camera advice for a newbie!

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FrankieC

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Hi. My name's Frankie and I'm new to the forum. Found this site as I'm after some camera advice. Please ignore my ignorance when it comes to camera technical talk, I'm a beginner!

I am after buying a new camera. I know what I want the camera for and what it needs to do but would like some recommendations on what camera to get!

I have set my budget at about £300 - £400.

I mainly want the camera to take action shots of horses. Will need a good zoom and fast shutter time? Is that what it's called? In my language... when I press the button I want it to shoot straight away so I get the exact moment I want over the fence? Or the facility that when I press the button once it takes several rapid shots straight after each other? Really sorry for sounding so dim lol. I want proffessional looking pics basically!
 
It's hard to find a compact camera that does not have some shutter lag but there are ways you can get around it. If you can find something to focus on (the fence in showjumping) and with the right camera it can be done. Find your focus point, as the horse approaches press and hold the shutter button halfway down, when the horse enters the frame press fully down. That should get rid of most or all of the lag but it takes practice to do that and still get you subject in focus and in shot properly.

By far the better option would be to save up some more and buy a dslr with a suitable lens.
 
If you've got a budget of up to £400 then you would be able to get a second hand DSLR and lens within that budget. A quick look on ebay right now reveals Canon 300d's & 10d's for sale and also a good few D30's - which whilst old in digital terms is what I was using until the middle of last year with no complaints.

I'm sure a darksider will be along in a minute to tell us what the equivalent possibilities would be in Nikon stuff!

We have a few cracking equine photographers on here - with any luck one of them will be able to give you some guidelines!
 
I know nothing about Canon so I can't help you with that, but you should be able to pick a Nikon D70 or D70s for about that money, the Nikon 18-70mm 'kit' lens is excellent and better than than the Canon equivalent and the other Nikon kit lens which I believe is 18-55mm.

If you are looking to shoot showjumping you will need a zoom of at least 200mm (I use an 80-200mm for all my equine work) and as fast an aperture as possible (aperture is the number beginning with f e.g. f/2.8 is considered a 'fast' aperture as it opens wider allowing you to use a higher shutter speed) although you will get away with a slower lens in bright conditions.

You can pick up some good bargains on second hand gear - most of my stuff is s/h, just ask on here for advice before you make any decisions as there is a huge wealth of knowledge for you to tap into.
 
Fuji f30 and don't look back. I don't work for them, promise.
 
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