Please help

[mentaldreamer]

I am looking to get a DSLR camera for my Wildlife course which will involve some Photography. I have not owned one before and I am pretty confused as to which one to go for. I know alot of it is about the lens but I can worry about that when I have the camera! Does anyone have any recommendations as to the best wildlife camera to use without breaking the bank?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Carly

[marvin]

hi

i know this probably isn't what you want to hear but you might have to be a bit more specific re budget to get any really helpful responses. you'll also need to give people an idea of your previous experience and the type of things you'll want to photograph. having said that, a general rule is that if you are on a tight budget you are better off getting the cheapest body you can then investing in better quality lenses.

oh...and does it have to be dslr as you might be better off with a superzoom bridge camera.

tim

[Willo]

As Marvin has already pointed out you do not mention your experience, budget and your intended subjects which are arguably the most important factors in choosing your equipment and will dictate to a large extent what advice you get.

The suggestion of going for a bridge/superzoom camera is a good one. Just over three years ago, as a fairly inexperienced photographer I bought a bridge (Oly SP550 UZ) because of the huge zoom (a reach you couldn't hope to get from a DSLR for twice the price). For a few months I hated it, I struggled to get photos that I was anywhere near happy with because the thing was so complicated (mainly because I was often using the manual settings). After a lot of use I began to get a feel for it. Now I have come full circle and I am again disappointed with the images mainly because I asking too much from the camera so I am looking for a DSLR type camera. I have a budget of approximately £1,000 with which I hope to get a body and two lenses (macro and a zoom). A diminutive size and light weight are important for me which is pointing me down the line of Olympus or Micro Four Thirds.

I hope that this is of some help.

[mentaldreamer]

Well I dont really have any photography experience, and I can spend up to about £700 on a body and the lenses on top.
Will be mainly photographic bristish wildlife I imagine, birds, mammals, a bot of everything.

[marvin]

hi again

well...for less than £700 you can get a nikon d90 or canon 40/50d which are superb in terms of quality, ergonomics and features - Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ . there are other manufacturers that get excellent reviews but i don't know much about them. the only way really of telling whether one is more suitable for you than the others is by trying them out. in general there's little to choose between them but you might find something important to you that makes a difference.

at the risk of sounding repetitive...think about your budget for lenses as they can easily end up dwarfing the money you spend on the body, and as good as the above bodies are they will give pretty ordinary results with ordinary lenses.

tim

[Ferret]

I think you will need to supply a lot more information about what you really want from your camera equipment and what you intend to do with the resulting pictures before anyone can really help you.

Are you looking for top quality poster size prints, are you looking to sell to the stock photo houses or are you only requiring photos for your own pleasure to be viewed on a computer screen or as small prints.

You say you want a wildlife camera! I am not sure what one of those is, is it a camera that is going to take photos at a long range? Close up? Will work well in poor light conditions? Is easy to stalk with? Is light to carry? Is easy to use? Gives you great flexibility? Or something else. It’s a bit like saying I need a vehicle, that could be a 48 ton lorry, sports car, family saloon, van, four wheel dive, 2 seat economy car, people carrier. The list is endless.

What area of wildlife photography really interests you, the equipment you need to photograph small birds at a distance will be different from that needed for large mammals which will intern be different from that needed for flowers and large insects which will be different again from that needed for macro photography of small insects.

I also think you are approaching the problem from the wrong direction; your main concern should be the lenses. A good lens today will probably be a good lens in ten years time and still worth the money you paid for it, a good camera body today will be out of date in two years never mind ten and will also be available at a fraction of to day’s price.

You say you do not want to break the bank but then talk of spending £700 on a camera body plus lenses. I think too many of us you already have broken the bank. And I will say again money spent on good lenses is well invested

Sorry to be so negative but I think some of the reason you are finding cameras and photography so confusing is that you haven’t really worked out what you want. As Marvin said earlier I think a bridge camera may be more what you are looking for rather than a DSLR.

Hope this all helps and please get back to us when you have decided what you really want and then I am sure you will get loads of constructive help.

Ferret

[nightshade]

A sensible way to go, buy a decent body then buy the lenses you need
It is nice to have a state of the art body but the really good lenses are very expensive. This site seems to favour Canon and the 100-400mm anti shake zoom or the sigma 50-500 bigma
Another way is the Panasonic G1 compact Dslr but the range of lenses is limited but may suit you.
Older model bodies like the Nikon D80 and D200 may be found cheaper as could the Canon 20D and 30D

[wizzo]

Well Mentaldreamer, I would say get yourself a decent body, maybe secondhand. A bigma and a wide zoom. Something in the order of say.... a 17-55mm. If you want an excellent macro lens for close up work, have a look at the Tamron 90mm macro. With these two lenses (or three with the Tamron), you'll have all the glass that you'll ever need. Don't make the mistake of getting hung up on loads of gear. It's a pain to lug around and will only detract from your photography. Some of the best photographers of all time were one 'lens' snappers. You can have some great fun with just a body and a standard 50mm lens. Good luck with your decision - Wizzo