Choosing A Camera For...elptWhat inspires you?
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By Ibarionex R. Perello, Christopher Robinson, Peter Read Miller, Rob Sheppard, Zachary Singer,
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Page 4 of 10
Sports & Action:
To catch the action, you need a camera that keeps up with it
By Christopher Robinson And Peter Read Miller
Sports photography is all about capturing the action—it’s fast-paced
and your camera has to be up to the challenge. Most point-and-shoot and
advanced compact cameras aren’t capable of doing the job simply because
they exhibit shutter lag—the shutter doesn’t fire at the instant you
depress the shutter button. For the best results, a digital SLR is
going to be your tool of choice. There are a few compact digital
cameras on the market that exhibit minimal shutter lag, but even these
wouldn’t be up to the rigors of a professional like Sports Illustrated
staff photographer Peter Read Miller.
Speed
Since the action will unfold rapidly, you want to be able to “action
bracket” your shots by firing in a series. Professionals frequently
shoot in bursts of 10-plus frames, and having a camera that can shoot
those frames fast is key. Both the Canon EOS-1D Mark II and the Nikon
D2H can fire at full resolution at 8 frames per second.
Lens
Most of the shots you see in magazines like SI are taken with long
telephotos. As a photographer, you’ll be confined to the sidelines and,
in most cases, the action will be some distance from your perch. The
only way to get the shot will be with a long focal length. “Faster”
wide-aperture lenses will make it possible to keep the background out
of focus, but these lenses tend to be expensive, large and heavy. While
pros like Miller have a full collection of fast teles at their
disposal, you might have to opt for a more moderately priced zoom.
That’s certainly not the end of the world, but you won’t be able to
completely throw the background out of focus. Keep in mind that cameras
like the Canon EOS-1D Mark II or the Nikon D2H have a sub-full-frame
image sensor, which gives your lenses a magnification factor that makes
telephotos seem even longer than they are. For instance, Miller’s
EOS-1D Mark II has a 1.6x magnification factor, which makes a 300mm ƒ/4
lens appear to be a 450mm ƒ/4.
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