Canon SL2/200D for sports/action shooting (surfing)

Hi,

I have been doing sports/action shooting primarily surfing, and I have been using Fuji X-T2, but I also have some Canon and third-party Canon EF mount lenses (Tamron 160-600 G2) via a new Fringer "Pro II" adapter.

I had bought a used Xs-i awhile ago, to test the Canon-mount lenses on a native EF/EF-S camera, but now that I have a small set of Canon EF/EF-S mount lenses, I was thinking about getting a more modern Canon DSLR as a kind of backup for use with the Canon-mount lenses, and I am particularly interested in the SL2/200D because of the size.

This year, I am also experimenting using the LCD view finder (and a magnified hood) and a dot sight instead of the EVF, and I was reading that the 200D/SL2 auto-focus was not bad for still photo action shooting?

So, would the 200D/SL2 be suitable for what I describe?

Thanks,

Jim

IMHO you'd be much better off with something like a T7i or 77D (for starters).  And skip the aiming device (use the much better viewfinder PDAF instead).

R2

The SL-2 is a great little camera but for sports action, IMO, it's buffer is too small (especially if you shoot RAW & JPEG) and it's burst rate too low.

R2D2,

The reason I am going to try the dot sight, in particular, is that I've been testing  this past year, on a gimbal, and from that testing, I get much less motion blur when I shoot using the dot sight vs. the EVF viewfinder.

That (very slight motion blur) was something I noticed when I was culling the images from shooting in the previous season (with tripod but no gimbal), when using the EVF, even shooting as high as 1/2000, in some cases, and I also noticed that when we got back home with the gimbal and static targets.

I am not quite sure why, but I do know that I have some physical problems with steadiness, so those might be the reason, but I notice that when I use the dot sight, I get much less motion blur.

This year, I am also trying to teach myself to shoot using back-button focus/BBF, so I am thinking that if I can try use that (BBF) together with depth-of-field then maybe the SL2/200D might be "ok enough" even if the auto-focus speed is not the greatest, it might be good enough as a backup/native EF/EFS-mount camera.

We are already carrying enough stuff (we spend 3 months in a different place where I am doing the shooting, so we have to carry a bunch of stuff on the flights to/from), and we are both getting older, so I don't really want to carry a large DSLR.

Thanks,

Jim

jvc1 wrote:

The SL-2 is a great little camera but for sports action, IMO, it's buffer is too small (especially if you shoot RAW & JPEG) and it's burst rate too low.

I like your "water" pics, esp. the #1 one :).

It looks like you are shooting an 80D?  Do you know how that size is compared to an SL2?  I have seen the info and comparisons, and maybe it's the angles, but in the pics on the comparison sites, the 80D definitely looks larger, but it doesn't look that much huger than the SL2?

ohaya wrote:

I like your "water" pics, esp. the #1 one :).

It looks like you are shooting an 80D? Do you know how that size is compared to an SL2? I have seen the info and comparisons, and maybe it's the angles, but in the pics on the comparison sites, the 80D definitely looks larger, but it doesn't look that much huger than the SL2?

Thanks on the water pics.

I find the SL-2 much smaller than the 80d. See if this helps. Compare SL-2 & 80d.

The SL-2 feels smaller to me than these pictures make it look. Big difference in weight too.

As I said earlier, I shoot RAW & JPEG and find that the SL-2 buffers bogs down after 3 or 4 shots. of burst shooting. If you're shooting single shots of surfers it'll probably be fine.

God luck with your decision.

ohaya wrote:

R2D2,

The reason I am going to try the dot sight, in particular, is that I've been testing this past year, on a gimbal, and from that testing, I get much less motion blur when I shoot using the dot sight vs. the EVF viewfinder.

That (very slight motion blur) was something I noticed when I was culling the images from shooting in the previous season (with tripod but no gimbal), when using the EVF, even shooting as high as 1/2000, in some cases, and I also noticed that when we got back home with the gimbal and static targets.

I am not quite sure why, but I do know that I have some physical problems with steadiness, so those might be the reason, but I notice that when I use the dot sight, I get much less motion blur.

This year, I am also trying to teach myself to shoot using back-button focus/BBF, so I am thinking that if I can try use that (BBF) together with depth-of-field then maybe the SL2/200D might be "ok enough" even if the auto-focus speed is not the greatest, it might be good enough as a backup/native EF/EFS-mount camera.

We are already carrying enough stuff (we spend 3 months in a different place where I am doing the shooting, so we have to carry a bunch of stuff on the flights to/from), and we are both getting older, so I don't really want to carry a large DSLR.

Thanks,

Jim

My advice to use the OVF was due to the much higher performance of the OVF's PDAF vs. the LCD's DPAF (Live View) when shooting action.  Stability OTOH is primarily a function of technique.

R2

jvc1 wrote:

ohaya wrote:

I like your "water" pics, esp. the #1 one :).

It looks like you are shooting an 80D? Do you know how that size is compared to an SL2? I have seen the info and comparisons, and maybe it's the angles, but in the pics on the comparison sites, the 80D definitely looks larger, but it doesn't look that much huger than the SL2?

Thanks on the water pics.

I find the SL-2 much smaller than the 80d. See if this helps. Compare SL-2 & 80d.

The SL-2 feels smaller to me than these pictures make it look. Big difference in weight too.

As I said earlier, I shoot RAW & JPEG and find that the SL-2 buffers bogs down after 3 or 4 shots. of burst shooting. If you're shooting single shots of surfers it'll probably be fine.

God luck with your decision.

FYI, I just decided to get one of the 80D refurb kits (I am intrigued/curious about the AF performance vs. the Fuji X-T2 and X-T30).  Should be here tomorrow!

ohaya wrote:

jvc1 wrote:

ohaya wrote:

I like your "water" pics, esp. the #1 one :).

It looks like you are shooting an 80D? Do you know how that size is compared to an SL2? I have seen the info and comparisons, and maybe it's the angles, but in the pics on the comparison sites, the 80D definitely looks larger, but it doesn't look that much huger than the SL2?

Thanks on the water pics.

I find the SL-2 much smaller than the 80d. See if this helps. Compare SL-2 & 80d.

The SL-2 feels smaller to me than these pictures make it look. Big difference in weight too.

As I said earlier, I shoot RAW & JPEG and find that the SL-2 buffers bogs down after 3 or 4 shots. of burst shooting. If you're shooting single shots of surfers it'll probably be fine.

God luck with your decision.

FYI, I just decided to get one of the 80D refurb kits (I am intrigued/curious about the AF performance vs. the Fuji X-T2 and X-T30). Should be here tomorrow!

Great choice! 80D is a great all-rounder. I think it will serve you well -- far better than the SL2 for your action shots.  I own both.

ohaya wrote:

FYI, I just decided to get one of the 80D refurb kits (I am intrigued/curious about the AF performance vs. the Fuji X-T2 and X-T30). Should be here tomorrow!

Great, I'm very happy with my 80d. Canon's refurb deals are great. Have fun with it.

ohaya wrote:

FYI, I just decided to get one of the 80D refurb kits (I am intrigued/curious about the AF performance vs. the Fuji X-T2 and X-T30). Should be here tomorrow!

Congrats!  The 80D is a very capable action shooter.

Enjoy!

R2