[Rj1154]

Hey guys, I have been looking at pictures on soical paintball and has inspired me too get into paintball photography my self. I was just wondering if you guys have any tips you can give to a rookie. I have never realy had a interest in photography, so i don't really know much about it.

Thanks for the help

[Kermit]

Expect to drop AT LEAST $1000 on a camera setup. Social Paintball's setup is about a $4000 rig.

Decide if that is worth it to you.

[Nobben #44]

Do you want video or still pictures? Or both?

[Rj1154]

Kermit, on 03 March 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

Expect to drop AT LEAST $1000 on a camera setup. Social Paintball's setup is about a $4000 rig.

Decide if that is worth it to you.

Is it a necessity to spend that much on a camera, etc. I know the pictures that i am going to take are not going to be as good as social's are but i just want to do it as a hobby of some sort. Just for fun, nothing to take too seriously.

Nobben #44, on 03 March 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

Do you want video or still pictures? Or both?

Either is fine with me but, i would probaly do still picture if i had to choose one.

[Nobben #44]

Good to hear, then you can go for older cameras.

A $200 camera used and a $200-$300 lens would be great for starting up.

[Kermit]

The reason that you need a high end camera, a DSLR, is because they are lag-free and super responsive. A walmart pocket camera won't offer this.

[Nobben #44]

You don't need $1000 to start up with a DSLR though, $500 should be ok.
But $1000 would be more than twice as good.

This post has been edited by Nobben #44: 03 March 2012 - 03:01 PM

[Rj1154]

Thanks guys for the fast responses! Do you know if i could get a good camera for about $400-500 budget?Any recommandations if i should buy new or used and what camera exactly.

[Nobben #44]

This body:
http://www.ebay.com/...Digital_Cameras

And this lens:
http://www.ebay.com/...=item231a81d571

That will get you far, very far.

[Kermit]

Yep, or a 10D and Canon setup....either will work great.

[Pakistani]

Kermit, on 03 March 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

Expect to drop AT LEAST $1000 on a camera setup. Social Paintball's setup is about a $4000 rig.

Decide if that is worth it to you.

you don't need $1000 to get into pb photography. If you just want to shoot a few pics of practices, than you can literally get away with any camera/lens set up.
if you want to shoot for money, then yes, don't half ass it. pay for a website, pay for a hosting service, get gear that will allow you to take pictures worth charging for, but most importantly, know what you're doing behind the camera first.
having an OK camera with a solid skill set will take you miles and miles further than just having a high-end camera without any knowledge of how to use it. If you look at national geographic, a lot of those guys are using old bodies and older lenses. Gear only takes you so far in this game.

as stig said above, get a decent camera that fits your price range and just start shooting and learning.
when you start seeing the short comings of your camera and legitimately feel that your camera is preventing you from getting the shots you want to take, then you can break the $1000 mark.

[Kermit]

If you don't want to get extremely frustrated, I'd suggest a $1000 startup. That will get you a 70-300 lens with a fast motor and stabilization(about $500) and a body that can shoot fast. I will tell you right now, paintball is a sport where players move forward, backward, left, and right. Being able to maintain focus is essential, and without a fast lens and fast camera you will have a hard time getting good results.

[Nobben #44]

You could get a frustration-free start-up for way less than $1000. The camera setup I posted above would go great in any case.

[Pakistani]

Kermit, on 05 March 2012 - 01:00 AM, said:

If you don't want to get extremely frustrated, I'd suggest a $1000 startup. That will get you a 70-300 lens with a fast motor and stabilization(about $500) and a body that can shoot fast. I will tell you right now, paintball is a sport where players move forward, backward, left, and right. Being able to maintain focus is essential, and without a fast lens and fast camera you will have a hard time getting good results.

without trying to come off like a douche, im not a stranger to pb photography. I've been doing it for 2 years and shot quite a few tournaments and national events over that time.
Your point essentially boils down to, "a 1000 set-up is better than a 500 set-up." and yes, you're right. but do you need to spend that much to shoot pb? god no.
I think telling someone to drop that much money on something they weren't even interested in a week ago is absurd.
It's no different than PB. Telling a new player that they'll need to spend like 2k on gear to be competitive on the field. will a spyder shoot just as good as an ego? no. Will they both shoot paintballs down the field and get kills? yes.

The most important thing is to know what your cameras capabilities are and work around them. Spending roughly $500 is about right, imo.
the possibility that someone buys a camera but then realizes they dont enjoy shooting is a real one. and if that happens to be the case, they dont want to be out $1,000.

[Nobben #44]

And there is no need for VR, IS or OS on a lens meant for sport. You would turn it off anyway.

So around $200 for the camera and around $300 for the lens would be great.

[Sasquatch]

I was shooting paintball with a Nikon D50 that had a Sigma 25-200 lens on it that I bought from a pawn shop for $400. The auto-focus didn't work, the color balances were always weird, and I still was able to shoot pics like this fairly regularly:

Spoiler

So no, you don't need anything super expensive to shoot decent pictures. If I can get that using manual focus, no color rebalance, or other assists, anything will work.

[Viszon]

I recommend just finding a camera store near you (even if its an hour away) and talk to the person there. You can always buy a fairly good used DSLR camera for 300-500. If you don't like it, you can always sell it back for a little less. Also, buying used lenses is a really good start, even with a new camera.

The store will most likely show you how to control the settings. (shutter, aperture, etc...)

This post has been edited by Viszon: 05 March 2012 - 11:47 PM