Will a Canon 40d do the job

I have no experience with digital cameras and will be finally able to buy one

this month.

 

I want a camer that will be able to shoot sports, portraits, and macro.

 

Sports; basketball inside, soccer, and football.

 

Will the canon 40d do a good job at shooting indoors with basketball?

 

Glen

I believe that with 6.5 frames per second, the 40D should do well for sports. Most other aspects though rely mostly on the lenses you have. If you are looking to do macros and portraits, you might try the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro. It does very well for macro as well as portraits on the side. For sports, you are looking for long fast lenses which can get very expensive very fast. You obviously want the long focal length so that you can get nice close shots of the players. But remember you also need a fairly fast lens. (lens with a wide aperture such as f4 or better yet, f2.8) This is so that you get the proper amount of light to the censor so that you dont get blurry pictures. Raising the ISO on your camera (something that Canons excel at) is also a good idea for getting a nice sharp exposure. If you want a good professional sports lens, you are probably looking at a couple thousand dollars. If I were a sports shooter I would give you a few recommendations on lenses, but Im not very experienced in that area so Ill leave that for someone else.

40D is excellent for sports. Very good AF and frame rate.

 

"For sports, you are looking for long fast lenses which can get very expensive very fast."

 

For inside sports, not necessarily that long really.

 

"You obviously want the long focal length so that you can get nice close shots of the players. But remember you also need a fairly fast lens. (lens with a wide aperture such as f4 or better yet, f2.8)"

 

f4 is just torture inside. f2.8 is fast for a zoom lens but really not that fast. Primes are nice and affordable, like the 50/1.8, 50/1.4 and 85/1.8, when the lighting is low.

 

For outdoors 70-200 seems like a rational choice. Which one? Let your wallet dedice. ;)

You say you have no experience with digital cameras but do you have some photographic experience?

I'm not the greatest photographer in the world, but you can look at my basketball shots to get an idea of what the 40D can do. http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=797136

I'm just starting out with basketball so there is plenty of room for improvement.

About the only job I think the 40D couldn't do I hammer nails during a hurricane. For that you better get a 5D.

Just out of interest, what are you using now?

"About the only job I think the 40D couldn't do I hammer nails during a hurricane. For that you better get a 5D."

 

You mean a 1D. 40D & 5D are both lightweights.

"You say you have no experience with digital cameras but do you have some photographic experience?"

 

Very little. Use to shoot in High School. 35mm Canon. Use to roll my own film from a bulk loader and develop my own film at home. Used the printing equipment at school.

[[Very little.]]

 

Well be prepared for a rather steep learning curve. But the reward at the top is well worth it! :) Good luck.