markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Hi David,

I shoot a great deal of sports - Grand kids and their teams - track, soccer, volleyball, basketball and baseball. Mainly I use my Canon 7D MII and Canon 70 - 200mm f/2.8 II. At times, I also use my Canon 5D MIII and Canon 24 - 70 mm f/2.8 II. This is a link to many of my images. I'm not a pro, just a grandfather who enjoys photography, loves his grand kids and sports. Maybe some of my results are compatible with your requirements? https://sportimagesbymarkweiss.shutterfly.com/pictures

Good luck in making your choice.
Mark

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Money is no object - Nikon D500 or Canon 7D II.

Money is an object, - Nikon D7200 or Canon 80D - (you give up 10 FPS for 7)

Best indoor basketball lens - Sigma 50-100 f1.8. (mostly for better AF )

Longer range better lighting lens, 80/100-400mm f5.6 .....

david vt Loc: Vermont

Hi all

Thanks for all those whom posted here and to me privately. A few follow up thoughts
-ISO. In rereading my original post, I mistyped my desired min ISO. Was supposed to be 16000, not 1600. I think this fits with most of the comments on needing ISO 3200-6400+
-for the recommendation on touch/feel, absolutely agree. In fact, I saw this comment just after getting back from our local camera shop (this is rural VT - more cows than people - so this may be the only shop in 50 miles)
-camera body. The D500 will do it all, but it seems like overkill for this level of amateur work, both from a spec standpoint, body size/weight, and price. I like Nikon, having owned a FE back in the 1980s.
-speaking of that, I think I still have 3-4 decent lenses from that. F mount manual lenses if I recall correctly (stored elsewhere). Will these work with current Nikon cameras? (yes, without the AF obviously)
-lens. Seems I got the specs for the medium length lens right. Seems more of a recommendation for shorter zoom rather than a fixed length. I remember back in the 80s that the rule of thumb was don't zoom over a 3:1 ratio as the optics got a bit flakey. See lots of lenses now in the range of 15-80, which is 5:1. Has engineering improved or is the old guideline still a good rule of thumb.
-reading other threads here on the site, it would seem one reasonable option would be to look for a used or refurb camera and/or lens. I did check out the Nikon website, and see some. Any other recommended sources? eBay could be an option. In some way, buyer beware, but eBay guarantee is pretty good. Thoughts?
-what would be an predecessor model to the D500 that I could/should consider on the used/refurb market
-jerryc41 - thank you so much for all of the references
-last question (for now). I think I now understand the difference between FX and DX lens. Amy I correct that you can use a FX lens on a DX body, but not vice-versa due to vignetting? Is that correct. If I end up with a DX body, is it worth the extra (remember - think amateur) to get the FX lens so the lens investment could carry up to a more advanced body if I wanted to upgrade later, or just go for what I need now, and worry about new lens/technology only in the future

Thanks to all

rmw0001 Loc: Lake Mills, WI

D500 predecessor models will have more noise in their images. With regard to FX vs DX lenses, the major knock against Nikon is that they do NOT have a good stable of DX lenses; the available DX range is limited versus the available FX range.

cthahn

Get ready to spend a considerable amount of money. A zoom faster than f2.8? Start looking at equipment and writing down prices. If this is a hobby, you will find it might be hard to justify.

mleuck

Nikon D 500, without question.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I have to agree with previous threads that the Canon 7D Mark 2 and the Nikon D500 are the best crop sensor cameras today for sports photography. However, most professional sports photographers prefer the Canon 1DX or 1DX Mark 2. Also, a Nikon D5 is an excellent qualifier. And the few pros I have seen, told me that the 70-200mm f2.8 and the 24-70mm f2.8 are absolute must have lenses. The bad news is that these full frame cameras and lenses aren't cheap.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Canon 7D MKII with a 70-200 f2.8 lens is a great combination for the sports you mentioned. Good high ISO performance (you will need well more than 1600 indoors), excellent autofocus, fast frame rate, ant-flicker feature for indoor lighting, and plenty of "reach".

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

The D500 will meet your specs and is currently available with a free battery grip for $ 1800. Inherits some of the features found only on the D5, which is THE sports camera. The 70-200/2.8 is a great lens choice for sports as is the Nikon 200-500. A shorter lens, such as the 50, is perfect for basketball if at courtside, which may or may not be allowed if you're not a pro on assignment.

sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

Lots of good tips here. In my experience shooting hokey, volleyball and some night baseball is that you go through an evolution. First games you shoot lots of pictures on motor drive. Then you start to learn when the good shots will happen and you can time it better. Then you start to realize where to set up to avoid background distractions (parents on their phone, even blurry, take away from the shot). Long story short, 10fps isn't that great. Particularly when you need to go through and cull out your images.

Good 2.8 glass is a key in my opinion. Learn back-button focus so you can pre-focus. Shoot RAW for color balance and editing and be ready to get mobile. It will be a challenge and a learning curve.

I got a D7200 refurbished a used 70-200/f2.8 and have added some other used lenses (all fast). It does ISO 3200 ok. The 500 is a bit better, the 750 is better and so is the D5 I'm sure. I don't regret the 7200. I do occasionally wish I had better low light, but learning where to be and other tricks (there are times when you can drop shutter speed and it still looks like action) can take you a long way.

advocate1982

The kick ass take no prisoners camera body for sports is the Nikon D500. That will be about $2500. That is followed by the Nikon D7500 (release end of June) for probably around $1250. Once that is released then the D7200 will probably be in the $900 range (that's a guess). All of these are DX and will allow you to take action photos in the dark hole of Calcutta and still get great images. My preference is the D500 just because it's a bigger more solid body built on the same frame as the D3/D300/D700/D750. The D500 blows even the closest current Canon body out of the water in speed, in quality, in ISO. The D7500 is the small body version of the D500. I'm not talking about sensor size. They are all crop frame - it's the actual body size. The D500 is bigger and heavier. But I've been using a D300 for sports for years and it does a great job and you can pick it up used for under $500.

I wouldn't worry too much about frame rate - continuous burst at even the highest frame rate is more likely to miss the peak of action. For that you need to work on knowledge of the sport and your timing. And that only comes from practice.

Racmanaz Loc: Sunny Tucson!

Looks like you are looking for a perfect camera, this one doesn't perfectly fit your stated requirements but it looks fantastic on paper (screen).

LUMIX FZ2500 Digital Camera, 20.1 Megapixel, 1-inch Sensor, 4K Video, 20X LEICA VARIO-ELMART F2.8-4.5

http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-digital-cameras---point-and-shoot/bridge-cameras/dmc-fz2000.html

http://shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/lumix-point-and-shoot-cameras/DMC-FZ2500.html

Japakomom Loc: Originally from the Last Frontier

My suggestion would be to go the sports gallery here or search sports on Flickr and you can look at the EXIF info to see what camera and lenses they are shooting with. I shoot a lot of high school sports and many of the games are under poor stadium lights - this makes it a necessity to shoot at a pretty high ISO (6400) and I still have noise. I am using a full frame camera (5D 4) with a 70-200 f:2.8 and in good lighting I use a 100-400 f:4.5-5.6. I do not get 10fps but I get a good quality photo at 6-7fps. Unless you have an unlimited budget, you can't have it all. You did not mention a budget. If we knew your budget we could help with what will fit into it.

You don't mention whether this is for shooting your kids or if you want to try to break into sports photography. But as I mentioned, I would look at and study sports photos to see how the different cameras and lenses behave in the situations you are interested in.

Good luck!

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

When I'm asked to shoot a sporting event at some of the local schools, and even at the college level, I pull out my Canon EOS 7D Mark II, and both Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM II, and the Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 VC USM lens. Notice both have image stabilization. I remove all filters, and plan to shoot hand held. Take a light meter with you and before the game meter both sides of the court, or field. Try to do a white balance before the game at either end of the court, split the difference of the different temperature of the light. I also take a EF 300mm f4L lens sometime if I know how intense the lighting is inside the gym. I also take 2 or more of the largest, fastest memory cards I own. Before I leave home, I format the cards in camera, and burst fire on some tweety bird at the feeder, just to test the system. I'll view the test shots in LR quickly just to be sure the focus, buffer, and basic camera and lens are working at 100%. I may also take along the 5D Mark IV as a backup. When I watch professional sports, I look in the photo box and check the ratio of white lenses to black. Canon white lenses are always in the majority.

B

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

As others have correctly suggested, the Nikon D500 is the BEST APS-C sports camera available today.

The Canon 7DII is OLD TECHNOLOGY and does NOT perform up to the standards of modern sports cameras.... IN SPITE of what canon fan boys may claim... the stats just don't lie.

IF money is a concern, then I suggest you take a VERY long and HARD look at the Sony A77II, which until the introduction of the D500, was THE best APS-C sports camera on the market.

IT shoots up to 12 frames per second, has an ISO range up to 25,600 with extremely low noise usable images at ISO 6400. It has lightning fast 4D autofocus, second only to that found in the D500, a large buffer, and is built like a tank, yet is lighter and smaller than the D500 and 7DII in spite of a Magnesium Alloy body and weather sealing.

It is MUCH less expensive than either of the other APS-C offerings mentioned so far, and though it excels as a sports/wildlife camera, it is a much better all-around camera than either of the other two, with excellent dynamic range for portraits and landscape photography, and superior video capabilities.

http://cameras.reviewed.com/content/sony-a77-ii-digital-camera-review-2

http://www.trustedreviews.com/sony-alpha-a77-ii-review

IF money is no object however, the consider the new Sony A9... a revolutionary new mirrorless camera with the BEST sports performance of any camera ever made to this date.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-a9/sony-a9A.HTM

https://www.cameralabs.com/sony-alpha-a9-review/

GOOD LUCK!