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Best mirrorless camera for sports photography

maxxevv

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Great for street photography in low light when you don't want to push the ISO too much.

I find extremely useful for field sports when the lense is close to heavier than 10lbs. Keeps the camera propped up but don't completely restrict freedom of movement.
 

Frank Dernie

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Anyone every used a monopod? I have one someone gave me, and I tried it out in the back yard, but somehow it never makes the trip. Handheld or on the Manfrotto tripod.
I used one with the big heavy tele lenses when I used to use 35mm and 6x6 cameras.
All the motor racing pros I know use one all the time out on the circuit, not quite as good as a tripod but much, much handier.
 

Frank Dernie

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I have tripods too, and I use one when needed.
But I agree with Amir here: most of the time, I don't want to.

For inside shots in dark environment, I sometimes use just a ball head (Arca Swiss P0), without the tripod.
That's enough, most of the time, even to hold my 5DSR with the 11-24. I just find a support and I push the head down with 2 fingers on the bottom.

But stabilization is my preferred option, since it gives me greater freedom and allows more creativity.
Capturing photos, that's like music: there is not just one way to appreciate it.
Hand holding won't be a problem with a lens that wide!
I have "85mm eyes" in thet the view I see in my head is similar to the view I get with a 85 or 90 mm lens on a 35mm camera. For me 35mm is wide angle :)
I do have wider and use them from time to time but they seem to be for special effects with interesting perspective distortion to me rather than photography as such.
 

Jim B

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Why mirrorless?

After having handled the Nikon Z6, the Canon R and several Sony Alpha-series bodies, my *personal opinion* is that their electronic viewfinders still have noticeable amounts of lag and ghosting, they have poor battery life, and the have very little size/weight advantage over reflex cameras.

Try the Nikon D500 or the Canon 7D Mark II.

The mirrorless world has evolved. The latest models have greatly improved. Unfortunately, Canon and Nikon lagged behind with their technology and most do not find their mirrorless cameras up to snuff. Fugi, LUMIX, Leica, and Sony are really excelling.
 

Jim B

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With wildlife and sports photography (motor racing anyway) and wide aperture with fast lenses autofocus almost always chooses the wrong spot to focus on, I have any number of missed shots that way! All the Formula 1 pros I know use manual focus on the circuit, and quite a few use manual focus when using fast lenses in the pits too.
Autofocus is great using slower apertures with grandchildren dashing about though.

As a professional photographer, I know they do! It’s a skill that’s developed. When it’s your livelyhood, and you are making salable images. You actually make them! You don’t rely on auto focus hoping it works, and leaving things to chance.
 

Jim B

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I have a few manual-focus Nikkors for my D3x, as well as a Tokina 100mm macro which I almost exclusively use in manual-focus mode.

The thing is that we're taking about sports photography and one has to be darned good to be able to manually track an erratically-moving athlete. Track and field sports is one thing, but ball sports are out of the question...

Believe it or not, before digital cameras professionals did manually focus a camera at all kinds of sporting events, and those photos were in many magazines. They even focused them on moving wildlife!
 

Jim B

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I don't do sports but the needs are very similar to wildlife which I do. As such, I very much liked this video from Tony on mirrorless cameras for sports photography. In there there is also a very good review of the two mirrorless cameras from Canon and Nikon. Both are surprisingly poor in this regard, making me wonder what value if any they bring to the table at all.


Many people are very happy with their Fuji Xt3, and they love the video capabilities. I do not think you could go wrong their. It’s also a good looker, and fun to use!
 

Jim B

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First up, I haven't shot much digital.

From all the online tests I've seen, when it comes to "full-frame", Sony and Nikon (which uses Sony sensors) have clear DR advantages over Canon's indigenous sensors.

Of course some would say "get it right the first time", but it just so happens that many scenes simply have high contrast, and highlight and shadow recovery comes in handy. Especially when one can't take multiple exposures to try to compensate.

Recent cameras with in-body HDR might mitigate such advantages somewhat, though.

Ah Ha, ok this is a great example of a benefit to mirrorless. Yes, assume you have a high contrast wide dynamic range shot, and you are not sure how to shoot it. With mirrorless what you see in the EVF is exactly the exposure you will get. This in turns teaches someone how to use the exposure compensation dial!!! Then if you pay attention you can learn to read the light. So if you went back to shooting film, and came across a similar scene, you would be able to realize hey I need to add two stops of exposure to make this come out the way I want!!!! For the same reason, mirrorless can be a great aid to a beginner.
 
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