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I'm sure there must be a thread about this somewhere, but what do you recommend for a digital camera to take "action" shots of the horses? I have an older digital camera that has that long delay while it thinks about things, by then the moment has passed, and even on sport mode the legs look blurry.
TIA!
I have a canon rebel xsi that I love. I think lenses make a bigger difference than the actual camera. I mean, you do need a decent camera to start off with but a good lens goes a long way! I bought an L(luxury) canon lens last year and it's amazing how much better my photos are.
I have a Fuji somethingorother and loffs it. There is a setting on most cameras where you can take a lot of shots while the shutter is held down and hopefully one of those pics will be good, then delete the less desirable ones. Or you can set it where it only saves the last three pics. I take a LOT of pics with my phone camera and then clean them up with photoshop or little photo or picsay or any of the numerou photog apps.
My picture taking is getting to be a real addiction!
You will need a digital SLR to get even vaguely decent photos of action shots.
You can spend a bloody fortune buying one, but unless you are a pro or a very serious amateur, you don't need the latest and most expensive.
I recommend that you do some looking on Craigslist or Ebay and find a Nikon D50 and a 70-200 or 80-200 lens. You don't have to have a 2.8 top of the line low light lens for most outside horse stuff.
You should be able to find a decent Nikon D50 for about $300 these days, as they are several models behind the latest, but they will not have shutter lag and will let you work on full auto or you can learn to really use the camera and work manual (or shutter or apeture priority).
The lens is going to cost you another $300 for an entry level (you don't NEED the $2000 version to get started!).
This system will get you what you want until and unless you become completely hooked on photography and start wanting to move up in quality.
I just bought a $200 Canon Powershot SX130IS 12mp and 12 zoom.LOVE it! It has several great functions on it, takes great video, and has a continuous hold function that gets great action shots while just holding the button down. I am extremly pleased with it!
Definitely go for a DSLR. I got my Canon T1i a year and a half a go and absolutely love it. The lens really is what makes the biggest difference, though, so consider buying just a DSLR body and investing in a decent lens. I'm saving my pennies for an L-series lens, but $500 will get you a really nice lens for just about everything, especially outdoor shots.
Here's a really good thread about choosing cameras for equine photos.
I shoot with a Nikon D-40. Excellent camera, not terribly expensive. very easy to use. Most of the pictures on the web site listed below were taken with this camera.
Thank you so much!!! I am just looking for something cheap to take some pics of my ponies, these are great suggestions!
What do you consider cheap? I just bought a great camera that I'm having a lot of fun with for less than $300. It also records in HD and the software that comes with it allows you to freeze the video and capture a photo from it. It also has a burst mode that allows you to catch a horse jumping. It's not super fast, but it's good enough and about what to expect for a camera in that price range.
It has all kinds of settings to make sure you capture the shot, but it also allows for manual settings if you want to play around with it on your own.
It's a Panasonic Lumix and got fantastic reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-.../dp/B002IKLJU0
Here is a sample of the video it can take. I should have used a tripod and it was shot while it was raining, but the quality is still good despite the setbacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcplV1KvaDM
This is a still taken from the video:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ngdownshow.jpg
And this is my attempt at the action shot. I caught the shot I wanted, but forgot to wipe the fog off the camera lens which is why some of the background is blurry, it wasn't the quality of the camera, it was pure operator error!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...C/vertical.jpg
And here is a still shot, but it shows how nice the colors come out in the pictures. Again, this was all on the automatic settings, I'm not brave enough or good enough yet to try shots on my own yet!
Here is a still shot that shows the color captured:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ieflowers1.jpg
So, for less than $300 this is a great camera, especially for an amateur like me!
Definitely the LUMIX! My husband and I both show and we really like the video (great quality and you don't have to carry an extra video cam around!). Taking the "action shots" is super-easy, just set it with the appropriate button and voila! Works every time :D
Besides, my dad (who is a professional photographer) recommended this camera for us to buy.....
I love my Nikon D90, but its expensive. The other Nikon DSLRs are nice too.
I have a Sony Cybershot HX200V which is the upgrade for my previous camera and it has a setting for taking 10 pictures in like a second if you hold the button down. I've found that to be really useful for getting good action shots and it's just generally a great mid-range camera (not DSLR, but still pretty darn awesome). And it was like $340 recently on Amazon (and I know someone who bought it from Best Buy and they matched that price if you want to see it in a store before putting money on it).