TheOutline Loc: Charlotte, NC

I want to capture sports from youth soccer and baseball to professional pickleball pros

Currently, I use an Olympus em1 mark ii, which is like cutting steak with butter knife. Not very good

I have 3 choices. I can upgrade to Olympus om1, but the Olympus zooms opposite of the Nikon and Sony. For that reason? I won’t consider Canon.

I can go with Sony, but have no glass at all. I would prob get used Sony a7iii

I can go Nikon with Z6ii. I have Nikon glass, albeit F mount.


Ideally, these kids sports need iso 1600. To stop pro action, prefer iso 3200 or 6400 in low light to stop action

I recently captured professional pickleball at iso 640 which was too slow. The ball looks very blurry as the twilight hour approached


So, my dream camera is one with good image quality at iso6400, near instantaneous auto focus, zooming same direction as Nikon, with a zoom out to 200mm at full length (full frame equivalent of 200 is 100mm for Olympus)


I have read extensively about z6ii versus Sony a7iii

Anyone have experience with these systems shooting action?

gwilliams6

The Sony A7III is both excellent in low light/ high ISO and does very well shooting action. And there are over 200 native E-mount lenses from Sony, Sigma, Tamron, Zeiss, Samyang/Rokinon, Viltrox. Meike and others, offering you great quality choices in all focal lengths and in all price ranges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_E-mount_lenses

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_third-party_Sony_E-mount_lenses

The Sony 24mp A7III or 33mp A7IV would be great choices.

FYI after 40+ years shooting with pro Nikon and Canon gear (both brands), i moved over to Sony in January 2017 and have never looked back. I have owned Sony A6500, A7RII, A7RIII, A7III, A9, and currently own Sony A7RIV, A1, A7SIII. I currently own 13 native E-mount lenses covering 10mm to 600mm from Sony, Sigma and Tamron. I kept one Canon DSLR lens, the Canon TS 17mm Tilt-shift lens which I use on my Sony bodies with the MC-11 (EF-mount to E-mount) lens adaptor.

Cheers and best to you.

TheOutline Loc: Charlotte, NC

Thanks for the extensive reply. I have heard a lot of good things about Sony, but have not used any of their gear. Might be time to try

bkwaters

I have been experimenting with kids soccer and BIF photography with different cameras. The a7R5 is excellent. The a7R4 is not as good. I never used the a74. I tried the very inexpensive Canon R50 - it acquires focus and tracks the right kid as well as the a7R5. I just finished experimenting with the Nikon Z5 - not good. I have not tried the Z8 or Z9. I don’t think you will be satisfied with the a73.

fstoprookie Loc: Central Valley of California

ISO settings will not stop ANY action. I have shot HS sports (Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, and some Soccer)for about 20 years now and if you mean SHUTTER SPEED, OK then. Those speeds are a little too fast. A shutter speed of 1/1000 is as fast as you need for sports up through High School.
As far as a camera, I am a NIKON shooter. Have used a D3, D500, and a D5. For the last 2 years I have used a Z9. I cannot speak to SONY or CANON. I am waiting on my new Z8 as I compose this. Got an email on Friday that it was shipping and I can expect it on Tuesday. Can’t hardly wait. Good luck in your search for a different camera

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

If your goal is to capture fast action and great focus acquisition I would be considering the either the a9, a92, or a1 (if price is not an issue). The a7 series would also work, but probably not as well as those just mentioned. Good luck!

idrabefi Loc: Michigan

Agree with fstopprookie. And, IMHO shutter speeds above 1600 will result in static photos. I shot HS soccer and found 500 to be ideal on producing clean images with just enough ball and foot movement to show action.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

If AF accuracy is desired in speed the Sony out classes the Z9/Z8 in all aspects from reviews direct comparisons.

cascom Loc: Redmond

Agree with your comments. I use a D500 with an 80-200mm and 1.7 extender. He should put the ISO on auto. I use ON1 and have shot at 18000.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I have tried soccer and with quick action the auto focus picks up kids to focus on and not my family child.
I was unsure about taking photos if minor children and don't know the laws about it so I stopped

TheOutline Loc: Charlotte, NC

thx

fosis Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Before you give up on Olympus Mark II, go try some shots at those higher ISOs and do a test of Topaz Photo AI.
And definitely try Olympus' Pro Capture. You can set it up with 10+ shots per second, and use a minimal number of buffered shots, say 3-4 (.3 to .4 seconds elapsed at 10 per second). Hold down the shutter button until you pass the critical shooting moment and you'll get what you want. Then parse through your shots and use Topaz to sharpen and deNoise those best moments. I enlarge those as prints to 20 x 24".
I've been shooting 12,800 to 16,000 ISO night HS football for two seasons with my EM-1 II and a 12-100mm zoom.
And long shots with a Nikon D500 and the 200-500mm f5.6, using Topaz to sharpen and deNoise.
Admittedly, I haven't yet tried my Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm f2.8-3.5. The D500's autofocusing is really fast. Depending on the sport, and the auto focus requirements, the "butter knife" might be just a bit slower.

gwilliams6

And yes the A7III or the even more advanced A7IV are excellent for sports. There are good used ones on the market.

https://www.sony.com/en-ae/interchangeable-lens-cameras/products/ilce-7m4

Cheers and best to you.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Welcome to the UHH Outline...
Capturing Sports?

It's all about the Glass my friend, the camera really isn't nearly as important as Fast Glass especially primes.
Also wise to avoid "Pumpers" since they can (and do) shift the CG and you'll end up fighting your monopod by the end of your third soccer match of the day. IF (Internal Focus) Primes once balanced float effortlessly on your monopod.

Again, it's not so much the camera in shooting commercial sports... It's all about having a razor sharp clearly rendered Player's Face, a (strategically positioned) Ball in the image and above all else a "clean" uncluttered background detracting from the player(s).

Unfortunately you can't purchase "Excellence" in sport photography, it's pretty much not a consumer commodity...
Excellence in this genre results from endless persistence and carefully analyzing the work of outstanding commercial shooters in your market. Kind sir they are actually your competition...

Best Advice? Maybe Stay Off the Main Forum and hang out on the Sports Photography Forum
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-103-1.html
"This section is dedicated to Sports Photography, either to show off your work or to get help to make your product look better! Any help, productive criticism and compliments are welcome and encouraged!"

Once again... Shooting Commercial Sports? It's all about Fast Primes
Wishing you all the best on your photographic journey Outline

AF 300mm f/2.8 prime at 1/2500

(Download)

bkwaters

For a pro, yes fast primes. For a dad or grandad, Topaz AI or Sharpen and Photoshop’s Depth Blur neuro filter can almost replicate the fast prime look. But admittedly, none of mine are as good as your example.