Good Camera for herping

[m.punja]

Well I've had enough! I've dicided no more years or reptiles shall pass without me owning a good camera and have told family and friends that i want cash for chrissy. What I want to know is what to look for when getting a camera, what camera's herpers use, what qualities these camera's have and what is best so I have a starting point to get the camera. I've decided to do all my searching over the net so I am loaded with information and know what I want before I go to the store so the sales people don't try and trick me into buying something just because it's in stock and they'll get a good comission from it. Also would like to know about lenses and such.

Thanks in advance.

Mark

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Hey Mark, i wont recommend a brand but maybe just some ideas. I still use a 35mm slr camera with 1000mm lens etc (used to be a birdo) but i think my wife has the right idea. Something that is quick to set up and shoot, as you would know blink and there gone. She uses a Compact with 7.1 Mpix, 5 x optical all weather camera. has a flash and a large veiwing screen. I think it was under $1000 and very easy to use. It depends what else you want to use it for. I plan to upgrademine eventually to a digital Slr but it has to suit my lenses and teleconvertors so i can still take shots of birds etc. Also a Good macro lense for close ups of spiders would be great.. You could go into Elizabeth St in the city and play the 5 camera shops off against each other for the best deal, i did a few years ago and i got all sorts of stuff for free, Good luck

 

[m.punja]

thanks mate. It'll be for reptiles mostly. Will probably snap off a few shots of other stuff, my GF is part of a modeling thingo so she'll probably stuff around with it but it will be for reptiles so everything else will have to suit the camera not the camera suit it.

 

[method]

What's your budget?

 

[m.punja]

probably 1300 would be the limit

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Are you thinking compact or Digital Slr?

 

[slim6y]

My advice (I've given this plenty of times before) is the Olympus SP570

Retails around $500.

Like an SLR it has hand turned zoom (up to 20x), but unlike an SLR it uses just the one lens.

It's 10 megapixels (capable of blowing up to poster sized with good quality) and can take macro shots too!

I have a digital slr - but to be honest, I don't get 20x zoom (I get about 5.5x on my biggest 300mm lens), it's bulky with three or four lenses to be carried around. It's a good camera - and takes awesome photos - but it doesn't have half the features the SP570 has.

Anyways - for $500 the SP570 is by far the best range (from macro to 20x with 10megapixels)

 

[ally_pup]

if you dont want to spend too much I just bought a fujifilm finepix for under $400 it is 10mp, 12 optical zoom had macro and super macro is a little beauty for the price.
Ally

 

[m.punja]

digital SLR

 

[method]

If you limit is that much I would definatley go with a dslr as your won't get nearly the same quality with a simple point and shoot. Ill recommend a few that would all be great for herping, it will then just be up to you if you want a macro lens or a telephoto to shoot with. Also I'm recommending purchasing online from some Australian sites, you'll save a ton of money that way and you wont have a salesman trying to sell you a heap of un-necessary crap.

Nikon

Nikon D60

Body retails for $729
Body + AF-S 18-55mm VR lens - $849
Body + AF-S 18-55mm & AF-S 55-200mm lens - $879
Body + AF-S 18-135mm lens - $1,159

Canon

Canon EOS 450D

Body retails for $889
Basically you can get the same choice of kit lenses for roughly the same amount which will work perfectly well as entry level.


If you want to steer away from kit lenses and go for say a macro or large telephoto you could pick up one of the body's and a separate lens which will generally be much higher quality then the kit lenses.

A few that might interest you are:

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8 MACRO = $429
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS = $659

Anyway, best sites to check out would be www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au and www.camera-warehouse.com.au

 

[The Devil]

Are you thinking compact or Digital Slr?

Can someone in a very simple way explain the difference between a compact digital and the SLR digital.......I'm still almost in the box Browing area

 

[method]

A digital SLR gives you a much higher quality image and the choice to change lenses that impact how the end result looks. Better glass (lenses) = better quality photos, a dslr also has a massive sensor compared to a compact again giving much higher quality.

A compact is your every day point and shoot, much smaller quality but much more versatile and easier to use.

Much more then that but that's a quick run down on the differences hopefully that makes sense.

 

[The Devil]

Thanks, I'm not all that interested in using different lenses so I'll stick with my compact

 

[slim6y]

dSLR:

Olympus e520 with twin lens kit - so includes decent lenses!

http://bluefiredigital.com.au/store/product.php?productid=100014#shopbot

With original Zuiko lenses.

Though - for herping mate.. if you want the distance shots, you won't get them till you spend a fair whack more.

my 300mm lens was around $600 - like I say that's still under 6x optical zoom.

If I had thought about it - the SP570 would have been the way to go for what I want.

 

[JasonL]

With that budget I'd go a point and shoot, unless you can raise some more??? most SLR bodys are around $700 - $1200++++ then you need a macro lense $500 - $1000+++, and a flash $400 - $1000.... it's not cheap... unless you just get a cheapish SLR with a lense kit and make do for a while untill you get more dollars to buy better lenses and a flash.. If your not wanting to get right into photography, a good point and shoot will do you a few years and then you might decide it's worth going all out and upgrading...

 

[m.punja]

thanks for all the help and info. I've got a compact so now I'm looking at getting a digital. I understand it's not cheap but if i start off with a body and lense then the flash can come later can't it? That limit isn't nessessacrily the limit, I guess I could push it up to 2k depending

 

[Chrisreptile]

I have the Canon EOS 450D with two lenses.
I dont have a big flash or anything like that yet.
For 1800, it came with the body, two lenses, a cleaning kit and a carry bag.
This was all from Teds.

Its a great camera, that takes some awesome pictures.
Has a big 3 inch screen so you can get a good idea of what the pictures look like first.

 

[eipper]

Mark,

Quite simply a point and shoot is not well suited for good quality (publishing quality) results. While its true that they can have massive megapixels, the ccd (the part that records the image) are smaller than that of a DLSR.

Also as the cannot change lenses, they get massive equivilent focal lengths. They get this by magnifing the pixels recorded, thus reducing the quality of an image.

Also p & s have very diameter lenses, this allows much less light in and makes it harder than an DSLR to actually shoot with.

While P & S are quick and easy, the results you get from them are much the same.

With 1300 to spend i would opt for one of 2 makes (Nikon or Canon (i'm Nikon)) and get a kit lense option with a telemacro ( I got a Nikkor 25 to 80 and tamron 70 to 300 in 1998 and I still use the tamron to this day). Save your pennies and get a flash (or 3 in my case) and start to shoot.

The beauty of an DLSR is once you choose your make, you can upgrade your body (to a newer better version) but still use your lenses and flashes dependant on what you buy.

One thing to keep in mind is that 25% is the camera, 50% the person using it and 25% your subject. To get great pics means practice and lots of it.

Cheers,
Scott

 

[cris]

I would go for a point and shoot unless you have a big budget, one of the main reasons i dont invest in a good dslr is because i would be to scared of hurting it in the field. im not into pro photography but rather more interestested in being able to record what i see. I have a fujifinepix s8000 you should be able to get the for $300 or so online. If you want to get good shots of herps without illegally handling/harrassing them you need a good zoom.

 

[tooninoz]

Any DSLR with a twin lens kit is rubbish (in a quality of image sense). Bear in mind that the lens kits are just there to tempt the rank amateur (point and shoot) into thinking they can take fantastic pics! You won't. The shake and noise will kill it.

The Nikon D80 is a reasonable body as is the Canon 450D, but they are massively overpriced given that you'll need to get decent lenses.

If you are looking at spending $2000, look at the Canon EOS50D. I use it and its brilliant, but the downfall is a huge 3" screen on the back. It's a heavy camera as a result (appealing to the point and shooters), but a body alone should set you back $1800?