Camera advice wanted

Parent Cafe
1

<p>The camera we have is great for scenery, but I can never seem to get a good shot of a person in action (delay makes me miss the moment) or at a distance (like D on the field for marching band), or on stage.<br>
When we bought our current camera, a small (pocket) size was an important factor, but it getting something larger will work better, then that’s what I will get! I do need it to be simple to use though, and would love it to be able to do video as well as still shots.</p>

<p>Suggestions?</p>

2

<p>There is no camera problem that cannot be fixed by a lot of money. The higher the shutter speed, the more likely you are to freeze the image. Unfortunately, the higher the shutter speed the less light that enters the camera. The higher the ISO, the more likely you are to freeze the image. Unfortunately, the higher the ISO, the more likely is the picture to look grainy. If you buy a Canon SLR camera, you will be able to counter most of these problems.</p>

3

<p>There are a number of challenges in freezing the action at just the right moment. One is the shutter lag, sometimes caused by the autofocus. Sometimes prefocusing (depressing the shutter enough to engage the autofocus but not enough to take the shot) will help. But to really have good results getting action shots you need a DSLR. If your subject is out in the middle of the field, you’ll probably need a telephoto zoom. If it is dark, you’ll want a fast lens. This is a great lens:
[Canon</a> 70 200 F2 8l Is Ii | B&H Photo Video](<a href=“Canon 70 200 F2 8l Is Ii | B&H Photo Video”>Canon 70 200 F2 8l Is Ii | B&H Photo Video)
that will work well with any Canon DSLR. Unfortunately, it is pretty expensive. For sports you probably don’t need the IS, in which case you could go with:
[Canon</a> EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens 2569A004 B&H](<a href=“http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/91680-USA/Canon_2569A004_70_200mm_f_2_8L_USM_Autofocus.html]Canon”>http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/91680-USA/Canon_2569A004_70_200mm_f_2_8L_USM_Autofocus.html)
Which would save you about $900. Or you could go with a non-Canon telephoto zoom like:
[Tamron</a> 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro AF Lens AF001C-700 B&H](<a href=“http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/539396-REG/Tamron_AF001C_700_70_200mm_f_2_8_Di_LD.html]Tamron”>http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/539396-REG/Tamron_AF001C_700_70_200mm_f_2_8_Di_LD.html)
The Canon zooms have a fabulous reputation and are used by many professional photographers. I have no experience with the Tamron. I have found that for taking photos of kids playing soccer, on stage, etc. I really appreciate the 2.8 maximum aperture, though it has a very shallow depth of field at f2.8.</p>

4

<p>If you go with Canon and the intent is to use it for video, make sure you get ring-type USM lenses only - non-USM lenses do make a whirring noise when autofocusing, and also focus slower (though the latter isn’t a huge deal for video). I use [Amazon.com:</a> Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007Y794O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A1BOD550JCMOUA]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007Y794O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A1BOD550JCMOUA) for pretty much everything. It’s not as upper end as dadx’s suggestions, but is much more affordable for photog schlubs like me.</p>

<p>Oh, and don’t forget to get a high quality UV filter, if for no other reason than to prevent incidental scratches on your (much more expensive) lenses. The smaller sizes are much cheaper: [Amazon.com:</a> B+W 77mm Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Coating (010M): Camera & Photo](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/77mm-Clear-Haze-Multi-Resistant-Coating/dp/B0000BZLBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340074899&sr=8-1&keywords=B%2BW+uv+filter]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/77mm-Clear-Haze-Multi-Resistant-Coating/dp/B0000BZLBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340074899&sr=8-1&keywords=B%2BW+uv+filter)</p>

<p>Edit: Oh, and make sure you get a high speed card for video. I believe Canons require faster than Class 4 cards for video. I use <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Flash-Memory-SDSDX-032G-X46/dp/B004Q3C98S/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340075259&sr=1-1&keywords=sandisk+32gb+class+10[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Flash-Memory-SDSDX-032G-X46/dp/B004Q3C98S/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340075259&sr=1-1&keywords=sandisk+32gb+class+10&lt;/a&gt; because Sandisks seemed to have the fastest clock speeds and were still decently cheap, but YMMV.</p>