Help with camera for bird pics

[leeroy]

I am a newbie to this forum & although I have taken a keen interest in wildlife in general all my life, I have a rekindled interest in the birds I am seeing when out with my dogs.

I would like to purchase a digital camera for shoot & go, hand held use out in the field, at the moment I am struggling with a Nikon Coolpix 10 megapixel, its got a 3.5 X optical zoom (whatever that means ?).Whilst it is a very good all round camera, I don't think its ideal for bird pics, the pics are not that clear. The Nikon does have a large viewing screen about 6cm across the diagonal, but its not that easy to see in daylight & I am missing a lot of shots.

As a footnote its worth a mention that I am not into photography, so any technical stuff will easily confuse me

Any suggestions around the £300 - £400 mark or am I asking too much for that sort of price or completely barking up the wrong tree ?

[Simples]

You're barking up the wrong tree if you think a 'point & shoot' camera will be suitable for birds 'in the field'. You need a DSLR with at least a 300mm, preferably a 500mm lens. Even then you may need a hide or camouflage to get close enough to many birds.

If you have £400 to spend, you might just scrape a new camera and 200-300mm lens, or go to ebay and look for used examples. I use a f4-5.6 300mm lens in my garden and it's ok up to about 20 feet - any further and I struggle. Lens speed is also important - the best (and most expensive) lenses may have apertures of f.2.8 at maximum zoom which means the lens gathers more light and will operate at faster shutter speeds. f5.6 is more common in cheaper lenses and will make it difficult to shoot in low light.

If you really haven't a clue, I suggest you go to a camera shop first and handle the equipment. Tell them what you want it for and try out a few body/lens combinations to get an idea of how they feel and what they do. Maybe you could find someone local who photographs wildlife, who can help you.

[leeroy]

Simples.
Thanks for the reply & advice, I thought that may be the case, I don't really want to get into the realms of lenses & shutter speeds etc, that may be something for later when I have more time on my hands.
But I could get something 2nd hand like you say & learn some of the craft, then decide if I really want to go down that route.

[nigel_b]

I've never tried them personally but folk like the Panasonic FZ18 and FZ28.

[shenk1]

Try a high zoom bridge camera.They have typically 15x zooms and more.A lot also have a view finder which helps cut out the glare problem and steadies the camera as its held against the eye so it helps give better shots when fully zoomed in .I originally had a Sony H7 with a telephoto extesion which made it the equivalent of a 500mm dslr lens (lots of dosh)altogether costing about £400ish.Most bridge cameras can hold a telephoto extesion lens I believe and they are as simple to use (put on auto and click) or complex(put on manual and pick your settings) as you want them to be.You will find as you get used to one you will use different settings more getting some great shots.Hope this helps
shenk1

ps many in the photography forum recommend a Panasonic.No idea myself but try seaching the forum and look at what they say.

[leeroy]

Thanks I will have a look, having the auto option doesn't sound too bad at all.

[Tringa]

Simples has it. If you want the best best bird photos which may be taken from a distance then almost any DSLR body with a good quality BIG lens is the way, but that is very expensive.

For your budget you will get a good DSLR, but not the lens.

An alternative, and I must admit a bias here, is a bridge camera. I have a Panasonic FZ28, but there are a lots of other similar cameras which are much more versatile then point and shoot cameras.

The FZ28 has a 18x zoom lens, but many other bridge cameras from Canon, Olympus and Nikon do more or less the same.

Even though I am very pleased with my FZ28, it will not produce DSLR quality photos, but it costs less than £250 and although it will not fit in a pocket, it is much smaller and lighter than a DSLR and lenses, and its photos are pretty good.

Dave

[whaleomeloette]

I would like to purchase a digital camera for shoot & go, hand held use out in the field, at the moment I am struggling with a Nikon Coolpix 10 megapixel, its got a 3.5 X optical zoom (whatever that means ?)

optical zoom means you use the lens to zoom in
didgital zoom just magnifies the orignal image so not propper zooming

.Whilst it is a very good all round camera, I don't think its ideal for bird pics, the pics are not that clear.

digital zoom just magnifies the orignal image and isnt truely zooming that is why your photos wont be clear, like when you magnify an image in paint- you just get closer to the pixels, thats all.

basically all point and shoots are good for is taking pictures of you and your friends or holiday snaps, there is a reason they are cheap- they are the digital version of an old point and click film camera. just with a screen on it.

Any suggestions around the £300 - £400 mark or am I asking too much for that sort of price or completely barking up the wrong tree?


with regards to point and clicks- wrong tree, you have no chance with any wild life photography with this
you can pick up an entry level DSLR (digital single lens reflex)
such as 30D or 350D for cheap now as they bring out so many its like mobiole phones- they loose value fast
just stick it on auto (camera will do it all for you) thats what all the indie/emo kids who think they are photographers do any way.

as for lens it depends what you want to photograph

[leon_heller]

To photograph the herring gulls and chicks on my balcony I'm using a Nikon D80 that I bought a few years ago as a kit with the Nikkor 18-135 mm lens (not a very good lens but fine for most purposes). The kit cost me about £750. The D80 has been replaced by the somewhat better D90 and a D80 with that lens or something similar is available second-hand quite cheaply:

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=n...sed&hl=en&aq=f

For the photos of the chicks I've been taking I simply set it to auto, and use it like a point-and-shoot camera, with very good results.

It's still a very good camera and is ideal for photographing wildlife, although you will probably want a more suitable (and expensive lens) before long.

[whaleomeloette]

Originally Posted by leon_heller

The kit cost me about £750. The D80 has been replaced by the somewhat better D90 and a D80 with that lens or something similar is available second-hand quite cheaply:

nikon d80 used - Google Product Search
.

that would still be out of the op's price range though? along with lens?


you can pick up a 30d for about 200 on ebay if you keep an eye out:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-30-D-dig...item41509d0704

and a 75-300mm lens
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EF-75-30...item4150940a15

youre not going to get a spectactular set up with 300 quid but theres one option
that comes in at 300, you could put the extra 100 into a better lens or some other equipment