Digital SLR for Kiteboarding

[Felixhh]

I am a totally fan of my casio fh-20. 250fps video / 40fps full resolution foto for an fair price (ca 340€)
really good feature/ price combo..

[purdyd]

I'm getting my wife a Nikon D3000 w/18-55 mm Lens Digital SLR camera for Christmas. It's an entry-level SLR, and she is just wanting an upgrade from a regular point and shoot. I'm wondering if anyone can give me some info on how well I can shoot Kiteboarding action pics with this camera. It's 3 FPS, and I might spend some cash to get an used lens if I can get some good shots.

I'm not trying to publish them or anything, just get some couple action shots locally, will this camera be sufficient?

you will be fine with 3 fps - you will just have to anticipate better



i would strongly consider adding the Nikon 70-300mm VR as it is a great sports zoom

[DaytonaJoe]

You'll find that the number one most important thing to taking good shots is your lens. You can buy a $7000 camera but if you're using a stock lens, your photos are going to be crap. But if you buy a $1200 lens and a $300 camera you'll take incredible pictures. Invest in quality lenses, I can't stress that enough.

3 FPS is a little bit limiting, but you can absolutely work with it. It will force you to be a better photographer, anticipating the moment rather than letting out a machine gun blast of crap pictures until you get the right one. Down the road, after you've had practice, you might decide to upgrade to a better body and you'll know how to use it properly.

Start off by looking for a 200mm lens or longer. You'll see that lenses with lower apertures (2.8 vs 5 or whatever) are more expensive, but you won't need that unless it's consistently overcast where you are. If it's sunny out, you can shoot high aperture no problem.

Good luck!

[John B.]

I just bought a Nikon D3000 with the 18-200 lens, I was thinking of getting the D5000 but the clerk at the store talked me out of it and had the same advice as Daytona.Joe, he said the get the cheaper body and spend the money on the best lens that you can afford and you will end up with much higher quality pictures. He says that he has tested many cheaper and more expensive cameras and he has found that the lens has the biggest impact on the pictures, some of the higher end cameras do have more features, however unless you are a professional photographer you will probably not end up using most of the features that you are paying for. I ended up going with the Nikon 18-200 lens as this will provides me with a pretty big great range without having to change lenses.

I am just about to head down to a kiteboarding holiday and I am really worriend about keeping the sand out of the camera while at the beach, any ideas or tricks would be appreciated.

[marlboroughman]

Depends on how and what you want to shoot, SLR with big lens is great if you want to shoot rider up close from a distance. But if you want to shoot rider and the kite close to shore or standing in shallow water and you want to capture max number of frames in a jump this camera for $400 is a ticket:

http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital-camera/X70/

24x zoom plus 11 fps during 2 seconds that's most jumps.

[Erlend M B]

Start off by looking for a 200mm lens or longer. You'll see that lenses with lower apertures (2.8 vs 5 or whatever) are more expensive, but you won't need that unless it's consistently overcast where you are.

You also get a narrower depth of focus with low aperture, letting you isolate the rider from the back/for-ground.

[alexeyga]

Well... since it is going to be your wife's camera, your choices are fairly limited... Though you should've gotten the D5000. HD video + the D300's sensor are worth paying for... and these sneaky clerks should not be trusted... Chances are... he was pushing the D3000 as he's got too many of these in stock... 18-200 is a great lens for traveling... but you'll find it rather soft at 200 even stopped down... great to begin with, but start saving either for the Sigma 100-300 or Nikon 300/4 AF-S...

No need to run after big 2.8 glass, at least in 300mm range as you'll be shooting at f/6.7-11 range anyways... At least in my experience, kiteboarding and surfing shots at 300/4 wide open look really weird in certain conditions... toyish - like...

70-300VR is not a bad lens as well... but it tends to be soft at the long end and demands a fair amount of PP to get decent shots at 300mm....

Cheers!

[malden]

No need to run after big 2.8 glass, at least in 300mm range as you'll be shooting at f/6.7-11 range anyways... At least in my experience, kiteboarding and surfing shots at 300/4 wide open look really weird in certain conditions... toyish - like...

some images at 300/2.8
Canon EOS 450D, lens: EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxdP0RS
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxelSw0
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxe0C3i
Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/3200Sec.
Av(Aperture Value) F2.8

not so bad?

another images, lens: canon EF 70-200 f/4L:

http://picasaweb.google.com/malden.brest/iZDkqK#
f/4 my favorite aperture.

i think, VR ( or IS - image stabilizer) is not necessary for water sport pictures.


another lens I had - SIGMA AF 150-500 mm F/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM.
very bad focus. very heavy. unuseful lens.


for your nikon, I vote for
> Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF VR

[alexeyga]

No need to run after big 2.8 glass, at least in 300mm range as you'll be shooting at f/6.7-11 range anyways... At least in my experience, kiteboarding and surfing shots at 300/4 wide open look really weird in certain conditions... toyish - like...

some images at 300/2.8
Canon EOS 450D, lens: EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxdP0RS
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxelSw0
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxe0C3i
Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/3200Sec.
Av(Aperture Value) F2.8

not so bad?

I never said that fast glass is bad... sure thing, these give you some mad bragging rights to jerk of with other bokeh-lovers....

That being said, your last 2 images show exactly why I try to shoot at the slowest aperture possible.. In-water shots at a narrow DOF look really wired... even at f/4... Under some conditions you might even get a "shift lens" effect...

Check this shot, I don't think you'll have problems seeing what I mean... the guy looks like he's surfing in a bath-tub... 300mm at f/4... :


In waves it's usually not as bad as on flat water... though I still prefer to stop it down a bit...

But on a normal, sunny day there's enough light to shoot the 300mm lens at ISO200-400 closed down to f8-f11 at an adequate shutter speed anyways... Unless you want to nail some aerial shots where the shutter speed takes over...