lensenvy Loc: Boston Mass

Thank you....now that you mention it, I have an 18-200 that I used when I started taking sports pics of my kids.....great for outdoors!

lensenvy Loc: Boston Mass

Thanks for your help! I like the speed of the 50mm but I know nothing about the D3400. I will do some more research!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Nice camera.

toxdoc42

I have used the D3400 and "kit lenses" for indoor wrestling, outdoor lacrosse and football. More than acceptable according to the parents of the kids involved. I recently used the camera for diving photos, in the continuous shooting mode, had to hand hold, since I didn't have a tripod with me, also very acceptable with enough photos to document the dives well! I did sports photography in high school and college, many years ago, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, so maybe my skills built then are part of my muscle memory. My only problem is remembering to focus more carefully, since the screen on the viewfinder has no focusing aid, you depend entirely on the autofocus, which I set to back focus and spot when shooting sports.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Just for viewing or for printing too? Printing requires much more picture power. Take that into account when you read the replies.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

The D3300 would be a better choice in my opinion over the D3400. The D3300 has been discontinued, replaced by the D3400. Compare features between the two cameras. The D3300, even though discontinued is still available. And I suggest buying AF-S or AF-P lenses. Because it does not have an internal focus motor. Good luck to you.

toxdoc42

Please explain why the focus motor should be a problem? If you understand that and buy the correct lens, why would there be any problem? I don't really understand the difference anyway. When the term focus motor is used, what does it really mean?

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Did I miss something where it was said this was to be a Nikon camera...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Try this link for details: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm. In summary, older Nikon AF lenses may or may not retain 'auto focus' depending on the modern DSLR Nikon body used. Depends on the lens and depends on the body. So, when considering a used, out of production Nikon lens, these details have to be considered. Although, these issues are likely not applicable to the purchased being considered by the authors of the question raised in this post ...

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Canon 77D for entry level. Good focusing system. But what do you mean by "Not too expensive"? Do you have a budget for camera and lens?

PhotosBySteve

Either a full frame or APS-C. The Full frame will provide better low light performance, where as the crop frame will crop in tighter on the subject. Use fast glass with at least F2.8 constant aperture. Focal length range of 100-400mm. I use 70-200mm,F2.8 on full frame indoors or the same lens outdoors on a crop frame. I rarely shoot any tighter than F2.8. I like to isolate my subjects from the background.
A camera body with excellent high ISO performance is also a must!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

For sports photography, particularly with the last couple generations the camera doesn't matter nearly as much as the lens.

DSLRs with an optical viewfinder are still the best solution, overall. A high frame rate is nice, but not mandatory.

You need autofocus that's fast to acquire and very good tracking movement. Autofocus performance is a combination of camera and lens technology (as well as proper techniques and user skill/practice). Most recent cameras are fine, but most "kit" lenses simply aren't up to the task.

I shoot a ton of sports.... can't recall using a 50mm lens recently (I do carry and use 28/1.8, 50/1.4 and 60mm f/2for portraits and other purposes, but rarely or never use them for sports).

My most used lenses... 70-200mm and 300mm primes. I also quite often use a 24-70mm (in low light conditions) or a 28-135mm (a bargain lens on the used market, quite usable for sports so long as there's plenty of light). And, yes, I use a 100-400mm too... thought that's mostly an outdoor/daylight lens. (I'm using these lenses on a pair of 7D Mark II now.)

I don't personally use, but know that one or another of the several Canon 70-300mm USM IS lenses can work well for sports too, though primarily for outdoor/good light conditions. AVOID the cheap EF 75-300mm III that's often offered in bundle with various cameras.... It's not all that great optically, has slow micro motor focus drive, and lacks image stabilization. Only a little bit more expensive, the EF-S 55-250mm IS STM is a much better tele-zoom lens.

Among Canon lenses, for sports you ideally want "USM" or "ultrasonic motor" focus drive models. In most lenses that's the fastest and most responsive type of focus drive. (Tamron "USD" and Sigma "HSM" are similar, though they may or may not be as fast as Canon's own.) Canon "STM" lenses are pretty good, too... but Canon themselves rate USM as 2X to 4X faster (in models that are otherwise identical, but they offer choice of the focus drive system). Canon's "micro motor" (not marked STM or USM) are the slowest type and simply are not up to a lot of sports shooting.

Canon T6i and T6s use a 19-point AF system that's basically the same as 70D, which in turn got a somewhat simplified version of the original 7D's AF system. I used a pair of those 7D to shoot upwards of a quarter million sports photos over about 5 years time. (Note: The 7D has a discrete chip running the AF system, as well as dual image processors. This makes for a bit higher performance than the other cameras using similar AF system that "share" AF duties, image handling and everything else through a single processor.)

T6i and T6s have been superseded by even newer models now (T7i and 77D, respectively), so might be found new for a bit of a discount. I'd bet there are a lot of them available lightly used, too, from folks who traded up to the "latest and greatest". A used 70D or 7D wouldn't be a bad choice either, if a relatively "low mileage" copy could be found.

For that matter, earlier T5i and 50D are pretty darned capable, too. I shot sports with a pair of 50D for a while, too. It uses a simpler 9-point AF system that's plenty fast and responsive for the purpose. Someone mentioned older 1D-series, too, bought used... And certainly those are some of the most pro-quality sports/action cameras made by anyone. The only difficulty with 1D-series Canon (not 1Ds) is that they use a rather unusual APS-H size sensor that precludes using EF-F lenses on them. Basically they need EF/full frame capable lenses, which tend to be bigger, heavier and more expensive. (Any full frame camera would be even worse choice, requiring even bigger and more expensive lenses.)

For anyone on a tight budget, I'd DEFINITELY recommend sticking with the Canon APS-C models, which allow both EF-S and EF lenses to be used, giving you a much larger range of lenses to choose among. No worries about compatibility either, unlike Nikon... Basically an APS-C camera being made today or recently can use any of the 100 million plus EF or EF-S lens made the past 30 years. And, relatively recent APS-C cameras (all the models mentioned here, other than the 1D-series) have plenty of image quality for sports photography.

Choose from any of those Canon DSLRs (avoid the more entry level T6, T5, SL1, etc.... those are fine for a lot of things, but not really up to sports shooting).T6i, T6s, T5i, 70D, 50D, original 7D are all quite usable for sports photography and might be found reasonably affordably... used or new discounted for clearance. The Canon USA website also offers refurbished recent and current models... often virtually the same as new (same warranty as new, too), for a bit of a savings.

On a tight budget, spend as little as possible on the camera and put more into the lens used upon it!

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

I mentioned the older 1D MK III and yes it will only use EF lenses. But the majority of the lenses you say you use are EF lenses. The Mk III will get you 10 fpsand a bit more reach because of the1.3 crop factor. At this point in their lifespan one might get a used 7D for about the same money. I shot a lot of racing and sports with my 1D MkIII and a 85mm 1.8 Canon lens. A nice combo. But I still think this all is all a rather pointless exercise without knowing more information and a budget...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

GraveyDave

Try a used D700. I have it as a back up to my D750 but when I did use it I got up to 8,000 ISO with night soccer (with some help in literoom). Then get a 24-70 f/2.8 and a 70-200 f/2.8 used/older models to keep costs down. I would try to stick with Nikon lenses because that split second extra the camera takes to read non nikon lenses means you miss the shot.

Photocraig

My grandson's other grandfather uses this camera and he's a long time Nikon DSLR user. He's gotten good out door results.