Camera

Pieter
April 2007
Hey there I want to get a camera for taking bodyboarding pics. I am thinking of getting a Canon EOS 350D. Does anyone maybe know if this camera wil do the job? or have any recommendations on cameras?

Bodyboarding 902 views

6 Replies

dcmike
April 2007
And into the pitt he dives! Good on ya mate! Nice to see okes getting into it. There's a few things to consider. From the beach or from the water and your pocket. Your best bet is to trawl the net. the 350D is a rad camera but it's been on the market for a while so in computer terms (which is what we're talking - digital SLR) the progress in technology is as fast as PCs - What is fantastic now is old hat in 3 years - easy! Checkout the 400D for 10.1 mega pixels. That being said you might be able to pick up a good 2nd hand 350D... I'm not saying my choices were right but when I looked for a camera I looked at 2 things - body and lens. It's no good having the hottest body but you can't get close enough to the action. In the end I spent more on the lens than the body (almost twice as much) which has been the foundation of my set-up. 1 fat ass 80-400m zoom, which when mounted on a digital translates to 120-600mm (12x zoom max). I first had the D70 which is the Nikon equivalent to the 350D. I replaced it in 6 months - simply not fast enough for sequences especially airs where you want the perfect moment but it sure got me inspired to shoot more. My present dilemma is getting the thing into the water. Housings for SLRs are 'moer' expensive and I'm still saving!

Happy shooting!

here's a good site for price comparisons without doing the $ Â£ R conversions:

http://www.sacamera.co.za/?gclid=CJLboI ... TAodsSdGQA

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... Q=&ci=6222
ch4os_
April 2007
hmmm well.. heres my opinion

I started photography last year september.. so i havent been into it for a long time but i sure have pickedup a few things...

I got a Fuji Finepix S5600 for my bday and ya, ive done photos from gigs to bodyboarding to bmxing... and ya 10x optical zoom, 6mp (not to bad but ya..) nice shutter speeds to take sequences.... check out some of my photos on sixty40 to get your own opinion

oh and my camera was only about R3300 which is easy on the pocket and the price has probably already gone down like half...

Anyway dont forget a tripod! and a fat MMC card

Chow

And GL
NicAdams
April 2007
DCMike is spot on about the lens, it's crucial for a decent surf cam. I used to work for Canon and can honestly say they have some awesome kit. I would stick to Canon or Nikon as they have the best selection of lenses. Another thing to consider is cost. An underwater housing for a digital SLR is always gonna be pricey, Google Ikelite. An Ikelite housing for a 350D/400D is about R11000.

Have a look at the Canon Powershot G7, it's a 10M pixel digital compact camera with decent zoom lens and an optical image stabiliser. The best part about it is that there is an underwater housing available for it from Canon that won't break the bank. It's never gonna give you the same quality as a Digital SLR but then again you can take decent video with it as well. If I had the bucks I think I would go with that to start off with. Hope that helps a bit!
dcmike
April 2007
Yeah, agree totally on the smaller digitals, especially in the price and housing department! Bare 2 things in mind though... Optical zoom and digital zoom are 2 very different things. Optical zoom the pieces of glass in the lens move to bring you closer to or further from the action with no resolution loss. Digital zoom is like zooming in once the image is on your PC at home. The resolution drops, and it drops fast! You will start to see the image break up the more you zoom in so look for one with a decent optical zoom. The other thing is something not spoken about much but in the world of action photography is critical... Shutter lag - This refers to the time between when you press the button and when it actually takes the picture. This is the computing time the camera needs to adjust the focus and the exposure. Around water, that gets tricky with all the reflections and spray. In most day to day situations it's not a problem but if you're waiting for the moment when you buddy backdoors the sickest barrel - be prepared! I borrowed a mate's point and shoot 8 mega pixel R3000 camera (Cos he has the housing!) and most of the shots were so late they weren't usable. I guess it takes practice to anticipate when to press. Food for thought
Pieter
April 2007
Thanx guys!! I am sure I'l find the right camera now
Chilternburt
April 2007
Also look at the Nikon D80 its pretty fast, i use it mainly for motor sport shots, i cover the drift events here in the UK for an SA mag, and its fine for those sequences..but yea like mike said above its all about the lens...

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