Fast camera for around £200

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Alex
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Hello all I was asked today to recommend a camera by a horse owner, she wants to take photos of her horse jumping and catching it at exactly the right time. This obviously means minimal shutter lag and a decent fps...i can only recommend the mid to high end canon dslr as thats all I have experience of but she isn't going to get one of them for the money...i haven't got a clue, is she better of going for a bridge camera or even a 1100? can anyone help? Thanks alex
 
It also means pretty quick auto focusing doesn't it?

Any second hand DSLR with kit lens (whatever comes up for £200) would be my choice
 
It depends how she wants to take the images. Like a machine gun and hope to capture the perfect shot or compose the shot and take a single image. If the machine gun approach then frames per second fps, autofocus system on the camera and shutter lag all come into play, because although camera's advertise fps, its doesn't mean that ever shot you take is perfectly in focus and sharp, that's definitely down to the camera and significantly improves the more $$$$ you spend.

If its a single shot, right camera settings, then its all possible with the right lens and light conditions.

I assume this would be outside rather than inside shots, because inside would require major $$$$$ and £200 would nowhere near cover that setup.

For £200 you could probably pick up a second hand canon, nikon, sony etc SLR and kit lens that would get you started, on the other hand, there are some bridge camera's that have reasonable capability to capture moving objects, especially horse that won't be travelling that fast.

Its the way you take, composed the images, and camera settings that you use that'll get you the image that your friend wants.
 
In terms of compacts the the Fujian X10 is probably her best bet; but double the budget. Likewise to get a DSlr with a semi capable lens you are looking realistically at £400.

Unfortunately if she wants decent shots from the camera, then she needs to accept that equestrian photography isn't dirt cheap. Or alternatively hire someone like me to do it - but a camera may well be cheaper!
 
From all the compacts, why would the X10 be her best best? Is it particularly fast?

For £200 the requirement is much more likely to be met by going used.
 
Okay, that is quick for a compact - although fails a bit at the £200 requirement :-)
 
Because the shutter lag on the X10 is approximately 10ms.

Not exactly true. The actual time it takes is still a crawling 1.3 seconds of focus time per shutter press. Obviously you can eliminate this partially by hitting the AFL button in MF and shoot away, but if you're action shooting you'll still need to refocus a lot and thats where your problem lies and its autofocus system isn't perfect and its £400, so twice the budget.........
 
For jumpers, I'd recommend single shot anyway. Even with fast fps it's easy to miss the exact moment when the fore-legs are in that nice tuck position that sells most images. With practice you can learn to hit the shutter at just the moment, even if there is some lag. For that budget she's not going to get anything quicker than around 4 fps anyway. Pre-focus on the jump, focus lock, and you're away. If she's after ring jumpers going over a succession of fences, there should be time to shoot, then re-focus on whatever will be jumped later in the round. Rather than follow the horse, anticipate it. And single is also what I use for showing - gives a better chance of nice `M legs`
 
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