Thoughts on DSLR for white water rafting shooting?

[Field]

I have a 80-200mm manual Nikon lens I think would be good for the camera, I was looking at Nikon D3100 but I am not sure you can stop down to anything past f5.6?

What would you use to take pictures of people rafting?

How fast do autofocus lenses get? I could consider a VR 55-200mm lens.

I see no reason to get a DX3 or anything like that.

[segedi]

The last white water trip I took, the photographer had a dslr and a video camera on the same tripod took video and still at the same time. I'd think you could do manual focus if you set yourself up with a tripod and then picked a spot to focus on and when they come down the river you can shoot. I would think you might consider a VR lens and AF though - have a camera that can AF on moving targets (about all of them now) might be better though. You want a framerate of 6-9 frames/second as well. Action is fast and somewhat unpredictable. Good luck!

[rodt16s]

I took my DSLR down the Green River, if your intending shooting while in some of the rapids then autofocus is a good idea, it's a tadge frantic in the white stuff. But by far the best piece of kit I took was a lowepro dryzone, gets pretty wet.. Oh and tie everything down at least twice.
If your going to stand on the shore and are comfortable with the manual 80-200 use it.

[Field]

Yeah I am thinking the control of a manual focus will not do what I want. Plus the cameras cost 2x-5x as much that can meter with a manual focus. The D3100 with a VR 55-200mm would probably work. Sadly I do love the manual focus because the manual zoom is faster than electrical by FAR.

I doubt that I would need a tripod though since they are all day shots, so at ISO 200 I should get shutter speeds well over 1/200th, which would accomplish stopping motion and should not blur. There is no need for a video camera that I know about.

[Field]

It looks like I am too poor to afford above 3fps so maybe I should give up then.

[huntjump]

i got a d40x for $180 the other day. Works pretty well. I saw a d3100 with 18-55vR go local for $425. I wouldnt give up.

[Field]

Would a D90 at 4.5fps be respectable for "sports" ? I really could use a job and the resume stuff but it is quickly becoming a situation where I will not make any money.

[huntjump]

Sorry i'm confused on your post. Are you trying to get a camera that you can use for commercial purposes, ie: make money? What is the white water rafting thing about, is that a gig or something you want to shoot for fun?

[Field]

Nevermind that, only scum bags on Ebay sell a D90 with 70-300mm VR. The D3100 is the fastest fps I am going to get.

[Field]

Originally Posted by huntjump

Sorry i'm confused on your post. Are you trying to get a camera that you can use for commercial purposes, ie: make money? What is the white water rafting thing about, is that a gig or something you want to shoot for fun?

A gig. The pay is low (they say good). $40-70 a day depending on commission. Min wage here per hour or worse, but commission and 7 days a week in July usually.

[huntjump]

when i was in costa rica, the guys shooting the rafting had rebels and some maybe had the T1 it was moving too quickly. The company either positioned them or the photographers positioned themselves near where the hardest rapids were, ie: best shots cause the boats were either going to get thrashed and/or people would look like they were battling the hardest rapids.

But i saw no need for high FPS for what they were shooting, as the boats were staggered enough that it was adequate time for the photographer to snap 2-3 shots per boat. Personally, id want an autofocus because it looked kind of boring shooting the same thing over and over and if it was paid, id want it easy. Maybe you would enjoy it more doing manual, i dunno.

this is an example of one their shots. Nothing special. D40 or d40x would suffice ($125-200 body) + a lens you feel comfortable with. d3100 is pretty nice for what it is. The people buying these photos don't seem to know or care as much as any photographer on here would, so i wouldnt sweat the equipment TOO much

[Field]

Thanks for inspiration. I am going to go for it if I can. 70-300mm VR lens is what I will use.

I just hope the only way for me to get the equipment is not through those scummy Hong Kong guys.

[tbarker13]

You don't need the best camera to do what you want to do.
This was done with a Canon 30D and an 80-200 lens. I was actually out doing some landscapes in the Smoky Mountains, when I looked up and saw this guy and a couple others surging down the river that I was walking along.