Another digital camera query - for sports photos - again...

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Thought I'd ask for advice here as well as other places as I know a few photographers visit these pages.

Basically looking for a digital camera for sports photos. Lad's rugby matches to be exact. Current compact, old Fuji F601, is just too slow on the shutter speed (shutter lag) and not enough zoom.

So looking at a pseudo SLR and have been given a steer towards the Panasonic DMC FZ7. This would also fit nicely into a working budget of around £200.

So basically looking for clarification on:
Does anyone have any experience with the FZ7?
Is it suitable for what I want to use it for? - shutter lag, etc.
Is there any alternatives recommended (the Kodak P850/P880 mentioned) for the price?

Any other advice, recommendations, pointers, etc. would be useful.
FWIW for many years used shutter priority film SLR for sports stuff (old Canon AE-1) so just want bringing up to date with digital stuff (is it me or do they really appear to change the cameras/specs every 3 to 6 months ).

If all else fails I may get the film SLR out of mothballs and invest in a cheap negative scanner and/or get them to put the images on CD when developed. So I guess I'd welcome it if anyone has any recommentations for those scanners or should I just let the deleloper scan them?. Thinking something like the Plustek 7200. Getting out the SLR again wouldn't be my first choice as I've got used to the instant feedback you can get from a digital camera.

As always, thanks in anticipation
____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[Whosthedaddy]

[froggeh]

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz7/

Sounds like it would be a decent bet. Looks like you can pick one up for <£200 too.

Obviously an SLR would be better, as when funds permit you could get a nice telephoto lens, but the Panny looks like a nice camera for the money.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

Got tha exact camera and still havent got to producing half decent pic's with it. Shutter lag isn't too bad and is far better than the equivalent Olympus. Konica is probably almost as good though the Panasonic offer's some slightly better function's. I've used two of the Knoica Minolta's and found them to be pretty similar, negligable difference for my basic level of photography anyway.

One negative to the Panasonic is it uses it's own Lithium ion battery, although this does last quite a long time. A spare would cost about £20-30. All the other camera's in the price range of similar spec use AA batteries, so handier incase of an emergency.

For taking picture's of motorsport in general it's reasonable, it's more down to being able to pan with the vehicle than what camera you use.

[divuk83]

I have yet to see a non SLR that has no shutter lag, I would try and save a few extra pennies and get a DSLR if you could. You can get a brand new Nikon D50 body for 300 squid. I bet you could get a second hand one with your budget. Its worth the extra few quid in my opinion. There are plenty of decent budget lenses that would be ideal for what you after. Sigma and Tamron both do decent zoom lenes for less than 150 new (would be cheaper second hand). I know its slightly over your budget, but I reckon its worth the extra cash and is more more suited to sport photography.

Dave

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Thanks for the input so far.
A couple of points...

[Kickstart]

[froggeh]

[Kickstart]

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

[froggeh]

[ali-b]

[divuk83]

[ali-b]

Sorry - its eary (errr ish)

The camera on full auto mode (or any auto mode) will bias towards a wider aperture and you'll get a less sharp result. If you can set the camera to manual mode (something I suspect this chap can do as he's had experience with film SLRs) then you can set the aperture narrower and get sharper pics. I didn't say it would be awful though, just meant that f2.8 needs a bit of post.

I have an f2.8 lens too, and have noticed a difference between wide open and f8 (for example)

Maybe I'll wake up a bit more before posting again

A.

[map]

Thanks to everyone for their input.
As said I'll look at the 2nd hand DSLR as this would be the ideal solution. However, after this input and reading up the review links I've more confidence the FZ7 will be ok, especially if I can get it at a decent price. The 432mm zoom sounds ok, especially with image stabiliser (as I understand it the D30 lenses, IS type, have the stabilisation). A review I came across says the shutter lag is almost zero if you lock the auto-focus, so another big plus there. As said, I guess a bit of correction via PhotShop wouldn't be too bad if required.

[divuk83]

[gadfium]

IMO if you want to take sports photos then save a bit and get a DSLR. The shutter lag (and all compacts have some) will really start to get on your nerves after a bit. Shutter lag also makes panning shots sooo much harder.

If you get a 2nd hand DSLR body (like a 350D) then you can upgrade it with decent lenses. These lenses will hold their value really well and will fit on more modern camera in the future (thus protecting your investment)....a compact will be worth very little in a couple of years.

A Canon 350D will take excellent sports shots.....these were taken at Oulten Park this year (with a 70-200 zoom les and 1.4 converter). IMO you would struggle to get a compact to capture fast moving images like this as the autofocus would struggle....
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Gadfium/British%20Superbikes/Yamaha.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Gadfium/British%20Superbikes/Padgetts-Honda.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Gadfium/British%20Superbikes/Stobart.jpg


and one at the British grand Prix at Silverstone:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Gadfium/Silverstone/SmokingTyres.jpg
A 350D can also take a decent "people" picture...hubba, hubba

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Gadfium/British%20Superbikes/Pit-Girl.jpg
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Those who risk nothing, do nothing, achieve nothing, become nothing.

[froggeh]

I can certainly vouch for the Canon, and what Gadfium says is true. But I still think the Panny seems a very nice buy for <£200

[divuk83]

If your worried about buying used kit, some second hand camera shops offer guarantees on second hand stuff. Try York Camera Mart ( I think your from York as well as me!)

DSLR's are built to last so I wouldn't have thought you should have much problems other than maybe a bit of dust on the sensor which can easily be sorted.

Dave

[Kickstart]

Hi

By chance had a quick play with an FZ7 (think) today (friend has one and has just upgraded to a Nikon D50). OK, light was not great but the viewfinder noticeably lagged behind what the camera was pointing at when panned.

By the way, P&S digital cameras generally have far lower F numbers. The F number is the ratio of the apperture to the focal length, and with tiny sensors a short lense is all that is required. Hence with the same size apperture they have a smaller F number.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

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[Kickstart]

Hi

Asked and yes it was an FZ7 I was playing with last night. The lag on the viewfinder was most disturbing.

The guy who owns it has just bought a Nikon D50 to replace the FZ7 (the Panasonic is for sale if you are interested, only 4 months old). He reckons you would struggle taking moving shots with it.

On an SLR the viewfinder is blanked out when the shutter is open, but realistically that is a tiny amount of time. Lowest shutter speed I have used on track is about 1/50th second, and even at that it is barely blanked out for a noticeable length of time.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[divuk83]

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

I have some picutre's here from this Sunday to show you what the picture's are like, with me using the camera at least, certain much much better can be taken.

You havent lived until youve seen turkc racing, they power slide which is quite scary!
https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/truck_slide.jpg

Taken by my dad, this is how it can be used to quite good effect.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/truck_engine.jpg

This is how many picture's can turn out, it's quite easy to get it wrong like this for me.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/truck_bad.jpg

This is an ok picture, but need's some adjustment, should have used a different aperture setting to make it brighter but can adjust it in PS.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/truck_ok.jpg

If you'd like some full size picture's to study (the quality has been reduced on these) then just ask.

[map]

I feel almost apologetic for raising this again but I'd like to know if anyone has any experience using the Fuji S5600 (5200 in the USA) for sports photos.

The thing is a colleague has pointed out these are now around £150 new (i.e. with some warranty) so might be a possibility. Looking at a review the shutter lag seems acceptable for this type of camera (still not dSLR, but for this type ). Workmate uses one of the Pro Fuji cameras, so a bit like comparing oranges and lemons. He does like his Fuji though. As he pointed out, the saving from the Panasonic FZ7 could easily buy a couple of 1Gb memory cards for the Fuji.

Fuji has no anti-shake feature like on the old Minolta Z3 (also around £150 used/refurbished) but some pseudo feature that uses faster shutter speeds. It would appear the Z3 is also a maybe for a interim camera until I can justify a dSLR. The Z3 is only 4M pixels, the Fuji has 5M.

I still think the FZ7 would be my 1st choice but the bottom line is with Xmas on the horizon a little bit of money saved could be useful.

So, any advice on the Fuji S5600, or indeed the Minolta Z3 would be appreciated. Thanks in anticipation


____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?