I need a digital camera to take indoor volleyball photos. I have limited cash & I'm an amateur. Any ideas?

Question

I will be taking photos of indoor volleyball matches. I do not have much photography experience. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a camera? I need price to be under $800. Thanks!!

Answer 1

Indoor volleyball very often needs a wide-aperture, fast lens because of the dark interiors. You can use a flash to offset using a slower lens, but some gyms/etc. don't permit flash.

A good lens for indoor sports is the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM. At B&H, it's going for about $350. If you look around photography forums or sites such as craigslist, you can find a used Canon DSLR at a good price (at or below $450), such as the Rebel XTi.

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II at $90 is a possible alternative. It, however, does not autofocus as quickly or accurately as the 85. Thus, you might have to focus on an area of the court beforehand and wait for the action to come there.

Good luck with your decision!

Answer 2

they sell alot of good ones under 800. sony is a good brand.  

Answer 3

For $800 you can get a DSLR (the kind where you change lenses).  Don't worry about being an amateur as all DSLRs have full auto modes these days.

A DSLR will have a huge advantage over point-and-shoots for indoor sports photography because it has much greater light gathering ability as well as much less shutter lag (you press the button, it pretty much instantly takes the picture).

Since you're just looking for something basic I'd suggest looking at the Canon XTi or the Nikon D40. Both of these cameras will leave you with a little money left over to get a lens.

Which lens you get is dependent on how close you can get to the action. If you're stuck sitting in the bleachers you'll need to get a telephoto lens (look for something with a 300mm focal length). The disadvantage of that is they're usually more expensive. You may also want a tripod with a telephoto because they're not as good in the low-light situations you'll get indoors.

If you can get close to the action (i.e. you're sitting on the bench) then you can probably do with the lenses suggested by the above poster.    

Answer 4

well i have a polaroid i733

and not its only like $60 to $100

thats a good price

i had it for like a year or two

i just found out how to use the zoom

and its zooms super good

hope i helped

oh and its hot pink :)

Answer 5

OK, here is the short, short version.

1. You need a digital SLR or dSLR.

2. You need 'fast glass' or a lens with an aperture of f2.8 or greater. Even better a f1.7 or 1.4 lens

dslr cameras can take cleaner pictures at the high ISO settings you will need to get the shots. You will need to set your camera at ISO 800 at the min, and as high as 3200 if you want a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.

On the cheap, check out Sony's Alpha A200, it's about $500 with a cheap zoom lens. Find a 50mm f1.7 minolta lens for about 100 bucks (sony uses sony and minolta glass) and you are ready to go. No zoom, but it's sharp and good for low light.

Canon on the cheap, get the old model Xti or the new XS, same as above add a fast 50mm prime lens

Nikon on the cheap, the d40x. the D60 is good, but after adding a 50mm prime, and memory card, you could be over budget.

Ignore the 'don't buy Sony' comments, just a nikon or canon owner that hates Sony.

A flash won't reach in such indoor sports when you are far away, and most venues frown upon flashing because it can blind or distract the players, so don't worry about flash.

Since you are new to photography, I'd go with one of the cameras I've mentioned, add a 50mm prime lens (a fast low light zoom is mega bucks) put the camera in auto, you'll get much better results than a compact digital camera.

Good luck

Answer 6

Sony is a not a good brand.

They make shoddy electronics from brittle plastic and cheap glue

You should especially avoid their camera. They use cheap glue on the ccds\cmos chips and they come apart right after the warranty is up.

Sony already had to pay a class action settlement for it and had to extend warranties to replace out of warranty camera for people....

Nikon D60, its a 10.2 mpx dslr for under $800 with lens or a d40 which is even cheaper....

You will need to allocate as much money as possible for a good flash like an sb 800 or an sb 900...