Is that your Ferrari in front of the Coke Machine
Hey Fungo,
Is that your Ferrari in front of the Coke Machine
Is that your Ferrari in front of the Coke Machine
I think it depends upon how close you can get to the field and your camera's sensor size. I have a Nikon D70 with a smaller sensor that effectivly makes my 75-300 zoom a 112-400 zoom which I find more then adequate for shooting the infield. My kid's a catcher I bought my telephoto zoom lens for $150 on ebay. In addition to lens length the autofocus speed is very important. There are many long lens that don't focus fast enough for sports photography.
Before buying a particular lens I suggest you do an internet seach to see what kind of reviews are out there. You may find the 80-300 zoom you are interested in is not very sharp at 300mm or focuses too slow for sports. Here is a review of some Nikon lens that address autofocus speed. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm#af
If you can't get close to the field or you want photos of the center fielder AND you have a fat wallet....many professional sports photographers use teleconverts with a high speed internal focus 70-200mm and/or 300mm lens. A high speed (f2.8) interanl focus 70-200mm zoom in a Nikon starts around $900. A high speed (f2.8) Nikon 300mm with internal focus is about $4,500. A Nikon teleconverter is $300-450. I am sure Cannon's are priced the same.
I bought my telephoto zoom lens for $150 on ebay. In addition to lens length the autofocus speed is very important. There are many long lens that don't focus fast enough for sports photography.Before buying a particular lens I suggest you do an internet seach to see what kind of reviews are out there. You may find the 80-300 zoom you are interested in is not very sharp at 300mm or focuses too slow for sports. Here is a review of some Nikon lens that address autofocus speed. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm#af
If you can't get close to the field or you want photos of the center fielder AND you have a fat wallet....many professional sports photographers use teleconverts with a high speed internal focus 70-200mm and/or 300mm lens. A high speed (f2.8) interanl focus 70-200mm zoom in a Nikon starts around $900. A high speed (f2.8) Nikon 300mm with internal focus is about $4,500. A Nikon teleconverter is $300-450. I am sure Cannon's are priced the same.
CD..If it ain't 4X4 it ain't mine.. 
We were still using our 35mm Canon EOS10S for photos and a Sony Handycam DV for video recordings until someone swiped them from my car this past spring during the NJCAA DII World Series in Millington, TN. As a kid I had always heard my relatives bad mouth Memphis and now I guess I know why. The cameras can be replaced but the used film and video I had taken that was also stolen can never be replaced. I have been taught a valuable lesson....
We replaced the 35mm with a new Canon Digital ELPH SD500. So far so good, but I miss the auto action shots and zoom capability offered by the EOS10S. I couldn't talk the wife into the digital Rebel. She wanted something more compact initially, so the niceties afforded by the larger digital Rebel will have to wait.... We still have to replace the video recorder though.
We replaced the 35mm with a new Canon Digital ELPH SD500. So far so good, but I miss the auto action shots and zoom capability offered by the EOS10S. I couldn't talk the wife into the digital Rebel. She wanted something more compact initially, so the niceties afforded by the larger digital Rebel will have to wait.... We still have to replace the video recorder though.
I am also a dgital video guy with Firewire and the problem I had was that taking the video took away the enjoyment of watching my son pitch. I set up the camera on a stand and let it run while he is on the mound.I then down load it via Firewire and edit it with MS movie maker. I take the edited file and save it to a DVD. This is also great for snapping small format stills from the video. These stills and edited videos form the basis of my marketing to colleges.
I was also fortunate to have a pro photographer travel with my son's teams since he was 10 years old who gave me hundreds of photos in film and digital format.The one guy who has since passed away took the photos of the single A team we had in our town. We got to throw with some of the players at picnics he held. He has rookie photos of guys like Vernon Wells, Chris Carpenter, Carlos Delgato and lots more. The other guy sent me large formate digital shots on DVD and they were incredible with the huge zoom lense he had.
I love watching the old videos and he will when he has kids. When he was younger he was furious with me for taking video but as he got older he asked me to do it because he saw how valuable it was for his recruitement.
Enjoy the camera.
I was also fortunate to have a pro photographer travel with my son's teams since he was 10 years old who gave me hundreds of photos in film and digital format.The one guy who has since passed away took the photos of the single A team we had in our town. We got to throw with some of the players at picnics he held. He has rookie photos of guys like Vernon Wells, Chris Carpenter, Carlos Delgato and lots more. The other guy sent me large formate digital shots on DVD and they were incredible with the huge zoom lense he had.
I love watching the old videos and he will when he has kids. When he was younger he was furious with me for taking video but as he got older he asked me to do it because he saw how valuable it was for his recruitement.
Enjoy the camera.
Pretty sure digital video is the greatest thing ever.
I've taken about 30 game tapes from years past from the coach and converted all the VHS to DVD. Time consuming, yes, but most def. worth it. Had a big problem with frame drop though with some of the older or more viewed VHS tapes. The newer ones (2000-last season) I'd drop maybe 1-15 frames for a full game, but those tapes from pre-1999 I'd see a drop of 100+ frames. Not a huge problem, but every so often that little hiccup gets annoying.
Invested some money in Adobe Encore after "obtaining" Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere via a file sharing network. Not recommending that to you the reader, but for those with limited means, it was a lifesaver.
Love that all the programs work together and make producing a high quality game DVD relatively easy.
Planning on having the video camera (Canon ZR400) perched out over the OF wall on a scissor lift to record all the home games this year and editing with all the Adobe programs. Should make for some great game tapes.
I've taken about 30 game tapes from years past from the coach and converted all the VHS to DVD. Time consuming, yes, but most def. worth it. Had a big problem with frame drop though with some of the older or more viewed VHS tapes. The newer ones (2000-last season) I'd drop maybe 1-15 frames for a full game, but those tapes from pre-1999 I'd see a drop of 100+ frames. Not a huge problem, but every so often that little hiccup gets annoying.
Invested some money in Adobe Encore after "obtaining" Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere via a file sharing network. Not recommending that to you the reader, but for those with limited means, it was a lifesaver.
Love that all the programs work together and make producing a high quality game DVD relatively easy.
Planning on having the video camera (Canon ZR400) perched out over the OF wall on a scissor lift to record all the home games this year and editing with all the Adobe programs. Should make for some great game tapes.
Radio Shack has a USB cable that allows you to down load into a computer direct from a VHS camcorder. That may help.
I use an earlier model of the Canon and it is great.
I use an earlier model of the Canon and it is great.
On lense selection:
I've shot a variety of s****r, indoor basketball, and baseball for the past several years, and the one lense that I keep coming back to is a 70-200 fixed f2.8. High speed, great optics, and useful range, particularly on my D70 where it is effectively a 105-300 given the 1.5x multiplier of digital vs 35mm film. If I need to shoot long distance, e.g. s****r field or I'm shooting a baseball game from down either line a ways, I just slap a matching high-quality 2x teleconverter on it (gives me a fixed f5.6), though I need to have good light and or a monopod to shoot at an effective range of 600mm at high shutter speeds. I'm almost tempted to swap my 2x converter for a 1.5x converter now that I've pretty much permanently switched to my digital Nikon D70 from my old Nikon F100 ... that would give me an effective 157mm-450mm at a fixed F4.5, which would be perfect for baseball field dimensions.
I love my D70 ... my only complaint is the frame rate on continuous mode. But, my experience with shooting pitchers, hitters, etc., is that you'd really have to have a pro-level body with 8+ fps to capture the bat-on-ball or ball leaving pitchers hand instants given these 'event's happen in tenths or hundredths of a second, or just get really lucky. I gave up trying to use continuous mode for these shots and just practiced my timing over and over until I could shoot a single frame at just the right instant ... since I can't justify the cost of buying one of the pro-level bodies. The only thing I could really wish for in my D70 is 5-6 fps. Yes, I could switch to the Canon 20D ... but then I'd have to buy all new glass, and I've already have a good $1,600 invested in lenses.
I typically shoot still photos at every Varsity game, and occasionally shoot some video. I've become the designated "Season Video" guy, and I put together a team DVD at the end of each season (complete with custom case inserts, etc.), which is mostly a slide show of stills, some video clips, with music I've selected that fits our team (e.g., AC/DC's "back in black" as our colors are black/gold/white).
Here's a lower-resolution online version of last years video: 2005 Knights Baseball Video
I've shot a variety of s****r, indoor basketball, and baseball for the past several years, and the one lense that I keep coming back to is a 70-200 fixed f2.8. High speed, great optics, and useful range, particularly on my D70 where it is effectively a 105-300 given the 1.5x multiplier of digital vs 35mm film. If I need to shoot long distance, e.g. s****r field or I'm shooting a baseball game from down either line a ways, I just slap a matching high-quality 2x teleconverter on it (gives me a fixed f5.6), though I need to have good light and or a monopod to shoot at an effective range of 600mm at high shutter speeds. I'm almost tempted to swap my 2x converter for a 1.5x converter now that I've pretty much permanently switched to my digital Nikon D70 from my old Nikon F100 ... that would give me an effective 157mm-450mm at a fixed F4.5, which would be perfect for baseball field dimensions.
I love my D70 ... my only complaint is the frame rate on continuous mode. But, my experience with shooting pitchers, hitters, etc., is that you'd really have to have a pro-level body with 8+ fps to capture the bat-on-ball or ball leaving pitchers hand instants given these 'event's happen in tenths or hundredths of a second, or just get really lucky. I gave up trying to use continuous mode for these shots and just practiced my timing over and over until I could shoot a single frame at just the right instant ... since I can't justify the cost of buying one of the pro-level bodies. The only thing I could really wish for in my D70 is 5-6 fps. Yes, I could switch to the Canon 20D ... but then I'd have to buy all new glass, and I've already have a good $1,600 invested in lenses.
I typically shoot still photos at every Varsity game, and occasionally shoot some video. I've become the designated "Season Video" guy, and I put together a team DVD at the end of each season (complete with custom case inserts, etc.), which is mostly a slide show of stills, some video clips, with music I've selected that fits our team (e.g., AC/DC's "back in black" as our colors are black/gold/white).
Here's a lower-resolution online version of last years video: 2005 Knights Baseball Video
One other thing about really getting into digital photography and video:
Better plan on seriously rethinking your home PC situation, particularly with regards to disk space and backup. Your hard drive becomes a precious repository that can't be replaced.
Last year I lost several months of photos due to a catastrophic disk failure where I was only able to save a portion of my photos to another drive before it literally physically crashed and turned itself into a paper weight. This summer my system disk failed ... recoverable, but I still had to reinstall Windows and ALL my programs ... several days of work.
Now, I keep all my photos and videos on a separate 250 GB harddrive, and I have a separate 'backup' 300 GB harddrive setup (as a 'compressed' drive) to automatically mirror the contents of my 'documents' drive and my primary system drive. If any one hard drive suffers catastrophic failure, I can still recover everything within a couple hours.
My paranoia hasn't gone so far that I've worried about 'offsite' storage for copies of this precious data ... but, I do worry about the possibility of theft when we are out of town on long vacations. For that, I have all three drives in one quick-release removable 'cage' ... in seconds I pop a few cables, remove the entire cage. If I get burglarized while we gone on vacation, the theives would only get the system case without any drives ... which can be easily replaced.
I've looked at online, Internet based backup services, but for the huge amount of data I have with photos, videos, music library, etc., it's just cost prohibitive.
Better plan on seriously rethinking your home PC situation, particularly with regards to disk space and backup. Your hard drive becomes a precious repository that can't be replaced.
Last year I lost several months of photos due to a catastrophic disk failure where I was only able to save a portion of my photos to another drive before it literally physically crashed and turned itself into a paper weight. This summer my system disk failed ... recoverable, but I still had to reinstall Windows and ALL my programs ... several days of work.
Now, I keep all my photos and videos on a separate 250 GB harddrive, and I have a separate 'backup' 300 GB harddrive setup (as a 'compressed' drive) to automatically mirror the contents of my 'documents' drive and my primary system drive. If any one hard drive suffers catastrophic failure, I can still recover everything within a couple hours.
My paranoia hasn't gone so far that I've worried about 'offsite' storage for copies of this precious data
... but, I do worry about the possibility of theft when we are out of town on long vacations. For that, I have all three drives in one quick-release removable 'cage' ... in seconds I pop a few cables, remove the entire cage. If I get burglarized while we gone on vacation, the theives would only get the system case without any drives ... which can be easily replaced.I've looked at online, Internet based backup services, but for the huge amount of data I have with photos, videos, music library, etc., it's just cost prohibitive.