Canon 30d for sports?

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kieranmcmanus

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Hi, I've had a problem with my 1d Mark II and the insurance won't come through for at least a month, and then there will be more waiting until I can source a Mark IV, but I've got the offer of buying 30d body for £120 which to me seems like a really good deal, but I wanted to know if anyone had experience of using this camera to photograph sports (inparticular football), how does the AF handle and does it track well in AI Servo?
 
kieranmcmanus said:
Hi, I've had a problem with my 1d Mark II and the insurance won't come through for at least a month, and then there will be more waiting until I can source a Mark IV, but I've got the offer of buying 30d body for £120 which to me seems like a really good deal, but I wanted to know if anyone had experience of using this camera to photograph sports (inparticular football), how does the AF handle and does it track well in AI Servo?
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No luck with repair then? Or are you waiting for the insurance to cover the repair?

I still use a 30D as my second body with the Sigma 70-200 and it's fine. High ISO is actually a bit better than the mkII in my opinion as well...

And for £120 i'd be going for it!
 
£120 is an absolute bargain if it still in healthy condition.

Ai servo is not the best in the world. In good light it might get you 25% of high speed things, but you could also try prefocusing, etc. ISO 1600 looks quite muddy and after that is like a cell phone.
 
120 is a steal, I use mine for some Rugby and most events, AF is good and AI servo is ample for some great shots.

Also, for that money, it's a great back-up body.

Are your games in day or at night time?
 
PerfectSpeed said:
120 is a steal, I use mine for some Rugby and most events, AF is good and AI servo is ample for some great shots.

Also, for that money, it's a great back-up body.

Are your games in day or at night time?
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Both, but the lighting at the grounds I work at is normally good enough to not have to go above ISO 2000. I think I'm gonna get it, use it as a stop gap and then sell it on when I get my replacement through, or keep it as a remote. Does the buffer fill up quickly?
 
jamesb84 said:
No luck with repair then? Or are you waiting for the insurance to cover the repair?

I still use a 30D as my second body with the Sigma 70-200 and it's fine. High ISO is actually a bit better than the mkII in my opinion as well...

And for £120 i'd be going for it!
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Na, its buggered inside. Bit of a pain but at least I'll get a shiny new replacement in a few months. Should be getting the 30d this afternoon, as long as its in good nick. I'll be using it with the Siggy as well, so it will only be for goalmouth/celes/tryline pics. Hopefully should do the trick in the time being. I used a mates 5d on Saturday at Birmingham and although it is a lovely camera and produces lovely pictures, it is just too slow. You at Twickenham on Sat?
 
kieranmcmanus said:
or keep it as a remote. Does the buffer fill up quickly?
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On Raw, yes, up to 4 or 5 shots on H you can get good bursts if your selective, if your firing off around 10 bursts in jpeg L (H) with a good pause (4 sec) you should be fine.
 
kieranmcmanus said:
Both, but the lighting at the grounds I work at is normally good enough to not have to go above ISO 2000. I think I'm gonna get it, use it as a stop gap and then sell it on when I get my replacement through, or keep it as a remote. Does the buffer fill up quickly?
Click to expand...

Keep it as a remote! I'm doing just that with the 30D when I get the mkIII through! Buffer's OK on JPEG...not a raw user so wouldn't be able to comment.

Bear in mind that it does "jump" from ISO1600 to "H" which is 3200 without any increments in between.

kieranmcmanus said:
Na, its buggered inside. Bit of a pain but at least I'll get a shiny new replacement in a few months. Should be getting the 30d this afternoon, as long as its in good nick. I'll be using it with the Siggy as well, so it will only be for goalmouth/celes/tryline pics. Hopefully should do the trick in the time being. I used a mates 5d on Saturday at Birmingham and although it is a lovely camera and produces lovely pictures, it is just too slow. You at Twickenham on Sat?
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Ooooh, new camera smell?! Shame about the mkII, your's is in better nick than mine! Mine looks like it's been kicked around by rugby players.

I'm on footie duty for the next 2 weeks...got the Black country derby on Sunday then something FA Cup orientated the weekend after...poss Southampton, Chelsea or Wolves (if they get past Warnocks bankrupt Warriors)
 
Just found out the advertisement was a typo...he wants £220 for the 30d. Unsure as to whether it's worth it or get a Mark II in the mean time. Thinking the latter as he said there was a mark on the sensor. Gear is so expensive!
 
30D is very good, I've found no problems with the AI servo at all.
 
"ISO 1600 looks quite muddy and after that is like a cell phone."

I suppose it does depend on what your standards are but I have many keepers at 3200 from my (very similar) 20D. With modern noise reduction packages I'm sure that lots of people would get more and better keepers than me.

Looks like a good deal though even at the higher price. Is the mark a physcal scar or just something that'll clean off?
 
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