Help Please!

[Joe Quinn]

Hello my names Joe Quinn and im a complete beginner in nature photography. I am studying Media at Sheffield Hallam university. I have always had a passion for making creative films and capturing image, and similarly a love of nature. A career filming or capturing images of nature would be a dream come true.

I am posting as i believe it will be more benificial if i start by creating portfolios of my own nature work and as i dont really know what equipment i need i was wondering if you kind people could point my in the right direction . Im basically looking a basic set of gear which will provide me with good images at a reasonable price, many thanks in advance! Joe.

[NJP87]

Are you looking for a DSLR, or bridge camera?

What sort of wildlife are you planning on shooting?

If your going for a DSLR you are going to need a fairly long lense (300mm+) for a lot of wildlife.

[Joe Quinn]

I dont know the difference im very new to cameras.
I also havnt narrowed down my work to specific wildlife yet.
Could you maybe explain the difference?

[NJP87]

SLR's have removable lenses, and bridge camera's don't they have a fixed lenses which means you are limited to set focal lengths (How much you can zoom in/out with an slr you can change the lenses to suit your needs (Long zoom for distant subjests, wide angle for landscapes etc)

Bridge camera's are inbetween your normal everyday compact and a dslr, to get a good range of equipment for all subjects with an dslr is going to cost a fair amount of money if you want decent quality.



I have just re read my reply and it's rubbish, i'm sure someone will come along and explain it better shortly.

[Lancashire Lad]

I recommend reading the posts on this thread: -

What SLR for wildlife photography?

If you are a beginner to photography, the wrong choice might turn out to be a very expensive one.

In a nutshell, nothing will beat a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) system but to cater for generalised wildlife photography with DSLR, you will need several lenses - macro, wide angle, telephoto, along with numerous other accessories. The cost of such a system could well exceed £2000.00. (Even a basic DSLR system would be getting on towards £800.00 - £1000.00)

A bridge camera is a stand alone "all-in-one" unit. A good one will cost about £300.00 - £400.00. It will physically look like a DSLR, but has a fixed "super-zoom" lens, which will have a telephoto range of anything from 28-300mm to 24-600mm. Bridge cameras usually have 1:2 (half life size) macro, which means that you can take a photo of a 20mm lomg insect, and it will be 10mm long on the photo. (DSLR dedicated macro lenses are almost always capable of 1:1 lifesize macro.

As a beginner, I would stongly urge you to get hold of a copy of the book Digital Photography for Dummies (These are certainly not books for idiots, but are very good basic manuals for anyone wanting to quickly learn all the terminology, and general principles of digital photography).

Good luck with your choice.
Regards
Mike.

[Joe Quinn]

Thanks for both of the replies guys.
It seems it would be best to start building a DSLR collection as from what you guys have said it will benfit in the long run quality wise.
I will also take a look at that book, i ordered "The Nature Photographer's Complete Guide to Professional Field Techniques" which i beleive will help me greatly, thanks again for the responses.

[Joe Quinn]

THe Nikon d40 seems like a good choice, any opinions on it?

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by Joe Quinn

THe Nikon d40 seems like a good choice, any opinions on it?

The D40 was/is a very highly rated camera, but has been discontinued for some time.

I won't suggest a suitable replacement, as I'm Nikon biased (there will probably be an avalanche of responses suggesting one camera in preference to another.

But bear in mind, if you go down the DSLR system route, once you start buying lenses, you are effectively tied into that manufacturers system, as it could be VERY expensive to start all over again.

One suggestion which may not be immediately obvious. - If you are likely to be taking substantial numbers of low level shots (i.e. flowers, fungi, etc.), consider getting a camera with a variable angle lcd screen & live-view.

Nikon's new D5000 has this, but several other manufacturer's are starting to introduce them. They are an absolute godsend, for framing pics. if your camera is near to the ground. (Unless you like lying down in muddy leaf litter etc. ).

Regards
Mike.

[Joe Quinn]

Thanks for the reply Mike.
Although that does sound good the D500 is a little out of my price range.
Amazon are doing the D40 for £280, im tempted.

[NJP87]

The D40 is a great camera, the only thing that lets it down is it dosen't have a focus motor which means you have to buy the newer more expensive lenses to go with it.