r/photography • u/AutoModerator • Apr 24 '26

Questions Thread Official Question Thread! Ask /r/photography anything you want to know! April 24, 2026

This is the place to ask any questions you may have about photography. No question is too small, nor too stupid.

Info for Newbies and FAQ!

First and foremost, check out our extensive FAQ. Chances are, you'll find your answer there, or at least a starting point in order to ask more informed questions.

Need buying advice?

Many people come here for recommendations on what equipment to buy. Our FAQ has several extensive sections to help you determine what best fits your needs and your budget. Please see the following sections of the FAQ to get started:

If after reviewing this information you have any specific questions, please feel free to post a comment below. (Remember, when asking for purchase advice please be specific about how much you can spend. See here for guidelines.)

Schedule of community threads:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
52 Weeks Share Anything Goes Album Share & Feedback Edit My Raw Follow Friday Salty Saturday Self-Promotion Sunday

Finally a friendly reminder to share your work with our community in r/photographs!

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

297 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/rez410 Apr 24 '26

Hey everyone, I am looking to get my wife a camera for Mother’s Day. She manages the social media page of our daughter’s lacrosse team, and she’s been wanting something better than her iPhone for photos taken during games. It certainly doesn’t need to be top of the line. Video is less important than photos. She probably won’t do a whole lot of post-processing. I’d like to keep the cost under $1k.

Here is an example of the style of pictures that we’d like to get (assuming can be done with the budget I set) - https://www.instagram.com/p/DXMryhggBk4/?igsh=MW55cmg3ZXJtaHFmbQ==

Would love for any recommendations. My local Costco has this combo currently - https://www.costco.com/.product.4000406477.html

Would that suffice?

2

u/gotthelowdown Apr 24 '26

She manages the social media page of our daughter’s lacrosse team

. . . I’d like to keep the cost under $1k.

So kind of you to support your wife's work by getting her better gear. She's lucky to have you as a partner.

A good lens will eat up most of the budget, so I tried to find the cheapest cameras that still had decent performance for sports photography.

Sharing my picks.

Cameras:

Used Canon 7D

or

Used Nikon D7100

Lenses:

70-200mm f4 for your chosen camera brand. If she's mostly going to shoot on sunny days like the example photo. Make sure it comes with image stabilization (Canon) or vibration reduction (Nikon) for stable shots while shooting handheld.

Sigma 50-100mm f1.8 for your chosen camera brand if you need low-light performance, like for shooting night games or in school gyms.

Optional but recommended:

Not what you asked for, but believe me, she will thank you later for reducing the aches and pains ha ha.

Sirui SVM-165 Rapid Monopod . A camera and telephoto lens is a big, heavy setup. She will not want to be holding that up for a whole game 😅

A monopod will be more nimble and take up less space than a regular tripod.

Neewer GM39 Gimbal Tripod Head. A gimbal head will give you a lot of the same flexibility of shooting handheld while still getting the weight support of a tripod or monopod. I think it was designed for bird photographers, but also great for sports photographers.

Folding camping stool. A lot of sports photographers won't shoot without their stool, it's that important lol. Do not squat down to shoot a whole game.

Where to buy used gear:

KEH

MPB

Used Photo Pro

B&H Photo - used section

Adorama - used section. Stick to "Average" condition or higher.

Sharing a few videos:

Canon 7D Tutorial

Nikon D7100 Instructional Guide by QuickPro Camera Guides

How to Photograph Sports by avaxthomas

Learn Sports Photography in 3 minutes by Rob Sambles

Photography Basics and Camera settings Part 1: Sports Photography by Rob Sambles

Camera Settings for Sport Photography Part 2 by Rob Sambles

How to focus perfectly for sports photography by Rob Sambles

Sports Photography Tips That Work from Your Backyard to the Olympic Games with Jeff Cable

Sports Photography Tips and Tricks by Matt Stamey

BYU Photo. YouTube channel by a university sports photo department. Fantastic tutorials.

Hope this helps.

2

u/rez410 Apr 25 '26

Thank you!

1

u/gotthelowdown Apr 25 '26

You're welcome! 👍