7 Best Cameras For Sports Photography (…and 7 to avoid)

One of the most fun and exciting genres of photography is shooting sports. But the fast paced action absolutely necessitates having a camera that won’t miss the shot. So you need to choose wisely.

My pick for the overall best camera for sports photography is the Nikon Z8. It’s combination of fast shooting, excellent autofocus, and a blackout free viewfinder make it the perfect tool for shooting sports.

But keep reading to see my full breakdown and other options that may work better for your specific needs.

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This was one of the most anticipated cameras in the Nikon lineup in years and it didn’t disappoint. It takes all of the features from the flagship Z9 and puts them into a smaller body without giving up anything except a bit of battery performance.

…and it does that for $1500 less.

There’s a lot to like about this camera, so let’s get into the specs…

The first thing we’ll talk about is the sensor. The Z8 has the same 45.7 MP “stacked” BSI CMOS type sensor and has a native sensitivity of ISO 64-256,000, with expansion to ISO 32-102,400.

The stacked sensor means there’s no blackout in the electronic viewfinder while shooting. So you can track the athlete without interruption and hold focus the entire time you’re shooting.

I like shooting sports with a higher resolution sensor like this. It means that even if you don’t have quite the reach you need with your lens, you can crop in later to get the athlete to fill the frame.

This also makes it easier to track the action as you don’t have to be fully zoomed in on the athlete to end up with a nice tight shot that maintains a high resolution.

There are cameras out there that give you over 60 megapixels and similar specs, but there’s not much noticeable gain when you go from 45 to 60 other than bigger files.

One of my favorite features in the Z8 is the ‘Pre-release Capture.’ All you need to do is hold the shutter-release button halfway to activate, and the Z8 will start saving images up to one second before and up to four seconds after the shutter button is fully pressed.

The Z8 has excellent color fidelity that is comparable to the top full frame cameras at this price range such as the Sony A7RV.

When it comes to dynamic range, the Z8 similarly compares well with other cameras in this class. You’ll get about 14 stops of dynamic range at the base ISO of 64. It also has excellent performance at higher ISO settings which can be critical when shooting sports in low light venues line indoor arenas and gyms.

What really makes the Z8 stand out above all of the other competition is that it really doesn’t have any weaknesses.

Upgrade Option: Probably the only downsides of the Z8 when compared to the Z9 is that the battery life isn’t as long as the larger Z9 and the Z9 dissipates heat better. So if you don’t mind using a larger, heavier, and more expensive body then check out the Z9 instead.

If you want to see more Nikon options, check out my list of the Best Nikon Cameras For Sports Photography.

This might be a bit of a surprise for some of you that I didn’t choose the flagship R3, but hear me out.

The R3 costs about $2000 more and you’re not gaining much in terms of features that are helpful for shooting sports AND you’re losing 20 megapixels in resolution which limits your ability to crop in on the action after you take the photo.

So let’s get to why I like the R5 better. First let’s take a look at the specs…

Those are pretty impressive overall and when it comes to the ones that count for shooting sports, the R5 has everything you need.

In terms of fast shooting, you’re getting 12 fps with the mechanical shutter and up to 20 fps with the electronic. In my experience, anything 12 or higher is plenty for shooting even the fastest moving sports and 20 fps is incredible.

But the important feature here isn’t ONLY the frame per second, it’s that you can get that fast shutter speed while using the full features of the R5 autofocus system, which up there among the industry leaders.

Note: The actual frames per second can vary based on the lens you’re using (especially when adapting older DSLR lenses) as well as the speed of the cards you’re using. For fastest rates and minimal buffer, use a fast CFexpress card and set it to write only to that card.

The R5 autofocus system has Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system with 1053 available AF zones. The subject tracking works exceptionally well.

Even when shooting sports where the players wear helmets, the camera finds the heads and even detects the eyes under the helmet if the player is large enough in the frame. This is a massive upgrade from even the best Canon DSLRs, where is can be difficult to get eyes in sharp focus in similar conditions.

This is a major reason why I recommend mirrorless cameras for any kind of action shooting. The average person will get better results from a mid-range mirrorless camera than even a high end DSLR when it comes to shooting in tricky focusing situations like sports.

Ok, let’s talk a little about the downsides because no camera is perfect.

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) does have a blackout for a fraction of a second when shooting. For some, this can make it tricky to follow fast moving action. There is a “High Speed Display” mode that is available when shooting in High Speed (H) mode, but this replaces the blackout with the shot you just took so you’re still not getting a live feed from the sensor.

Upgrade Option: If you have the budget then the stacked sensor of the R3 does outperform the R5 in terms of the EVF but you are giving up 20 Megapixels.