New SLR for action shots

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amyliz

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Hi,

Im looking at getting into action shots (mainly aviation and motorsport) and have narrowed the body and lens down to the following mainly because of their great autofocus (so ive ready anyway)...

  1. Canon 7d
  2. Nikon D7000
  3. Pentax K5

Is there a clear leader in the af in the above cameras? Is there a camera that i have missed that is as good? possibly cheaper?

Also im thinking of pairing the choice of body with either the Sigma 120-400 os or the Sigma 150-500 os. Excluding the range advantage of the latter which lens is the best?

Amy

Given the choice which would you choose?
 
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Canon 7D!!
 
option 1 for me...but only because I've owned the same kit. The 7D makes a great action camera thanks to its high burst rate and auto-focus system. The canon 100-400 does focus pretty quickly too and gives you a really nice focal range and length.

I personally feel the Canon 100-400mm is sharper than the sigma 100-300 f/4 i used to have, i know that's not a lens your looking at but I can't comment on the 12-400 or 150-500
 
Only thing that puts me off the 10-400 is the push pull zoom. So the 7d autofocus is just as good as the nikons?
 
Push-Pull zoom sounds daunting but once you get used to it (in about 2-3 days) its very intuitive to use, especially when subjects are getting closer or moving further away. You can even lock it to prevent zoom creep.

7D autofocus as good as the Nikons.....you don't get as many AF points as the Nikons. I had a D300 many moons ago and I would say they're the same. (waits for the flaming !!) EDIT - I will say the the 7D does have some cool tracking AF modes which will track a subject, AF point expansion is pretty good too.
 
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The 100-400 is pretty fast focussing at 400mm, and becomes instantaneous with the 6.5-inf limiter set (which it should be for stuff like sport/aviation photography). Anything below 200mm and it's instantaneous even without the limiter.

The 7D has less points, but they are all cross type. Can't comment on how the compares with the nikons. The D7000 gets pretty rave reviews for AF performance as well, so I expect it compares very well to the 7D.

The 7D is marginally faster than the others (in fps terms), but the K-5 and D7000 have newer sensors with 1/2ish stop better noise performance. And they're slightly cheaper. The K-5 has less current lenses to choose from from pentax, but it's very, very backwards compatible (older lenses might not be so useful for fast moving photography though), but it's the only one that has in body stabilisation. And I dare say, despite never having used one, it will be more reliably weather sealed and even more solidly built than the other two (which are solid cameras!). Pentax do weather sealing and built quality exceptionally well.

I'd go to a shop and try them all out. Go with the one that you like the feel of. When you're tracking fast stuff, having a DSLR which you get on well with is very, very important.

Personally? I'd go with a 7D. But I'm not you, and disregarding my canon lenses (and canon lens wishlist) and my preference for canon's ergonomics, I would find it very hard to choose.
Look on the bright side, you're choosing between 3 superb and class leading crop sensor DSLR's. You can't go wrong :).
 
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amyliz said:
Only thing that puts me off the 10-400 is the push pull zoom.
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Well, it's a matter of personal taste, isn't it. I think the push-pull zoom is the best feature of this lens, for two reasons.
1. Your left hand is always in the optimal position to support the weight of the lens.
2. With a small amount of practice the push-pull mechanism becomes totally intuitive and automatic - no conscious thought required.

If you want to acquire the target, frame, focus and shoot quickly, you'll get far more shots with the 100-400 than any other zoom simply because of its ergonomics.
 
As a Pentax K-5 user I feel I have to at least try to combat some of this obvious bias in favour of the 7D.

My choice would be ...

the Canon 7D.

K-5 is a superb camera and imo is better than the 7D in everything but AF speed (which is what you are looking for when shooting action).

Lens choice is also pretty limited for this type of photography although to get longer (400mm+) you are looking at over a grand for something like the Canon 100-400mm).
 
7D + 100-400

Stewart makes a good point above (1).
Nikon's 80-400 is rubbish. You might get lucky with the sigmas, but you're still better off with the Canon 100-400.
 
neil_g said:
another spanner.. 100-400 is 2nd hand sig 120-300 territory. chuck a 1.4x on it and its still faster than the canon..
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... and more than twice the weight (too heavy to hand-hold for some people)
... and no Image Stabilisation
... and greatly inferior ergonomics
 
Not if it's a second hand 100-400. They go for under £900 in mint condition. Last time I checked, kerso was doing it for £1050 new. I got one a few months ago on amazon new for £999.

Second hand 120-300 +1.4 is looking at £1300 absolute minimum. And being sigma, there is a question mark over quality control that would make me hesitant to buy second hand (don't get me wrong, I love sigma products, but I'd be hesitant to buy used (unless you buy from MPB or somewhere that does a good long guaranty on the products))
Is the 120-300 available in pentax mount? If it is, it becomes a better option than it is on can/ikon because it gains stabilisation.
 
StewartR said:
... and more than twice the weight (too heavy to hand-hold for some people)
... and no Image Stabilisation
... and greatly inferior ergonomics
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okay its heavy for some. but think of all that nice constant F2.8 niceness..

IS not really needed for motorsport and aviation.

ergonomics?

Squishy said:
Second hand 120-300 +1.4 is looking at £1300 absolute minimum. And being sigma, there is a question mark over quality control that would make me hesitant to buy second hand (don't get me wrong, I love sigma products, but I'd be hesitant to buy used (unless you buy from MPB or somewhere that does a good long guaranty on the products))
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you could get example shots for a 2nd hand copy.

im not aware of any specific issues relating to the 120-300 unlike some other lenses.
 
squishy said:
Is the 120-300 available in pentax mount? If it is, it becomes a better option than it is on can/ikon because it gains stabilisation.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not .. and probably the reason I am still looking at a 7D/100-400mm combo just to use for airshows.

Apparently the new 120-300mm f2.8 is going to be available in Pentax mount but as it will be OS that takes away the inbuilt camera IS advantage.
 
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The new 120-300 does sound like a cracking lens. Sigma's first weather sealed one as well.
 
alot of canon users here,
build quality the k5/7d, weather sealing the k5, high iso k5 or d7000 af speed the canon is awsome, the d7000 is stil new but is suppose to be as good as nikons top pro specs, and the k5 gets awsome reviews(i found it to be very quick and awsome in low light)
also as mentioned maybe a d300 or d300s might be worth a look9theres a nice one in the classified section)
 
You say any other options which would be possibly cheaper, I bought a 1D Mk2 to shoot motorsport and the AF and high speed drive is superb plus it feels like you could hammer nails in with it and it is weathersealed which is very important when shooting rallying. YOu don't have as much resolution as the 7D but it is still a superb camera for motorsport and airshows IMO.
 
markmullen said:
You say any other options which would be possibly cheaper, I bought a 1D Mk2 to shoot motorsport and the AF and high speed drive is superb plus it feels like you could hammer nails in with it and it is weathersealed which is very important when shooting rallying. YOu don't have as much resolution as the 7D but it is still a superb camera for motorsport and airshows IMO.
Click to expand...

Excellent suggestion, there's one going on MPB with only 7700 actuations and excellent condition for just £730.
 
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