equipment for skateboarding

<p>i am 13 years old and i am just getting into photography and i am really into skateboarding. i was wonder what kind of camera i should buy that is in a 300 to 500 dollar price range. thanks</p>

<p>Joe, I'm guessing you probably want a digital camera. There are some excellent buys in used 35mm SLRs for well under $500 but you would have the expense of buying and processing film.</p>

<p>Any dSLR from the usual manufacturers can handle outdoor sports and some indoor sports where the venue is well lighted: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax... all are useful. Some may have quicker autofocus than others, but I usually find pre-focusing on a specific action zone more helpful when photographing sports so quick autofocus isn't always necessary. But this technique takes practice and doesn't suit everyone's preferences.</p>

<p>Most dSLRs provide very good to acceptable performance up to ISO 800 before high ISO noise becomes a serious factor. So even older dSLRs such as the Nikon D100, D70, Canon 10D and others may be suitable and well within your budget. There are even some very capable pro-level dSLRs such as the Nikon D1H and D1X available within your budget, altho' those models have certain limitations. For sports outdoors in daylight I'd suggest sticking with a more recent model, such as a Nikon D50, D40 or D80. All are very capable in good lighting. One of the main advantages offered by some of the pro-level dSLRs is quicker autofocusing, especially in very dim lighting such as school gyms.</p>

<p>Also, can you provide a link to the types of skateboarding photos that interest you? For example, on Flickr or elsewhere? This would help folks to suggest suitable lenses.</p>

<p>Check out Olympus' FE-5020. It has a nice 24mm wide angle (for when you are on the board) and a 10X zoom (for when you are off). Take 640 by 480 movie. Not too big, pocket size and not to expensive <$150 (Should you take a spill). </p>

<p>I am 26, used to skate quite a bit in high school (didnt do photography then) - lived in philly during college as well (if you have not gone to FDR park, you gotta, its really cool). Anyway, there are a bunch of options and I will let others give you specific advice cause my knowledge about various models is relatively limited.</p>

<p>I will add that I know we used to skate alot at night, and some of my favorite photos of skaters are in low light - flash is alot of fun for great night shots - you can get really creative and stop action at night with a decent flash on your SLR - so if you find a camera/lens that will give you a bit of flexibility to get a fair flash that attaches with a rotating head, it is a great attribute. But if you skate mainly during the day, may not be necessary to worry about this at this point. (check out strobist.com if you get interested in this aspect)</p>

<p>Andy Reynolds is my favorite personally - that man is a god - like many of the pros! Hope you get some great photos to share with us soon, I dont get to see many Sk8er photos on here very often - good luck.</p>

<p>This depends, do you want a DSLR? or do you want a point and shoot... i assume you want to do video so... i would sugest nikon p90. its possibly the best point and shoot... but its not a DSLR.<br>

if you're that intrested i sugest you take a photo class or 2 before investing in an SLR</p>