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Digital Rebel and Sports Photography

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Rocketman205

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Does anyone use their Digital Rebel for taking sports action sequences? I like everything else about the camera but am concerned about the 4 shot buffer. I think I could live a buffer of at least 6, but I am not sure about only 4.

I have currently borrowed a Nikon D100 and am trying it out. I cannot find a 10D available here locally. I assume 10D production has taken a back seat to the production of Digital Rebels for the Christmas season.
 
Hi,

I've only had the Rebel and my Canon 100-300mm USM lens for two weekends, and only one chance to shoot my step-daughters soccer game but... the results were pretty good.

http://www.congiano.com/Photography/Canon/100-300usm/100-300usm.htm

I recently sold my Minolta Maxxum, lenses, Dimage 7i, flash and other stuff on Ebay... I just got tired of waiting for Minotla to introduce an interchangeable SLR.

Anthony
http://www.congiano.com/gallery.htm
Rocketman205 said:
Does anyone use their Digital Rebel for taking sports action
sequences? I like everything else about the camera but am
concerned about the 4 shot buffer. I think I could live a buffer
of at least 6, but I am not sure about only 4.

I have currently borrowed a Nikon D100 and am trying it out. I
cannot find a 10D available here locally. I assume 10D production
has taken a back seat to the production of Digital Rebels for the
Christmas season.
Click to expand...
 
Instead, I watch the action through the viewfinder and snap when it looks right. You lose visibility of much of the action by just firing away and having the viewfinder going black half the time. I usually keep tapping the shutter release halfway to make sure the subject stays in focus, since the AI Servo mode is somewhat unpredictible.

Here's a sample from a few weeks ago:

 
I was skeptical at first regarding the camera's ability to do action, particularly in low light situations with (realitively) cheap glass. My expectations have been totally exceeded. I shoot at 800-1600 ISO with the Sigma DG 500 Super external flash and Sigma 70-300 APO lens and have had great results. Out of 55 photos the other day in a poorly lit gym, I kept 40. Of course, Neat Image is necessary to neaten up the ISO 1600 photos, but they still can easily be printed at 8 by 10.
 
I tried the following:

I set the camera to manual, 1/400, F5.6, ISO 1600 in a dark livingroom (a couple of candles and 2 small lights).

First I took one picture just to check the file size, which was around 3.6MB

Then I took a burst of 4 shots and kept the shutter half pressed. Whitin 1 second I could take the next shot and 3 more within the next 3 seconds, same as the 5th picture.

I haven't had the opportunity to shoot, nor do I have experience with sport pics, but this seems pretty fast to me.

Cheers,

Gerard
Rocketman205 said:
Does anyone use their Digital Rebel for taking sports action
sequences? I like everything else about the camera but am
concerned about the 4 shot buffer. I think I could live a buffer
of at least 6, but I am not sure about only 4.

I have currently borrowed a Nikon D100 and am trying it out. I
cannot find a 10D available here locally. I assume 10D production
has taken a back seat to the production of Digital Rebels for the
Christmas season.
Click to expand...
 
Rocketman205 said:
Does anyone use their Digital Rebel for taking sports action
sequences? I like everything else about the camera but am
concerned about the 4 shot buffer. I think I could live a buffer
of at least 6, but I am not sure about only 4.
Click to expand...
Well, what about the photographers who used the old manual cameras?

my old film EOS was only 1 frame p/sec, so I simply had to wait and take the photo at the right time, instead of holding my finger on the shutter and hoping for the best. I think a large buffer may simply encourage some to be lazy, and not actually put the effort into the shot (although there are times when it would be nice, but I think it's a bit overrated)
 
I photograph baseball games and use the burst to record a pitcher's motions from wind-up to follow-through. The sequence is usually anywhere between 6 and 8 shots. If a particular pitcher is having trouble, the coach will ask me to take a series of pics for them to analyze to check pitching motion and mechanics. That is really the only time I shoot in a long burst mode.
HoldenMan said:
Rocketman205 said:
Does anyone use their Digital Rebel for taking sports action
sequences? I like everything else about the camera but am
concerned about the 4 shot buffer. I think I could live a buffer
of at least 6, but I am not sure about only 4.
Click to expand...
Well, what about the photographers who used the old manual cameras?

my old film EOS was only 1 frame p/sec, so I simply had to wait and
take the photo at the right time, instead of holding my finger on
the shutter and hoping for the best. I think a large buffer may
simply encourage some to be lazy, and not actually put the effort
into the shot (although there are times when it would be nice, but
I think it's a bit overrated)
Click to expand...
 
Rocketman205 said:
I photograph baseball games and use the burst to record a pitcher's
motions from wind-up to follow-through. The sequence is usually
anywhere between 6 and 8 shots. If a particular pitcher is having
trouble, the coach will ask me to take a series of pics for them to
analyze to check pitching motion and mechanics. That is really the
only time I shoot in a long burst mode.
Click to expand...
fair enough, but wouldn't frame rate be of importance as well? I mean, the swing occurs pretty fast...you'd also want something quicker than 2.5 frames a second, even the 10D 4 frames a sec (or is it 3?) isn't really sufficient....I think the only camera that would be of any use for that purpose is the EOS 1V - 9 frames a second. I guess he'd be better off sticking with a video camera in this instance
 
will you need the AI servo? if so then forget about the 300d and get the 10D. if you will be using it as refocusing each time then I think it's fast enough for sport. I thougth the 10D was 9 frames not 6?
Rocketman205 said:
Does anyone use their Digital Rebel for taking sports action
sequences? I like everything else about the camera but am
concerned about the 4 shot buffer. I think I could live a buffer
of at least 6, but I am not sure about only 4.

I have currently borrowed a Nikon D100 and am trying it out. I
cannot find a 10D available here locally. I assume 10D production
has taken a back seat to the production of Digital Rebels for the
Christmas season.
Click to expand...
--
I am not an English native speaker!
http://www.pbase.com/zylen
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=26918
 
yeah it is 9

and the 300D is perfectly capable for most sports photography purposes. not being able to select ai focus is a disadvantage, but most people manage
 
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