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Originally posted by andy1868
Is it going to be indoors or outdoors?

With it being action I'd be tempted to look at something second hand that was from further up the chain to give you better autofocus, if a Nikon along the lines of a D300 or D7000. The lens should also take a lot of consideration but could do with knowing if it's indoors or outdoors first

A budget would be handy too so we know what ballpark we're in

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Originally posted by andy1868
I'm assuming that the horses are going to be a fair distance away so you'll need something telephoto to zoom into them? Do you have any idea what you've used before so we could judge as what to recommend? Perhaps ask the friend and see what he's got?

On the assumption that they're far away, for that money i would look at a second hand D90 and a Nikon 70-300mm 4-5.6G or possibly a 55-200mm if i thought it would be long enough (if i was going down the Nikon route of course) That should give you a decent body and a reasonable telephoto lens. Albeit maybe not the greatest lens out there, but 300mm is a decent length without spending an awful lot of money. There's also the D3200 that can be had but just be careful when buying lenses, not all will autofocus on this body

If you need a lens that's going to be an all rounder, for that money i would again look at a second hand D90 and maybe a second hand Tamron 18-200mm lens, which will give you a decent telephoto but will give you a wide angle too for more general shooting

Looking at Sony SLRs you can get a decent s/h body for around £150-170 in either an a550 or maybe an a700 then look at the Sony 75-300 lens for about £60 second hand. I used to have that lens and it gave fair results in good lighting, not so good in poor lighting. You could then potentially add a wider angle lens in either the 18-55 or 18-70 for £30-40.

Just had a quick look at Canon bodies second hand, and it looks like a possible 40D or 50D at a push then their 75-300 lens could be had for your money.

Good places to buy second hand from are Wex Photographic, MPB Photographic, London Camera Exchange as well as plenty of others. Most give either 6 or 12 month warranty's on second hand gear too.

If you wanted to compare some of the bodies i've been mentioning this website compares the specs and shows you the ins and outs of each camera

Nikon D90 vs Sony a550
http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon_D90-vs-Sony_Alpha_DSLR-A550

Nikon D90 vs Canon 40D
http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EOS_40D-vs-Nikon_D90

Canon 40D vs Sony a550
http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EOS_40D-vs-Sony_Alpha_DSLR-A550

and so on..


[Edited on 12-01-2015 by andy1868]

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