Right - so i am a relative camera and photography n00b, hence me posting here after scouring the web. My aim is to buy a camera that'll allow me to take pictures of Paintball matches, and do a better job of it than my little Point-n-click toy called a Nikon Coolpix L16. I also know that tools don't make the mechanic. Reason for me wanting to upgrade (as cash allows) is that some things CRUCIAL to sports photography are just not present on the L16, and, let's face it, the lens is just WAY too small for descent up-close shots. I've been looking around, and stumbled across two cameras, that (to my untrained eye) seem very similar (rather, as i am on a tight budget, two camera bundles): #1: Canon EOS 1000D with 18-55mm IS f3.5-f5.6 lens AND 75-300mm f4-5.6 III Lens #2: Nikon D60 with 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens AND 55-200mm f4-5.6 lens (non-VR) Between those two, (of which i might be able to afford one), i think i should be able to get "closer" to the action, get better shots, etc (obviously limited by my own skill). - obviously a protective filter is a MUST for my reasons. My real question is, which one is more recommended for my needs, keeping in mind that the sport i want to photograph happens at 300feet/second, in full sprint, and all over the show, so moving into ideal position is not always an option, mostly you have to decide on one or two people to "follow", and shoot away... Thoughts?
I am also under the suspicion that an F4-5.6 aperature might be a bit too high for my reasons, but given the current finances for me, that'd be all i could afford... after all, those big sports lenses (f2.8 or whatever 300mm monsters) cost ~3500 quid, which converted to our currency translates to ~60K excluding shipping, which is more than i make in 3 months... :/
The F4-5.6 is ok as long as there is lots of sun light but without spending lots more money on a 70-200 F4 you will have to live with it. That being said I have the Nikon 70-300 F4-5.6 which produces very nice images as long as you avoid going above 250mm and only costs £80. Have you thought of the Nikon 18-200 VR? That might also be worth a look.
If your paintball matches are anything like our, You'll want a faster lens than a 4-5.6. Something like a sigma 70-200 f2.8, which are about £600 ish would be better suited. The only issue is if its wide enough for you... both canon and Nikon have their merits, and I think it comes to personal taste!
For your own safety around paintballers perhaps Live View is a priority - although I personally find one of the biggest pluses of an slr is the real viewfinder. First my thoughts on photographing your subject matter . . . IS might be of limited help for you, as generally you need a static subject or a subject that's moving in a continous direction at continous speed from the point you activate IS to the point you take the picture. Where movement is concerned perhaps IS works best when a subject is heading straight towards the camera or straight away. Perhaps the worse is when an object is travelling on a curve (such as a race car on a hairpin bend). You'll be really close to the action to make a wide angle (35mm equiv. 20-35mm range) work well, meaning to look like your in the heart of the action. Telephoto in the range of 200-400mm seems best for your purposes, for capturing action. The wide angle for capturing drama in a pre-posed manner. 50mm or thereabouts for team shots before or after. Aperture wise, the bigger the aperture the more accurate af is in real terms - meaning + or - x mm's, but for leeway your actual shots might work better in the f5.6-f8 range. Hence if not lots of light, then higher iso to get the aperture smaller. But you will also want quick shutter speeds to avoid camera blue, at least 320th second at 200mm, and 640th at 400mm. Overall I think technique will be critical to you, accurate af (I suggest centre point, and thumb focussing), and high ISO abilities. Secondly which camera . . . From a quick read (so I may have missed something or what I read may be wrong - so this is just suggested area's for you to consider/check), it seems to me, the canon has 7 af sensors, the nikon 3 . . . but I suspect the nikon's more accurate. The canon has liveview, the nikon does not - although I'm not sure for sports action the practicality of liveview, but for safety at least it seems better for paintballing. The nikon doesn't have a vertical grip available, which may have been of help when holding a telephoto zoom lens. Canon poorer continous shooting, nikons better. The nikon has better metering, af and white balance. The canon has 300mm and IS on both lenses. Tricky choice . . . maybe try researching the lenses to see what reviews they get, their are some excellent camera lens specific review sights, which could help you compare one to the other. www.photo.net http://photo.net/equipment/canon/300_compare/ http://photo.net/equipment/canon/75-300IS/ http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/lenses/35mm-zoom/PLS_3128crx.aspx
Firstly, thanks for the responses. Much appreciated. Gloygus - i'd love one of those lenses, but the funds are just not there right now. 600GBP is more than the entire package as descriped above would cost me (with current exchange rates and all of that). 3dHeli: Thanks. I'm reading through those articles now. My plan is similar to yours: use wide angles for shots of the team or "posed" shots... for actual in game shots, i'd use a bigger lens to bring the target in "closer". Light is not really an issue here (save for overexposure), as most of the playing happens in broad (african) sunlight. More dramatic shots normally come out when it's about to rain, but again, i think even then a proper lens with f4-5.6 would fare better than that L16 coolpix of mine. Even though i am sure that working with big lenses has its entirely own set of science behind it WRT keeping up with targets that are moving, etc. For some shots of what i mean, check out the Galleries over at www.paintballphotography.com or http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=86465 <-that thread. Mind, those are (partially) Garry Baum's pictures, and he's pretty much the only really professional Paintball photographer, with more experience than most professional players... Also the fact that he's normally using a Canon Eos 1D Mark II with one of those 200mm F2.8 lenses, but at any rate, i want to get closer to that... gear is limiting me right now...
For your daylight conditions, I suggest exposure range (dynamic range) to be a high priority. As by lightening shadows in postprocessing you'll find loads of details lurking from the larger dynamic range lower noise cameras. Curiously the excellent (all round and for great this purpose) 1d mk2 already lightens shadows (and softens the highlight end of the tone curve) compared to lets say a 10d. The 10d with post processing (lightening shadows, adding contrast without affecting white or black point) looks like the 1d mk2 does out of camera. Curiously once they both match, then futher processing to lighten shadows shows similar noise and artifacts on both. So although the 1dmk2 appears to capture more tonal range in camera, and the 10d appears to have more processing leeway, the reality is they both end up being very similar in dynamic range. Just the 10d was much harder work to get to the same point. PS - having looked at the example galleries, I'd leave IS off for majority of shots - 1) it's of little help with that much light, more a hindrance, 2) for that type of action it's more likely to ruin a shot than make a shot. Once you know your technique and or equipment is giving good sharp shots, then perhaps try IS for dragging the shutter on relatively long slow exposure, say 1/30th or 1/60th while panning. Or for the easy shots when subject is static in shaded/darker area. You'd also want the high shutter speed of the 1d series or nikon equivalent . . . at least to make the exploding paintball shot less of a lottery. But then I can imagine loads of editing - if using the forum members machine gun approach to photography. Perhaps the journalistic approach is better, trying to get the story - but no doubt would be tricky to do. But making each shot count would probably hold more long term appeal photography wise, as taking 1000's of shots rapid fire to pick out a few lucky ones would likely grow tiring very soon. And if commercially inspired, I'd guess the magazines may only pay £40 for a front cover shot, £20 for an inner page shot, or maybe even as low as £40 a page of photographs. Many keen photographers might want to try and get published and can afford the best camera equipment, and the machine gun approach would result in similar shots for all. Being inspired by photojournalists of the past and going for different angles/effects might be more interesting to everyone concerned and perhaps could make a name in the paintball photography arena. PS 2 - not a lot of respect for the photographer, or his/her equipment - although by his own admission he didn't stand in the sensible place. I found with local hobby paintballing, you'd get someone shooting after the game when safety gear is off etc. But then again as per the photographers admission, the real issue is that a journalist photographer in war zone develops their own war craft (survival safety instincts) to protect them selfs a little better. PS3 - with players sliding in the soft sand and all those unspent paint balls on the floor, plus the colourful clothing, seems tricky to work out who's been shot. But more seriously with the sand, glass filters getting broken and sharp glass, is it wise introducing that risk into the players area? Wonder if some kind of film over the filter would keep the glass together when shot?
I doubt it. But to be honest, at the res you'd probably be printing, even a cheapo UV (0) filter would do fine. I've seen the result of a filter that got cracked from being hit by an air gun BB, and it had a single crack, other than that, the lens was fine. I'm sure with just a filter the lens would be fine providing you weren't shot from point blank.
Thanks for all the advice, guys. One of the reasons for me asking is that i am actually working on a (online and free for all) Localised paintball magazine... Online only for starters, maybe go bigger later. Not looking to make any money of either the magazine or the photography, just want good shots... i'll try and remember to bring some of the better shot's i've taken so far. The "ball in the air" shot is less uncommon that you'd think. At least at those rates of fire and with wide-angle lenses.
On the forum link given their is a nasty looking cracked filters with what appears large bits of missing glass, after a paint ball hit. I have similar worries when shooting families on sandy beaches, in case a syringe has been left in the sand under a pier. I'm just too much doom and gloom and health and safety.
The filter will shatter after a direct paintball hit but they are completely necessary, accompanied by a lens hood, under the conditions you would be facing unless of course you don't care about your lens. As for equipment--versatility, speed and reach (aperture) are all deciding factors. With your budget I'd personally suggest something along the lines of a 70-300 IS along with a kit (18-55IS) for your wide shots. DO NOT get the Canon 75-300...I had the IS version a while back, I wouldn't recommend it based on the IQ and AF speed (or lack there of) it delivers. As for a body...try and find a used 30D. Best of luck.
I tried the second hand camera market here... there be nothing. as for the 70-300 - have you seen the price on that? It's more than the price i'd pay for that kit. Thanks again for all the feedback so far. I'm taking all of it to heart and try to research more and more as the days go by...
Well as I was wandering through the net I found this site and since I was mentioned in this post I thought I would post my current set up for paintball photography I have been shooting all types of paintball all over the world for the past seven years, probably longer than anybody and I would never shoot an event without a filter. I know that better pictures could probably be produced without a filter but I use one to protect almost all of my lenses. Since paintball photographers work in a very dirty, oily, gritty environment and due to the frequent paint splatters we have to clean our lenses several times per hour. The filter is to protect the front element form all of these repeated cleanings not to protect the lens from a paintball strike. Once a filter breaks then you have a real mess because you have to not only clean off the paint but you must be very careful to carefully remove all the shards of broken glass, I use copious amount of water to do this. I probably break more lenses than anyone and I know in the paintball photography as the photographer that gets hit the most. I regard my cameras as tools of my trade and they are well used and show their wear. If you are worried about damaging your equipment or getting hurt then you will not get good pictures and you should not be photographing paintball… Here is my set up for a NPPL, PSP, Millennium, or similar event Two Canon 1D Mark III Bodies I use the following lenses depending upon conditions and who I am shooting for and what I am trying to accomplish. EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM my current favorite EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM telephoto the best all around lens, if I was only allowed to use one lens this would be it EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM good for shooting across the field EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM for night and low light conditions because it has a bigger aperture EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM wide angle Canon Speedlite 580EX for pictures in the player paddocks, pictures in the shade, pictures looking up in the player huddles and other back light situations I also frequently use a Zigview LCD Angle Finder for shots where I need to hold the camera over my head or looking up from the ground. Two 16 Gig Memory cards – I hate changing cards Three 8Gig Memory cards I also carry lens cleaning supplies with me. I also fill my pockets with Paintballphotography.com stickers since all the players know me and always ask for some. They know that I will always take the most pictures of players that have my logo on their equipment. Everybody wants their picture published. All of this equipment is very heavy and what most of the players do not realize is we are on the field all day in the hot sun while the players get to sit down and rest for most of the day. As a result it is very difficult and strenuous to photograph a major paintball tournament You must to be willing to get shot a lot. As a photographer you will be shot much more then a player. The best paintball pictures are taken of the front of players and to get these types of shots you need to stand close to the stream of paintballs. As a result of this you will be shot multiple times. Also as a consequence of this you are going to get shot in the back a lot by other players shooting at the player you are taking pictures of. You need to learn to ignore the paintball hits and concentrate on photography, you can not be afraid of being shot or having your camera damaged. I am always amazed by the number of paintball photographers who never venture beyond the automatic settings on their cameras. The only way to truly become great photographer is to learn and master the settings on the camera and move away from the automatic “point and shoot” settings. This is after all why you bought that big expensive digital SLR camera instead of a point and shoot camera. I use all sorts of camera settings depending on what I am trying to do and the conditions on the field. The automatic settings are good for beginning photographers but once you learn about light and relationship between shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, and ISO you will learn what works best. I frequently shoot in something I call ISO priority; I am constantly changing the ISO setting on the camera in either program mode, aperture mode, or shutter speed mode to get the settings I want. I usually shoot high resolution JPEGs most of the time because this format maximizes the speed at which the camera can take pictures. In paintball photography speed is everything. For indoor events, team and event pictures I always shoot in RAW format because you have so much more control over white balance and other setting during post processing I probably shoot more (and get shot more) than anybody at the events; I take about 3000 shots per day. I have developed a very efficient work flow so I can go through all of these fairly quickly but it still takes a lot of time. I spend almost as much time going through my pictures as I spend on the field. Many players do not realize this but for photographers our work really begins after the event. Sometimes it is very stressful going through all of these pictures especially when you are up against a tight dead line. Sometimes going through all of these pictures is like a treasure hunt because you never know what you may have until you look at your pictures on the computer. Frequently something you though would be really good is not and I am always surprised when I find some really good splat money shots that I never expected. Best regards, Gary Baum Paintballphotography.com 8540 Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 1012 Los Angeles, CA 90045 gbaum@paintballphotography.com www.paintballphotography.com www.paintballphotographyforums.com
Gary, I was unaware that the 1DIII, or any Canon body for that matter, had an ISO priority mode. As for shooting in program--didn't you suggest getting away from shooting in auto? FWIW for shooting sports you should probably stick to Tv (shutter speed priority) in order to stop action, but Av also works at times as well. ISO should also be bumped up a bit, specifically when shooting on overcast days, under tree cover and indoors. Since I only play PB I cant even imagine how to shoot an event on the field considering there is no real good way to see through the VF with a solid mask on...how the hell do you pull that one off?
I've got a Rebel XTi going unused that's in very good shape. No idea about shipping/exports/tariffs for you but if you wanted to try working something out let me know. It paired with a 70-300 could make a decent starter kit for what you're doing. Or one of the 18-250s or something in that range - the image quality won't be fantastic, but it's a trade-off for a do-everything focal range. Though as Matt rightly points out, the viewfinder will probably be almost useless with a mask on, so you can expect to be doing a lot of "shooting from the hip" if only metaphorically. I'd suggest live view for this kind of situation, but of the DSLR bodies that DO support autofocus in LV mode, they tend to be too slow in general. Maybe shooting f/8-f/11 at the hyperfocal range would get you close enough, provided there's enough light.
Hi Vers, There is no ISO priority mode on Canon cameras, what I meant to say was I am constantly changing the camera ISO to get the settings I want or need. I use just Program, Tv and AV but I like to adjust the ISO to alter how each of these settings performs I used to use Program mode a lot because I could not see the flashing indicator when I had a setting that the camera could not use but with the advent of the Safety Shift custom function I use Tv and Av more. I always use high ISO settings even in bright day light to freeze the action and narrow the depth of field. I find that the backgrounds tend to be a bit distracting so I always try to blur them. Yes shooting through a paintball mask is very difficult but after a while you adjust to it. I find this type of focus screen is also very helpful Gary www.paintballphotography.com
