Beginner to Wildlife Photography

Alicja · #1 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 12:58 PM

I've recently started to enjoy taking photos while out on my usual walk with the dogs, but at the moment all i have is my 8 mega pixel camera phone, which isn't too great. It's going to be my 18th birthday soon and i was thinking of getting a new camera. I've been looking at different cameras from canon and am thinking of getting one of these. But im not really sure which would be the best. I have heard that it is allways better to buy a really good lens but im still unsure which would be best for me. I have allways loved wildlife and especially birds, my biggest mission being to capture a perfect photo of the Common Crane which I see a lot of when I go to Poland (I am half Polish), so birds are definately the most important for me, other than that I just love photographing anything I can find in the natural world. I'm hoping to find something below £700, but I know that this might not be possible with the expectations that I have.

I will be gratefull for any help!

Ollie · #2 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 02:44 PM

Hi Alicja
Firstly welcome to WAB.

Was it a bridge camera or a full DSLR you were thinking of. If you could povide a bit more info as to what models you had in mind I'm sure many people will only be happy to advise.

Alicja · #3 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 06:42 PM

Well I was looking at the Canon 550d and the Canon 350d. I don't think I could go for anything more expensive.

squishy · #4 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 07:44 PM

How much weight are you willing to carry?

a used sigma 150-500 and second hand body might fit in your budget.

DanJeffery · #5 (**permalink**) 20-10-2010, 03:43 PM

I think one of the differences between the 550D and the 350D is that the more modern 550D can capture moving video whereas the 350D cannot.

You are quite right that the lens is the most important part of the set up. I use Canon. But don't restrict yourself to using Canon. Does anyone you know have any lenses that you would be able to borrow? If so, it may be worth considering whatever make they use. I don't think there is a "bad" modern dSLR around.

turkeyneck · #6 (**permalink**) 20-10-2010, 08:02 PM

550D if I had to chose as this is the closest to the 7D, it has had excellent reviews all round. This was going to be my choice upgrade camera but then changed it for yes, you know what, a 7D.
To be honest between each Canon and it's Nikon counterpart, there is nothing in it, try to get some hands on experience, make sure it feels right in your hands, you'll get used to menus over time. You're right to think about the lens first, I was Nikon but swapped to Canon, purely as one day I may want to purchase the brilliant mpe-65 lens and Nikon don't do a counterpart to this lens (as yet).

squishy · #7 (**permalink**) 20-10-2010, 08:23 PM

But could you afford a wildlife length lens with a 550D within a £700 budget?

Alicja · #8 (**permalink**) 21-10-2010, 06:20 PM

That is exactly my problem. Because I would really like a 550d but then i can't get a very good lens. I suppose I could go slightly over the £700, but not too much. Although the 350d seems good i have realised that it only has 8 megapixels, and I would really like more (because even my camera phone has 8mp!) However, I don't know how important megapixels really are when doing wildlife photography.

marvin · #9 (**permalink**) 22-10-2010, 04:19 PM

hi

megapixels is only really an issue if you are severely cropping your images or producing large prints. you should be ok with 8.

if you are prepared to go second hand you could get a nikon d80 and 70-300mm vr which would be more than a decent start. however, you may not notice a significant difference between this set up and a good superzoom bridge camera. unless you are prepared to spend more money in the future (which you inevitably will) then i would recommend the latter.

cheers
tim

CharlieCreek · #10 (**permalink**) 22-10-2010, 04:40 PM

everyone is going to have a different opinion on this one, but if it were me with £700....

As a first step up from taking pics on the phone camera I would buy a decent bridge camera and pop the rest of the money in the bank to add money to as and when for the dslr.

The bridge camera will introduce you to the kind of disciplines of the dslr's with manual over rides etc. They have decent zooms, but they also take standard angles well and cameras like the Fujis take pretty good 'macro' photographs as well. They are light, easy to carry and you can take pictures of a lot of subjects from landscapes, close ups and long distance and at the same time learn 'field craft' to get into your subjects rather than relying on lenses.

Once you go for the dslr option you will find yourself if your into all types of photography with lots of lenses and even just a big zoom and the camera body isn't light on the old shoulder. This is something to consider. My main dslr is a Nikon D80 with a Nikor 100-400 zoom bought when the D80 first came out but I don't take it out on a casual stroll and that isn't a heavy set up (the Nikor 100-400 is a compact lense really). On a stroll I take my Fuji bridge camera and then I don't hit the situation where I get fed up of carrying it or think dang that butterfly would have made a good shot but I haven't got the right lense with me.

Using the bridge will get you into the photography, teach you some skills and then you will really know what you want from a dslr and the lenses you want at a later date when you've put a couple of grand in the bank.

So, another opinion to add to the confusion