HELP!!! I need help chosing a camera!!!

[greeneggsandpie]

I have never used an SLR and i want a camera that i can use without too much trouble with a long zoom and 10MP. What should i get?

I'm not a professional or anything but i have used my camera for so many years that it isn't even sold anymore that I know of. It's not even on the manufacturers web site anywhere.

I consider myself a good photographer (especially wildlife) an i want something that is rugged enough to be in the outdoors as well as having a long zoom (15X or more) and at least 10MP.

PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[miked58]

To do moving wildlife you want a good dslr and a quality tele lens (with image stabilisation for lower light and still animals).

Consider the Canon 450 onwards or 50D and select a lens you can afford with IS

70-200 or 100-400 plus a kit lens. The more you pay the better the features but even an entry level dslr will outperform top of the range P and S WHERE IT MATTERS (focus and tracking speed)

Don't know much about Nikon cameras but theirs will be similar in performance.
--

Canon 50D, Canon 450D, EFS 18-55mm IS, Tokina 20-35mm f2.8 Pro, EFS-60mm f2.8 macro, EFS 55-250mm IS. Sigma 24-60mm f2.8, 580EX, 430EX, Hensel studio lights, Fuji F30

 

[veteran35th]

Yeah Canon 450D or 500D or a 2nd hand 40D or from Nikon the D5000 or D3000, D90, even the D60 with a decent zoomer. Decent means $£ or € by the way. Lenses are one of the things where you generally have to fork out the dosh for good perf, especially at the large focal lengths. You could of course try hiring the zoom, if thats possible where you live.

Matt

 

[Julius T Santos]

Take it from someone who got hooked on buying/trading Canon gear...I am on my 5th camera in less than 2 years...my wife thinks I am nuts.

I have kept my 1d III for sports/action and a 5D mark II for landscape, portraits, etc...

Even with all the new gizmos coming out....I know that I have more than I can handle.
--
http://www.juliussantos.com

 

[rm2]

I have never used an SLR and i want a camera that i can use without too much trouble with a long zoom and 10MP. What should i get?

DSLR cameras usually have an Auto mode that you can use to start with, but you will enjoy learning to control its many parameters in order to take control of it. The Auto mode assures that you get a good exposure, but sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes you would prefer to have a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion. Other times you may prefer a very slow shutter speed to blend movement, like when shooting a waterfall. Other times you may prefer a blurry background to make the subject standout. Other times you may prefer everything sharp, like when taking landscape shots. And so on and so forth. Learning to control your camera is half the fun!

Or maybe I am misunderstand what you are saying and you already know how to do all that. Maybe all you are looking for is a camera that puts all those parameters at your finger tips. If so then see below.

I'm not a professional or anything but i have used my camera for so many years that it isn't even sold anymore that I know of. It's not even on the manufacturers web site anywhere.

Just out of curiosity, what camera is that?

I consider myself a good photographer (especially wildlife) an i want something that is rugged enough to be in the outdoors as well as having a long zoom (15X or more) and at least 10MP.

There is another factor that you are not telling us, how much money are you willing to spend. If money is no object we can go to town and recommend some of the high end weather sealed cameras with image stabilized, wide aperture, long sen$es.

But, since you are not a pro, and if you are like most of us, trying to be smart about where to spend your money, I would recommend the Pentax K-7 to you. See for yourself:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2009/09/03/Pentax-K-7-Digital-SLR/p1

And see this too:

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0909/cb0909-1.html

 

[GeraldW]

The other guys are pointing you at a DSLR, but your comment on 15x zoom range suggests one of the superzoom P&S models. 11x is about the limit for DSLR lenses (like my Nikon 18-200 VR, which has a 35 mm equivalent range of 27-300 mm), but it's not long enough for wildlife, so you'd need at least 2 lenses to get your 15x and enough magnification for wildlife. On the other hand something like the Canon SX10IS is 20x (28-560 mm equivalent) and 10 MP and is just long enough and a lot cheaper at $400 or less. It's also a heck of a lot more compact and lighter, too. Image quality won't be quite as good as a DSLR, but in good light, and carefully used, it will be surprisingly good.
--
Jerry

 

[greeneggsandpie]

thanks for the input but there is no way i can afford a Cannon. if i get an SLR it will be a lower line camera and i was wondering about how the lower end SLRs stacked up against the High end SLR like cameras with the long zooms.

thanks for clearing that up.

one more problem is i really dont want to have to carry a bunch of lenses everywhere (especially long hikes and Backpacking trips) where i take most of my pictures.

thanks again though. your input helped a lot.

 

[greeneggsandpie]

Money is a pretty big factor in what i get and im not made of it. i want to know how the lenses that you would usually get with the cameras stack up against the zooming power of lts say the Nikon L100 or P80

 

[greeneggsandpie]

Dont get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a Cannon but they are one of the more Expensive brands and im not exactly made of money. I'm also a little nervous buying Second hand Cameras. if you know of a web site that has good quality second hand stuff you could send that to me and it would be great.

I know they are great, quality cameras but i just cant afford it at the moment.

thanks for your help though. it is greatly appreciated.

 

[greeneggsandpie]

thank you so much for the explanation. you were right. in fact i have no clue what im doing wen it comes to manual controlls and stuff.

money is a big factor though and im trying to get the most for the least here.

i have had a little Kodak EasyShare C533 (i couldn't even find it on Kodaks web site) i have had it for a little over 4 years i think. neat little camera but like i said i want something MORE.

thanks for your input. if you find any hint in this reply let me know.

 

[greeneggsandpie]

i have not looked much at cannons because of the price. there is the Nikon P90 which has 24X optical zoom and is actually a little cheaper. i can get it for $350 online.

My only problem with the DSLRs is that the prices are way up there andi have no idea what im looking for when it comes to lenses. i also have no clue how to do anything with any kind of manual controls.

so you think i should go with a high end Megazoom?

 

[greeneggsandpie]

looked at the camera in the link that you told me about and it is WAY out of my price range. im a good photographer but thats a Semi-Pro camera and im just not ready to even think about a camera like that.

thanks for the help though.

 

[Darryl Lessere]

Digital SLR's by price - ascending - in New York

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=6222&N=4294538181&Ns=p_PRICE_2 |0

Olympus has a entry level body with 10mp and built in IS. $375. with kit lens 445.

It's a 2x crop makes that 500 mm f/6.3 below a 1000mm effective.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=274&N=4293919666+4291579755+4292347243

Decent kit to learn with. You will appreciate later upgrades of body and glass.

Less than $600 out the door.

 

[GeraldW]

Given your situation, I would recommend starting with a Superzoom as a learning phase. You'll gain a lot of experience, take some good pictures along the way, and in a couple of years, be ready to decide on your next move. Jumping into an elaborate DSLR system is expensive, and I think, risky.

With regard to "superzoom" cameras, I'd advise not going for the largest zoom ratio. and not trying for the highest pixel count. I'm not intimately familiar with the Nikon P90, so I can't advise you there. Take a good long look at the group review here on DPReview of the Superzoom cameras. They provide opinions, test results, comments on each model, sample pictures, and some general comments on the type.

I have personally owned the Canon S3IS and S5IS, and the Panasonic FZ28 and have just recently decided to get rid of the FZ28 and go back to the S5IS. The S5IS is "only" 12x, and "only" 8 MP; but it did very well for me on a trip to the Galapagos Islands last year. The FZ28 is 18x, the S5IS is 12x, but at the longest focal length they are not that much different in focal length. We all talk about focal lengths on digital cameras in terms of the equivalent 35 mm film camera lenses. So the FZ28 is equivalent to a 27-486 mm lens, and the S5IS is equivalent to a 36 to 432 mm lens. The FZ28 is only 12.5% longer than the S5IS, but the zoom ratio is 50% larger. 12.5% is barely noticeable in prints or on screen. Remember, for wildlife, it's the longest focal length that counts, not the zoom ratio. The Canon SX10IS has a 20x ratio and goes to an equivalent 560 mm, 30% longer than the S5IS, and that would be noticeable, but not dramatically so.

I do sometimes use a 1.54x tele extender on my S5IS, and that takes me to an equivalent 665 mm with very good quality.

I would not consider buying the newest models until the reviews on them are out. Newer is not always better and the camera companies are pushing the limits on lens design and MP to get better numbers for their specifications. Sometimes, they push too far.
--
Jerry

 

[GeraldW]

I found the specs for your camera on the DPREview Camera Database. They list it as a 2006 introduction. 5 MP, 37-111 mm (3x) equivalent focal length, and a fairly fast f/2.7-4.8 aperture. Not bad, but definitely a starter, although worth keeping for times when you don't need the longer focal length lens.

My first digital camera was a Kodak DX6440 from around 2003. 4 MP, 4x lens, and very good color. I used it for about 6 months and then upgraded to the Canon G5.
--
Jerry

 

[rm2]

Alright, what is your budget more or less? Personally, if you like photography, I strongly recommend that you try to get a DSLR. Maybe you should try to do what I did and get a used camera.

Like you, I started of with a little point and shoot camera, but I wanted to have more creative control. One of the things that frustrated me with my point and shoot was the complete inability of manual focusing. There are many situations where you are trying to focus on something that is hiding behind some branches and auto-focus will invariably focus on the branches rather than on the subject. In fact that was one the reasons I decided to go with Pentax. It has always had the best viewfinders in the entry level DSLR market, and this is crucial for manual focusing. So, I went to the Pentaxforums dot com website where they have a for sale area and got myself a lightly used camera from one of the regulars that was upgrading. You can get amazing deals there. Once you have the camera body, I recommend that you look for 70-300 lens. In particular, the Tamron 70-300 LD Di is outstanding in sharpness and incredibly affordable (around $100 used, $150 new). I have been very satisfied with it myself.

I assure you that you can end up with a good DSLR package for around $350 if you go with a used one. Just be careful who you buy it from. I would not buy a used camera from ebay, but from someone who is a real photographer, especially from one of the regulars in these and the Pentaxforums, I would take the chance. Well, I did take the chance and I am very happy I did.

 

[rm2]

Take a look at this post:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/SLRvsDIGICAM/SLRA.HTM

And then see this photos taken with my little used, inexpensive, camera.

These two were taken with the Tamron 70-300 at 300 mm:





This one was taken with an old manual lens that someone in the forums gave me for free.

 

[greeneggsandpie]

cool. i didn't know anything about the cameras specs but i do know that it takes great pictures for what it is.

i am definitely going to keep it even after i buy the other camera.

thanks

 

[greeneggsandpie]

ok. i will look. i know well enough to stay away from Ebay but could you send me a link or two to good sites for finding used cameras?

that would be great. thanks

 

[greeneggsandpie]

wow those are great.