Want to upgrade to dslr to take horse racing action photos, need recommendations

[ilzho]

Hello:

For years I have had my Powershot G10 to take general pictures and it has worked well.

I am a huge fan of horse racing and I'm lucky to have a track, very close by. 

I want to be able to 'freeze' a horse and jockey racing among other types of photos.

My G10 cannot take these kind of pictures 'well'.

I am not looking to become a professional as I am not an expert at all, but I would love to have some proper equipment to take realitive good photos of horses racing/Equine. Yes this takes a lot of knowledge and practice/experience. All of which I do not have enough of.

I am looking to stay in the Canon family and would like some recommendations on a good DSLR camera and some lenses.

My budget is about $1500.

Any help and guidance is apprecaited.

Thank you,

David

[cicopo]

Depending on how far you will be from the horses there's a good chance a 7D mark 2 & 18-135 Kit lens may be one to look at.

[ilzho]

Thank you. I'll look into it.

The track is never crowded so I can get along the railing (spectator side) along the final stretch or last turn.......

Of course really close along the rails for the paddock, where they saddle/riders up....

[Waddizzle]

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@ilzho wrote:

Thank you. I'll look into it.

The track is never crowded so I can get along the railing (spectator side) along the final stretch or last turn.......

Of course really close along the rails for the paddock, where they saddle/riders up....

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A 7D Mark II may be just outside of your budget.  By the time you buy the usual accessories, like a protective lens filter, a bag, flash, and maybe a tripod/head kit, you could be over budget before you even buy a lens.

However, the 7D Mk II is probably the least expensive Canon DSLR with the Auto Focus tracking system capable of capturing fast action shots, like running horses.  The new 80D seems a close second, so give that one a look-see, too.

As for lenses, the 80D comes in a kit version, packaged with the latest version of the EF-S 18-135mm.  That range of focal lengths is a good "standard zoom" range.  It is an excellent starter lens, so I'm not going to mention anything else.

[Waddizzle]

I have just noticed that there are EOS 70D kits with the EF-S 18-135mm IS STM lens on sale in the Canon Online Refurbished store for about half your budget!  This purchase could leave money left over to buy medium telephoto zoom.

Another good lens to have would be the EF 70-200mm f/4L, which would complement the 18-135mm fairly well.  Personally, I like for my zoom lens ranges to overlap just a little bit.  Or, you cold buy some of those accessories I mentioned above.

[TTMartin]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

However, the 7D Mk II is probably the least expensive Canon DSLR with the Auto Focus tracking system capable of capturing fast action shots, like running horses.  The new 80D seems a close second, so give that one a look-see, too.

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Sorry, ANY Canon dSLR is capable of horses running at the track. They run in a uniform direction at what is mostly a steady speed. There are no quick turns or speed changes that would require a sophisticated tracking system. The G10 is not a dSLR and lacks the phase detect auto focus (PDAF) of a dSLR. But, all Canon dSLRs have PDAF that are more than capable of that job. 

[Waddizzle]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

However, the 7D Mk II is probably the least expensive Canon DSLR with the Auto Focus tracking system capable of capturing fast action shots, like running horses.  The new 80D seems a close second, so give that one a look-see, too.

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Sorry, ANY Canon dSLR is capable of horses running at the track. They run in a uniform direction at what is mostly a steady speed. There are no quick turns or speed changes that would require a sophisticated tracking system. The G10 is not a dSLR and lacks the phase detect auto focus (PDAF) of a dSLR. But, all Canon dSLRs have PDAF that are more than capable of that job. 

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I was thinking of scenario of horses running towards you as they came around the final curve.  Focus distance changing. 

Any current Canon DSLR may have AF tracking, but not all of them are good at it.  Granted, a lot of the success depends upon the photographer, but my T5 and 6D are not up to tracking something coming towards me at the speed of a running horse.  Besides, I later recommended a refurbished 70D, once I saw the dicounted package in the Canon Store.

[TTMartin]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

However, the 7D Mk II is probably the least expensive Canon DSLR with the Auto Focus tracking system capable of capturing fast action shots, like running horses.  The new 80D seems a close second, so give that one a look-see, too.

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Sorry, ANY Canon dSLR is capable of horses running at the track. They run in a uniform direction at what is mostly a steady speed. There are no quick turns or speed changes that would require a sophisticated tracking system. The G10 is not a dSLR and lacks the phase detect auto focus (PDAF) of a dSLR. But, all Canon dSLRs have PDAF that are more than capable of that job. 

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I was thinking of scenario of horses running towards you as they came around the final curve.  Focus distance changing. 

Any current Canon DSLR may have AF tracking, but not all of them are good at it.  Granted, a lot of the success depends upon the photographer, but my T5 and 6D are not up to tracking something coming towards me at the speed of a running horse.  Besides, I later recommended a refurbished 70D, once I saw the dicounted package in the Canon Store.

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Non-sense, the T5 and 6D are more than up to that.

I've tracked Indy cars coming towards me at speed with the Canon 6D with no problems at all.

[Bryston3bsst]

Waddizzle wrote:

Any current Canon DSLR may have AF tracking, but not all of them are good at it.  Granted, a lot of the success depends upon the photographer, but my T5 and 6D are not up to tracking something coming towards me at the speed of a running horse. 

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That's odd that you would say that. My 6D is very capable of tracking a running horse....and birds and all kinds of moving objects.

Not sure why yours wouldn't be.

To the OP.......the 18-135 is a very good lens as is the 18-200. I don't think the 18-135 will be long enough to do what you describe. I would look ant the 18-200. There are a great number of used peices on the market too that could save you smoe money...might consider that.

[TTMartin]

6D sequence tracking a race car at speed coming towards the camera.