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Whats the best camera for rapid fire snowmobile use for around $1000 with lens?

davefox

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Jan 27, 2013
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Burst rate

Just a thought about frames per second and memory. I have a 7D and shot it for 2 summers at the Unlimited Races in Pasco Washington. 8 frames per second is great, but when the buffer only holds 5 the camera stops shooting at 6. This with UDMA cards at 60Mb/sec or better as everytime you pull the trigger you expend 25Mb of information. 18Mb for the RAW, and 7Mb for the JPEG. The memory is probably faster than the camera output.

The new update now provides 17 shots of buffer instead of the 5 when shooting both RAW/JPEG which works really well if you want rattle off 15 or 20 shots over 3 or 4 seconds. I tested it out at the house right after I updated it. It is what they say. In the winter you will most likely not even hit the max frame rate anyway if it is overcast as the exposure on the camera may be so slow the camera will not expose them fast enough.

Having used this camera for the last 3 years I can say that the fastest frame rate is only as good as the buffer size in the camera. I doubt I would see the difference for the extra 2 frames as 8/sec gives some really amazing action photos and you can step up to the large Sigma 300-800 zoom which is available for the Canon, Nikon, and Sigma. Looking to get mine in a couple of months. Lenses for the Sony may be to be a little tougher to come by.

I carry a Sigma 150-500, Canon 100-400, and a couple of smaller lenses for some other shots in my 40# bag with my laptop when I go to the races. Nice thing is the smaller sensor makes a 600mm lens out of the 400 at 1.6x magnification.

The Canon lens is my favorite as it is very smooth and easy to operate when all goobered up with sunscreen. The Sigma is a little stiff on the zoom and is dedicated to a tripod as it is not easy to operate with greasy hands. Almost dropped it twice last summer. It does take very nice pictures and is fast on the autofocus and tracks at 160mph very well.

I have both the 7d and 60D and I can tell you there is a difference between CF and SD memory that are both rated at 90Mb/sec when I download them to the PC Compact Flash is significantly faster using the same reader. I have since gone to an Express slot reader for my CF cards as it is a lot faster than USB2 on my HP laptop. Keep in mind these cards are rated at 90Mb read and write. You will pay for those.

I use a lot of 45Mb write cards as they are what was affordable at the time and I have a bunch of them. I got the 60D after the 7D so my buddy would have a camera he could use and interchange all my lenses as needed. It is OK but slow, I got spoiled on the 7D. Buying another 7D body this year.

Just my thoughts...

Dave Fox
 
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davefox

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Here are a few summer sample pics, the last one shows some pixelation due to it being a shot at about 1200 yards and only 100mm. It was cropped to this size.
 

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King o the Hill

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Ditto the 7D, I carry a 7D with 70-200 f2.8 AF/IS L series..... amazing lens and super fast with an investment in the memory card.... all above info is great... but with most being similar in basic functionality, the ability to shoot RAW at 8+fps and in AF priority in the multiple image mode.... great shots, the best all round lens to backpack along with you and your 7D is the 70-300 f4.5 AF/IS lens and 10-22 f3 and a carbon fiber monopod.... Having the versatility to use a HUGE array of lens configurations is my draw to the canon brand. I go everywhere with my 40D as a SUV of DSLR'S.
 

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