These days the amount of people carrying around a camera are few and far between. With everyone owning cell phones who’s cameras keep getting better and better there is no need. Or is there? Maybe for the average person a cell phone camera is just fine, but you are not the average person. You are a sports mom, and you need the best camera for capturing those priceless action shots of your babies (they will always be our babies) out on the field doing what they love.
A Step Above Your Cell
You may not always carry a bulkier camera around to the fields with you as you watch your athlete from the sidelines at game time. Or, maybe you do because taking quality pictures is just your thing. However, even if it’s not an item you include in your sports bag every time you go to a game, it’s great to have a good camera to capture those quick plays and fast motions that happen on the fields or courts when you want to freeze those moments in time forever. Because lets face it, time goes by way to fast and having those pictures to look back on can bring back all the feels when those days are over.
Cell phone cameras are super convenient and can get the job done in many cases, but we all know that when we want to catch the action from a distance, a cell camera just doesn’t cut it. Additionally, the camera on our cell phone may not be able to give you a crisp image like a good camera can, especially since in sports there is a lot of movement.
You Can Take Pictures Too
If you are shying away from a good camera because words like aperture and shutter speed intimidate you, have no fear.
Learning the ins and outs of a better camera are not difficult, they just take a little practice to remember. But even if you never get it down (which is unlikely), your better camera still has the auto setting to fall back on.
If you want a crash course to learn your camera basics, check out this helpful article and cheat sheet from SLT Lounge
Which Camera is the Best Camera?
There are soooo many cameras on the market these days and many of them are great quality from a variety of brands. However, our top choice for the sidelines is Nikon.
We have relied on our Nikon camera to capture the images of our kids in action on the fields and in the gym for years and love the results we get every time.
However, we do have a runner up choice that is also top notch and one you can check out after reading about our favorite best camera for moms of youth sports.
Top Pick
The Nikon Z 50
What we love about this camera is not only its ability to deliver amazing images but the compact size that makes it easy to tote around to any field, court, pool, or gym. Its wide lens lets in the most light to capture action shots easier, its simplicity makes it user friendly, and it easily connects to your phone to share all of your pride and joy with friends and followers.
It comes in a basic body-lens kit and a creator’s kit. But we say splurge for the two lens kit that includes the NIKKOR Z DX 50-250 lens. Sounds powerful right? It is.
Yes, this camera carries a little heftier price tag but aren’t those digital memories simply priceless? We say, absolutely!
Runner Up
Panasonic – LUMIX GX85
Presenting he Panasonic Lumix, a mirrorless 4K digital camera that captures 40 frames per second. That means its fast and can give you crisp and clear action photos of you your young athlete in motion.
A favorite of vloggers this camera is also great if you like to to take video and it easy let you upload your content to share on different platforms.
The Lumix is also a more affordable option and is offered in a kit with two lenses at a great price.
The Advantages of a Camera Versus Your Phone
Distance
This for me is the biggest advantage of getting and using a good camera rather than just sticking with your cell phone camera.
I can’t exactly rush out on the field to get a good shot of my kid making a play so that I can post it to my IG stories, for whatever reason that’s frowned upon by officials. Because of that I want to be able to zoom in and still have a crisp image on the screen.
So I rely on my larger lens with my traditional camera to get me to where I’m not allowed to go. That way everyone is happy, me, my kid, and the officials.
If you find that you really want to get up close and personal with your player you can even invest in an upgraded lens for those shots.
Sharing Your Photos with the Whole Team
What do you do after snapping all of those photos of your kid? You share them with the world, of course. Or at least with your world. Most often by way of social media or mass text messages. It’s one of the reasons why we sports moms take pictures, to show off our pride and joy.
But since you have a great camera, how about using it to spread the pride and joy. Other parents are so appreciative when you take photos of all the kids on the team. I love to do this and then put all of them in a file that I share with all the parents so they can enjoy them too. Google photos is great for this.
Action, Action, Action
A DSLR camera is better suited for sports photography because you can utilize the different shutter speeds to get the quickest and sharpest image. It’s the best option for those mid-pitch, stroke-out-of-the-water, flowing backhand kind of shots.
Shed Some Light on It
These days I will admit that cell phone cameras do a pretty good job with lighting. Add in the editing elements and you can usually make most of your pictures look pretty darn good.
However, the result you get from being able to manually control the aperture and shutter speed (there are those scary words again) just don’t compare.
You get better lit pictures with a DSLR camera and still have editing options if you need them.
Picture Perfect
We may not be professional photogs around here but when it comes to taking pictures of our youth athletes, we love our job. In fact, there’s no place place we’d rather be. So snap away fellow sports moms, and capture those moments one image at a time.