What used body? Motorsport

chrism_scotland

chrism_scotland

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Folks looking for a little help.

Sadly I had to sell my Sony A77 and excellent Sigma 100-300 f4 lens after just one outing earlier this year due to a sudden flat move however I'm looking again now to pickup a body that will do me for motorsport and also landscapes.

I'm ideally looking to spend around £500 on a body probably used and I've been looking mainly at the Nikon D300s / d7000 or the Canon 60d.

The D7000 and 60D seem to be about £600 new these days while I've seen used d300s's for about the same.

I know the AF in the D300 is mean to be very good but I did wonder if the improved iso and sensor of the D7000 might be a better buy.
 
Have been using a D300 for motorsport for a few years now and it's very popular in the motorsport section including a few pros. I have found no reason or need to upgrade it to a newer body and any future body upgrade would be FF and not for motorsport reasons.
 
I've used a 50D and the 7D for motorsport and the AF improvements with the 7D are very worthwhile. If the 60D is closer to the 50D in terms of AF ability, then for motorsport I'd consider investing in a 7D body.
 
If you want a APS-C body then you can't beat the D300 really - its so good that Canon copied it with the 7D :)

As it stands today, those two are probably the likely pinnacle of APS-C, I don't think you will see either be replaced as people scramble for full frame bodies - something that isn't helpful for motorsport'ers :(
 
I've never found body that critical really, it goes without saying that lens is critical, but I found it better to spend on a grip and weather protection.

I had a D90 and bought an old D50 backup, despite the supposed massive improvement in AF tech etc it made good as darn it no difference to me which I used.
 
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Just wanted to say thanks for the advice guys, I've not yet bout anything but I'm leaning heavily toward a used d300s even though price wise it would be similar to simply picking up another new Sony A77.

Also wondering on a lens front for Nikon what's the best lowish cost option for a telephoto? Is the cheapish 70-300 VR a decent buy?
 
What type of Motorsport are you going to take photos of? Circuit racing requires 300/400mm minimum (safety fences) unless you have accreditation, rallying requires a fast lens (f2.8) because of the different lighting conditions. MotoX can vary so much in range, but you do get a lot closer to the action. Personally with Motorsport the lens is significant more important than the body unless you use the camera as a machine gun. A cheap 70-300mm would offer you a start, but wouldn't cut the mustard if conditions became challenging.

I would be looking at a 70/30 or 60/40% investment in lens/body rather than the other way around. Personally I would handle a few cameras before deciding which model/brand to go for as its your money at the end of the day. But you are probably looking at £600/1000 for a basic Motorsport lens, then add the cost of your body on top of that.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Folks looking for a little help.

Sadly I had to sell my Sony A77 and excellent Sigma 100-300 f4 lens after just one outing earlier this year due to a sudden flat move however I'm looking again now to pickup a body that will do me for motorsport and also landscapes.

I'm ideally looking to spend around £500 on a body probably used and I've been looking mainly at the Nikon D300s / d7000 or the Canon 60d.

The D7000 and 60D seem to be about £600 new these days while I've seen used d300s's for about the same.

I know the AF in the D300 is mean to be very good but I did wonder if the improved iso and sensor of the D7000 might be a better buy.
Click to expand...

Canon 60D is now £450 on Panaomoz
http://panamoz.com/index.php/digita...l-promotional-price-free-1-year-warranty.html
 
What about lenses unless I've missed that but for £600 you could get a 20d and a 70-200 f4 for around that price. Is what I have used for the last two years and the body's never missed a beat and the 70-200 is soo sharp. I have used mine only for motorsport and absolutely loved it. I will post a link below of my fave pics of 2012

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=5259816#post5259816
 
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