the fact, but can't replicate the shot later.

I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

fatherofoneplayer wrote:I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

They are two very different things, for sure.  I really enjoy watching videos of my kid's games and have been known to watch and re-watch them many times.

That said, nothing, in my opinion, captures the soccer athlete like still photos that show the facial expressions, the looks of determination, the one on one competitiveness of the action, etc.

I wish I had both for every game.

Another option if you don't have the time or interest to learn technical aspects of photography is getting a good "bridge" camera...sometimes also called superzooms. These cameras are getting so good it's hard for any novice to beat what you can capture for anything close to the equipment investment....especially if you're shooting mostly soccer games in daylight. From $450 to about 900 you can find a bridge with a good lens and massive zoom, fast fps with burst and good auto focus. My mom is anti tech and bought one last summer...I can't tell her action shots from shots ive seen from folk shooting very expensive dslr with very expensive glass. If you dont know what you're doing, its very easy to spend a bunch of money and still not get consistently great captures from dslr. Check out the Fuji S1 on the low end and Panasonic fz1000 on the high end. Very easy for a novice to get a high quality bridge and a cheap monopod, throw it on auto, and in 5 minutes you're shooting and figuring out how to time the action and frame shots instead of worrying about the technical stuff.

fatherofoneplayer wrote:I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

That is my concern as well, getting lost in the game. I find myself missing things when I try and get short video clips with the Ipad and that is nowhere near as complex as shooting pictures.

ballhead wrote:

fatherofoneplayer wrote:I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

They are two very different things, for sure.  I really enjoy watching videos of my kid's games and have been known to watch and re-watch them many times.

That said, nothing, in my opinion, captures the soccer athlete like still photos that show the facial expressions, the looks of determination, the one on one competitiveness of the action, etc.

I wish I had both for every game.

Me too...I am now very much undecided between Camcorder or Camera investment...urghhh

4-3-3 wrote:Another option if you don't have the time or interest to learn technical aspects of photography is getting a good "bridge" camera...sometimes also called superzooms. These cameras are getting so good it's hard for any novice to beat what you can capture for anything close to the equipment investment....especially if you're shooting mostly soccer games in daylight. From $450 to about 900 you can find a bridge with a good lens and massive zoom, fast fps with burst and good auto focus. My mom is anti tech and bought one last summer...I can't tell her action shots from shots ive seen from folk shooting very expensive dslr with very expensive glass. If you dont know what you're doing, its very easy to spend a bunch of money and still not get consistently great captures from dslr. Check out the Fuji S1 on the low end and Panasonic fz1000 on the high end. Very easy for a novice to get a high quality bridge and a cheap monopod, throw it on auto, and in 5 minutes you're shooting and figuring out how to time the action and frame shots instead of worrying about the technical stuff.

Im goggleing it now as I never heard of this before..ThankS

legitsoccermom wrote:

ballhead wrote:

fatherofoneplayer wrote:I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

They are two very different things, for sure.  I really enjoy watching videos of my kid's games and have been known to watch and re-watch them many times.

That said, nothing, in my opinion, captures the soccer athlete like still photos that show the facial expressions, the looks of determination, the one on one competitiveness of the action, etc.

I wish I had both for every game.

Me too...I am now very much undecided between Camcorder or Camera investment...urghhh

Just as an FYI, my HD camcorder only set me back $299, the tripod on the other hand..........

Most DSLR cameras record video in HD, the Nikon I mentioned earlier does

AbEnd wrote:Do you more experienced photographers recommend sports mode or aperature-priority mode for us novices?

Sport mode will do but you really want to learn about shutter speed and aperture quickly.

I have been shooting sports for many years, and what I find works best is to get the shutter speed at 800 or higher, and depending on the light/weather let the rest go automatic. If lighting is not optimal, set the aperture to the lowest number the lens will go, shutter speed to 800 and iso to auto. This will ensure you are able to stop the action and not have blurry shots. Sometimes if the conditions are dark, and if you don't have a fast lens, your pictures may come out a little dark, but you can adjust this in software later. Better to get a slightly dark sharp picture than a blurry picture.

here are some examples of my pics. Some during the day, some at night. Cotton bowl has horrible lighting, Frisco is acceptable, youth games will be difficult to get decent pics at night without spending a lot of money.














I started out years ago with the lowest model Canon Rebel and the kit lens that came with it. I bought the cheapest 75-300 canon lens and that was enough to get me going. Over the years as I have moved my hobby to shooting pro games, I have upgraded everything to a Canon 7D with L series lenses and it shows.

Don't forget, once you begin to invest in better lenses, you don't need to limit yourself to just sports. Of course, you'll be getting some great pictures on vacations, and even things like senior pics, homecoming and prom. Some of the best pictures I have captured have been candid moments while waiting to pose for prom or homecoming pics.




Always be looking for that 'moment', not just when they are posed and ready for the camera.
Even when walking about when away from home, you may capture something that turns out great when you get home to look.



As you can see, photography is a passion of mine, I have been shooting pictures since I was 13, so over 35 years now. I'm still learning, and still studying. It can be a lot of fun and you'll have great memories for years.

Feel free to send me PM if you have any specific questions or want help with anything.

#golgolgol

Beautiful pictures, each picture tells a story. Very nice explanation on the mechanics of taking a good picture and the equipment as well. I have been in the market for sometime to buy a decent camera and lenses; all the research needed had made me procrastinate on this buy. I will start looking at it again.

Great series of Didier Drogba on your website. How close to the action were you?

golgolgol wrote:

AbEnd wrote:Do you more experienced photographers recommend sports mode or aperature-priority mode for us novices?

Sport mode will do but you really want to learn about shutter speed and aperture quickly.

I have been shooting sports for many years, and what I find works best is to get the shutter speed at 800 or higher, and depending on the light/weather let the rest go automatic. If lighting is not optimal, set the aperture to the lowest number the lens will go, shutter speed to 800 and iso to auto. This will ensure you are able to stop the action and not have blurry shots. Sometimes if the conditions are dark, and if you don't have a fast lens, your pictures may come out a little dark, but you can adjust this in software later. Better to get a slightly dark sharp picture than a blurry picture.

here are some examples of my pics. Some during the day, some at night. Cotton bowl has horrible lighting, Frisco is acceptable, youth games will be difficult to get decent pics at night without spending a lot of money.














I started out years ago with the lowest model Canon Rebel and the kit lens that came with it. I bought the cheapest 75-300 canon lens and that was enough to get me going. Over the years as I have moved my hobby to shooting pro games, I have upgraded everything to a Canon 7D with L series lenses and it shows.

Don't forget, once you begin to invest in better lenses, you don't need to limit yourself to just sports. Of course, you'll be getting some great pictures on vacations, and even things like senior pics, homecoming and prom. Some of the best pictures I have captured have been candid moments while waiting to pose for prom or homecoming pics.




Always be looking for that 'moment', not just when they are posed and ready for the camera.
Even when walking about when away from home, you may capture something that turns out great when you get home to look.



As you can see, photography is a passion of mine, I have been shooting pictures since I was 13, so over 35 years now. I'm still learning, and still studying. It can be a lot of fun and you'll have great memories for years.

Feel free to send me PM if you have any specific questions or want help with anything.

Wow...Fantastic photos. And i do agree the candid shots are the best...Im really leaning towards a bridge type camera until I can get the hang of it...

Here is a guy that shows what's possible with some of the latest bridge cameras...his fz1000 captures are below, and his sports shots are quite good:

http://www.scottzinda.com/Point-and-Shoot-Cameras/Panasonic-FZ1000/i-3sF76Mn

RightWingDad wrote:Great series of Didier Drogba on your website. How close to the action were you?

I am on the field, behind the ad walls that surround the playing area.
That's the best part of my hobby, is that I have worked my way in to shooting soccer for the Dallas Morning News soccer blog so I am able to get credentials to some great games and have a great view.

this is what my view was of Real Madrid v AS Roma at the Cotton Bowl last Summer:



Depending on the venue, sometimes we are limited to only the areas behind the goal, but in Frisco I can go behind either goal and up and down the field across from the benches. We are not allowed on the bench side during the game.