Budget Camera

[Jethro Tull]

Originally Posted by wildwilly

i had an exact same budget and i went on fujifilm and looked at their refurbished bridge/long zoom cameras, i managed to find 1 it is the s8100fd and its a brill beginer camera its got a good 18x optical zoom and a respectful 10 megapixles. it cost me £138 refurbished, at some places want they want £300-£400 for it so its deffinetly worth a look
these are some of my pics i took with it.


will

Excellent advice and those shots are cracking! You definatly don't need a SLR for wildlife photography even though I have one myself. Some of the bridge camera's available today are 100 times better than the old film SLR's that Pro wildlife photographers used in the 70's Its not what you use its how you use it!
Cheers
Brian

[Ukwildlifeo]

A couple of years ago I was in the same situation with the same budget - I went with the panasonic fz7 and didnt look back. I'd recommend the fz 18 (I stole my gfs for a few months lol) and its excellent, or something similar that you can get it for your budget. You dont need a dslr, at least to start with, and bridges are excellent to learn the basics and tricks to photography.

I feel I should warn you though, its addictive! And just over two years later I spent MUCH more on a Dslr + long lens setup!
And I still use my fz7 as my carry around camera and macro set up so it not surplus at all

[captaincarot]

i'd say go for the fuji s series too, and the new ones have dropped right down in price recently.

for example the s1500 is currently available for 140 if you shop about.

10mp 12xzoom

i've had an s 7000 since they were first released and it does what i need it for other than at 6x optical it falls short of perfect for birds

[Fester]

Thanks for all the advice, I should be picking up or ordering online a camera this weekend. I will let you all know what I go for.



Rob

[Jethro Tull]

Originally Posted by Fester

Thanks for all the advice, I should be picking up or ordering online a camera this weekend. I will let you all know what I go for.



Rob

Don't forget to check out places like Amazon, Argos etc as they sometimes have big discounts and special offers etc
Good luck with your search
Cheers
Brian

[captaincarot]

even the big supermarkets occasionally have one of the fuji type bridge camers=as for 100 quid .
my oter half got an s6500 from tesco fro 100 notes a while back for example.

[acherontia]

Get a second hand Canon G9. Many pros use this camera as a carry at all times pocket friend. It has 12mill pixels and can shoot raw as well as jpg. When you've saved up more money there are wide angle and telephoto lenses to buy too.
There's nothing wrong with buying used as long as you're careful who you buy from. My 300mm G f4 was incredibly cheap 4 years ago (it's gone up in price now) and is qite sufficient for starters.
Any pro will tell you that getting close is more important than humping a dirty great big 500mm plus around.

Acher

[bornwild]

Oh i wish i had lots of money as i drool at other peoples camaras
but on a tight budget last year i bought a fuji 6500 and find it acceptable takes really good pics so when i start putting some on here they will be all taken from the fuji 6500 cost me |£120 and i'm very happy with it

[bornwild]

Originally Posted by captaincarot

even the big supermarkets occasionally have one of the fuji type bridge camers=as for 100 quid .
my oter half got an s6500 from tesco fro 100 notes a while back for example.

actually it was asda and £120 lol

[Stevelphoto]

I'd agree that a cheaper bridge/superzoom camera would do you nicely. Sure, you won't get impeccable quality and huge reach, but it'll be a start. If you can get nice and close to birds (local feeding stations?) you should get some great shots.

Originally Posted by charlieb

If you want to take (decent) shots of birds and wildlife aside from insects and plants then you will need a long lens: at least 400mm. The original poster has budget of £100 - £150. An SLR, even a second hand one is at least £200, plus the cost of a lens (which range from £500 (telephoto) to £1200 (prime) for a 400mm). You might just be able to scrape together a setup for less than £1000 that would be able to take half-decent shots of birds.

Huh? I think you are overating the importance of equipment here. A secondhand DSLR @ £200-300 and a lens like a Sigma 135-400mm (~£200) stopped down a bit can produce fantastic results, as can a 70-300 in skilled hands. You can get more than half decent bird shots for under a grand, you just have to work for them a bit more IMO.