Best digital camera for movement?

[gullyrip]

What is the best camera around $1000 that can catch movement such as sporting events and things that move quickly?

 

[Emberghost]

This is such a general question I doubt you will get the answer you are looking for.

I would suggest a DSLR with a fast lens.... But many camera's are capable of catching things that move quickly. Sorry I can't really help ya out. =/

 

[Tim_axe]

Please narrow your question a little bit more by providing these details...others may want a little bit more than what I'm asking, but I'm trying to get a realistic stepping stone for the recomendations...


Which Sports? (Indoor / Outdoor / Night-time / Daytime & Specifics)
Intended Uses of Pictures? (Printing / Club Website / Photo Album / Portfolio)
Photography Expirence? (Newbie / Film P&S / Digital P&S / Film SLR)
Budget? ( Ex: Sub $800 / $800-$1000 / $1000-$1400 / $1400+)
Upgrade Path? (Do you see yourself investing more money into photography in the future if it can improve your results or allow you to be more creative? Would you be interested in an SLR system, and what do you plan on doing in photography?)

 

[ambientZ]

to capture movement you need a high shutter speed.

To have a higher shutter speed than another camera you need more light (wider aperture=lower f stop lens) or more sensitivity to light (higher iso).

Image stabilisation is featured in several cameras now, but you do NOT want this, it allows for SLOWER shutter speeds to capture more light.


If its a bright sunny day, most cameras will probably be ok, if its not bright, you will need a D-slr and a fast lens(f1.8-f2.8). These are not cheap. The body alone will be $1000 or more. An 85mm/f1.8 will set you back another 300$ or so.

Some point & shoots have faster lenses, F2.8 or so, i forget who makes them. You also need to check out their performance at high iso's. Most of the high MP point & shoots have horrible high iso performance, especially the 7-8 mp models. You might want to drop down to 4mp, but even then it probably gets you only iso200-400. D-Slr's can hit iso 800-1600 (depending on acceptable noise) because their sensors are physically MUCH larger.

 

[HorsePunchKid]

to capture movement you need a high shutter speed.

I disagree with this statement and thus with most of the rest of your post. These two pictures were taken with low shutter speeds, on the order of 1/60" or 1/45"...

But I think we need to hear more from gullyrip along the lines of what Tim_axe has laid out. (We need to sticky that list of questions, or something like it!)

 

[ambientZ]

I stand behind what i said based on what i understood from the original poster. Your pictures are fine, however they are panning quite a bit, which while gets the car sharp, the cones, background, and wheels are obviously blurred from movement. A fast shutter would cure those problems

(of course im sure you did it on purpose and those arent problems for the look you were trying to achieve).

My assumption was baseball / soccer or something, where you can't pan with a player.

 

[EnforcerGT]

I have a canon SD200, and I cant get it any faster than 1/60th sec in the brightest weather/lighting. The stats say 1/2000th but how do I get it any faster than 1/60th??

I got this camera just based off the stats but I might have to reconsider.

 

[HorsePunchKid]

I have a canon SD200, and I cant get it any faster than 1/60th sec in the brightest weather/lighting. The stats say 1/2000th but how do I get it any faster than 1/60th??

I got this camera just based off the stats but I might have to reconsider.

It's hard to tell for sure what's going on here. Unless there is a defect in your camera, you should definitely be able to get speeds faster than 1/60". From looking at some descriptions of the modes, the only obvious thing I can see is to make sure you're not in "night snapshot" mode.

Unfortunately, it sounds like your "manual" mode is not what the vast majority of cameras define as manual mode (in my experience). That is, you can't explicitly set the shutter speed and aperture. You can manually set EV comp, WB, ISO, but not shutter and aperture. The conclusion here makes that clear.

Edit: For what it's worth, I believe you can find a better camera for that price. There are many cameras with comparable features that don't lack the standard manual controls. Check some of the other threads; there are a bazillion recommendations in the $200-$300 range that have been made recently.

 

[EnforcerGT]

I was really hoping to catch some water drops.....So far this camera has really been a disappointment. With its auto mode being a poor choice to take pictures with, the long exposures looking bad because of the short range of the flash, and now, not being able to use its fast shutter like the paper claims.

 

[emorphien]

Image stabilisation is featured in several cameras now, but you do NOT want this, it allows for SLOWER shutter speeds to capture more light.

Image stabilization techniques can allow for slower shutter speeds, but even with higher ones there's few reasons to turn it off if your camera has it. Many of the cameras with some form of stabilization built in have reasonably fast lenses with fairly high shutter speeds because the idea behind the camera is allowing sports shooting.

If you're shooting outside many cameras will do what you need. If you plan to pan your shots your requirements will be lower, otherwise look for something that can reach at least 1/1000th of a second and the larger the aperture the better (smaller f# means larger aperture).

I was really hoping to catch some water drops.....So far this camera has really been a disappointment. With its auto mode being a poor choice to take pictures with, the long exposures looking bad because of the short range of the flash, and now, not being able to use its fast shutter like the paper claims.

Based on your wording I think we can see that part of the problem is you don't understand what the camera can or should do in a given setting. That camera should have a sports mode, which will favor high shutter speeds. It may even have a manual mode (to be honest I don't know about whether that camera does) in which you could specify the shutter speed. Some cameras have had limits however where you couldn't use the fastest shutter speed with the largest apertures for various mechanical and optical reasons. To test, put the camera at f4 and see if you can nudge the shutter speed up to 1/2000 using manual mode.

Generally one does not use flash to take a long exposure, partly because long exposure implies you want to capture some perception of time passing and because if the object is far enough away most flashes won't be able to reach it. Using a fill flash to fill in a nearby subject is one thing, but you still need an appropriately long exposure to expose the background properly. That camera might have a night mode which you could try using. Long exposures (and exposures using high ISOs) on point and shoots generally suck because the sensors are very small and have a lower signal to noise ratio as well as lower photon efficiency. Also as you extend and exposure (or up the gain using higher ISO settings) charges can accumulate and create noise. Again the small sensors on the point and shoots are largely the cause of these problems and you have to work around them or accept them.

 

[EnforcerGT]

Thats the thing. I dont have sports mode, or an option to change my F mode or set my aperture size.

I have manual mode, but, Exposure settings, ISO, and flash on/off is really ALL i have to work with. I guess im really down now.


edit: I went to the canon website and I see pictures with 1/500th, 1/400th sec shutters on the SD200 here

 

[gullyrip]

Finally, hear i am guys. Working two jobs can take a toll or my forum time. Anyways, I already have a 5mp Sony DSC-V1 and was leaning towards getting a more perfessional type camera and wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be limited to just point and shoot still photos. So if I wanted to go to the local football game or maybe the track. I don't want to spend $1000-1200 and be limited to the type of photos and events that I can shoot, that's all. I was really leaning towards a digital rebel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[emorphien]

Thats the thing. I dont have sports mode, or an option to change my F mode or set my aperture size.

I have manual mode, but, Exposure settings, ISO, and flash on/off is really ALL i have to work with. I guess im really down now.


edit: I went to the canon website and I see pictures with 1/500th, 1/400th sec shutters on the SD200 here

Looks like that camera is bastardized.

 

[HorsePunchKid]

I know you can set manual shutter speeds and apertures, you have to actually switch the camera to M mode and you may have to push the selector dial or whatever that camera has to switch em. Time to rtfm because I know it tells you how.

Sorry, man. RTF thread. I'll link again and quote Steve's Digicams directly:

For those who like more control its features a Manual mode, however it does not allow for choosing the aperture or shutter speed values.

Ouch. It may be that one of these mystery modes (Digital Macro, Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids&Pets, Indoor, and Underwater) forces a faster shutter. My guess would be digital macro (a water droplet is certainly a macro subject) or kids & pets (since they move pretty quickly, I guess). I'd hope the printed manual would have some details, but this is why I think EnforcerGT just needs a more capable camera.

 

[emorphien]

Sorry, man. RTF thread. I'll link again and quote Steve's Digicams directly:


Ouch. It may be that one of these mystery modes (Auto, Manual, Digital Macro, Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids&Pets, Indoor, and Underwater) forces a faster shutter. My guess would be digital macro (a water droplet is certainly a macro subject) or kids & pets (since they move pretty quickly, I guess). I'd hope the printed manual would have some details, but this is why I think EnforcerGT just needs a more capable camera.

I'm too lazy to look it up... but he's talking to me on IM. If people provide links in the first place I won't ramble on about a camera I've never used and give the straigh shit: camera can't do it.

Generally I'd look it up but I'm preoccupied with a laptop I'm trying to revive from the dead.

 

[beav]

looks like you were tracking that subaru..as the cones are blurred.

You want a dslr with a fast lens (i.e. low aperture), and has good results at higher iso values. Also, for motion/wildlife etc, it's always good to have a fast FPS capture. I believe the D70 has more FPS than the DRebel.

 

[Tim_axe]

I'd recommend that you look into the different companies' DSLR offerings. Generally all of the DSLR Bodies offer the same basic features that you need for good exposures - large sensors with well sized photosites, a shutter, the ability to change lenses, and the mirror and viewfinder that shows you what it looks like through the lens.

For things like a dark gym, you'll want to buy a fast lens for your camera. You may need to read up on photography and be familiar with words like Apeture, F-Stops, ASA/ISO, focal length, depth of field, bokeh, chromatic abberations, etc. But you will need to make a decision on which lenses will meet your needs in your gym, and then buy your camera around your lens. If you stick to the same company, in the future you'll be able to upgrade your camera body and use the same lenses. There are some differences between low-end and high-end bodies (like the Digital Rebel's AI Autofocus and how it cripples AI Servo/Continous focusing, etc) but they're generally very similar.


With your current camera, you can survey the light conditions where you will be taking pictures. Most JPEG files have EXIF data that saves the f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity used to take the picture. You can then use that to calculate proper exposure at different settings. If you can get this information from pictures you already have, post it up and we could convert this into how fast of a lens you will need to get useable shutter speeds, so you can get an idea of how much it would cost total (fast lens + camera body).

 

[Joves]

Well Gully it has been said. You are pretty much heading into DSLR land. Most of the point and, shoots just dont allow enough tweaking, to be good at action shots in variable light conditions. That and alot of the point and shoots get noisy over a 400 ISO. Just hit dpreview.com and, see what is available now and, at what price range as, sellers may have some specials for Xmas. Good Luck!

 

[misan-thrope]

For Canon mount, grab a used 10d, or get a Rebel and flash it maybe.
If you want to go the Nikon route, get a D70.