topic Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses in Gear Guide

Best budget beginner camera and lenses

cameras13 — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:11:57 GMT

Background: Im a 15 year old boy who plays basketball but wants to start taking photos for jh boys and girls basketball games and highschool boys football games, so I think I want good tracking, I know I want good battery and good photo quality , and I know I want good build quality, also I like the flip out articulating screens. I will be buying used from MPB or from anywhere else recommened I have a budget for camera and a lense of around 500 plus I would like to be under actually a great deal under closer to 400 for basketball I’ll be courtside but may be in stands at away games for football I’ll be on bleachers so I need reach for that but close up for the courtside

1. I looked at a Canon Eos Rebel T6i a T7or a Canon 60d or a Canon 7d keep in mind what I said I liked earlier

2. For lenses I have no clue where to start I think like a Canon EF 55-250 or a Canon EF 55-200 but I don’t know if I need the Is or the Is ll or the Is STM remember budget when recommending both

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

vantage — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 02:31:19 GMT

I've purchased from both MPB and KEH. Never had a problem with either so I'd recommend looking at both.

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

cameras13 — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:57:33 GMT

Ok but what camera

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

shadowsports — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 13:49:21 GMT

Greetings,

Since lenses are the real investment in photography, let's talk about them first. EF and EF-S lenses are plentiful but are end of life. Mirrorless cameras/RF lenses will offer greater longevity from an investment standpoint. We all have to start somewhere, we understand this. My high school years were captured with a Canon AE-1 35mm film camera. 🙂

For courtside action, a focal length in the 150 to 300 mm focal range will be ok. You will be relegated to shooting players on your side of the court. Any further, there will be considerably less detail. Football, same focal range shooting from the bleachers or stands. You'll be able to capture overall gameplay with less individual detail. Shooting night time outdoors. Cameras and lenses at this price point will be challenged for outdoor night time photography because of the faster shutter speeds required to freeze action. Lighting at many high school venues is not great. Location is very important when shooting sports but you may not always be able to choose. Lenses with a zoom ratio of 2x to 3x are typically sharper than those 4x or higher. For aperture try to choose a lens with a f3.5 to 5.6 range. This will help maximize low light performance.

Cameras. For sports I would recommend a DSLR with as many focus points as you can afford. 45 is a good mid range choice. Low end range would be 9 to 19, upper end would be 61. Cameras in this price range will typically have ISO performance in the 6,500 to 12,800 range, with some going as high as 25,200.

One of the best entry level DSLRs for sports is the T8i. I'd also look at the T7i and 7D Mark II. I'd like to suggest that you wait a little bit and try to sock away some more money. At $400 to $500 including lens, the only thing you're going to get is an entry level camera that is beat. Just a little more money will offer a much better value, higher performance and something you'll appreciate more in the short term. Also something you can grow into in the long run.

The information I provided above can be used as guidance. Don't forget accessories, two to three memory cards and at least one additional battery. Since the holidays are coming, maybe you can get some relatives to assist with the purchase.

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

wq9nsc — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:40:25 GMT

I agree with Rick about his recommendations to maybe try to save a bit more because a low cost budget and high school sports are not a good combination. Fast action and generally poor illumination are very demanding of gear.

Does your school have a journalism class or a yearbook program? I do a lot of volunteer sports photography for the high school where my daughter graduated and they have some camera gear available for student use. It isn't Canon 1 series but it is decent so check with your school. Working with yearbook or another school organization SHOULD get you sidelines/track access to away football games and that is critical for decent photos. I shoot with Canon 1DX III bodies and L series telephoto primes and I would struggle to get decent photos from the stands even using that gear.

A used APS-C sensor size DSLR with APS-C lenses are your best budget bet but please check with your school first because they may be able to provide gear, additional learning/class credit, and field access.

Rodger

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

bakhatyar — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:34:36 GMT

A beginner setup under $400–500 can work for casual shooting, but sports, especially indoors or at night, need faster focusing and better lenses. Consider saving a bit more for a used mid-range DSLR or mirrorless body and put most of your budget toward a good telephoto lens for sharper action shots.

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

vantage — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 22:16:54 GMT

What country are you in? When you say "400" is that US dollars or something else?

Let's assume US dollars. Given your budget of $400 US there's no camera & lens I would recommend. I suggest saving your money for a used 7DII. One in decent condition will run around $500 US. Lens will be additional cost.

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

eponcep — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 06:06:57 GMT

Thank you, this was very helpful!

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

shadowsports — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:01:04 GMT

Thank you! I'm glad it helped you.

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

SignifDigits — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:59:05 GMT

Are you planning on getting paid for these shots or is this just a hobby?

Some have come to this site with enough have the photographic skills to get shots to start raising cash selling to classmates and parents.

All great advice from my colleagues about waiting to spend more, but I don't think anyone wants you to have to wait until you graduate high school to afford something. If you have the skills to make money perhaps you should start that now and work your way up in gear over time.

70-200 f/2.8 unstablized (aka no IS) or f/4 stabilized is a great range to target. If you go APS-C you can get into that range for less than full-frame. The Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX APO SC HSM II used would be in your price range.

One thing besides focal points for fast action would be frames per second. Sadly, that, too is out of your price range. The T8i used alone spends your budget. But a T6i is just under $300 - only 5fps for roughly one-second bursts.

If you luck up on a great deal on a lens in your price range get a throwaway camera and start shooting and making money. If you have a source of income and can save up, please do so.

I think you already mentioned this but definitely buy "exterior ugly" and "interior beautiful". Rugged stuff lasts and people pay more for pristine exteriors that have nothing to do with quality of photos. A $300 T6i with 17k shutter count would save $70 over the $370 version with the same shutter count and more pristine exterior.

Thanks for joining us. Let us know more about your thoughts and how you wind up proceeding!

Re: Best budget beginner camera and lenses

normadel — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 19:18:27 GMT

What do you mean by "good tracking"? If you mean ability to follow the action, that's a YOU function, not a camera function. Do some reading on action photography and sports photography to learn good techniques. Cameras have settings to follow-focus moving subjects (like AI-Servo focus mode on Canons) but there's more to it than that.

Practice, practice, practice!