Shopping for new Camera, help wanted. (1 Viewer)

[Birdbrainjwc]

I'm shopping for a my first camera and would like some help.

A bunch of my friends have SLRs and have been getting great pics, and I was thinking I really need one.

I have been looking at the Canon Rebels, and the 40D, but was wondering what some of your thoughts were. What should I be looking for in a camera, and lens if I am using it for bird photography and documenting?

Thanks in advance

 

[Gentoo]

If price is an issue, go with the Canons. Nikons get out of your way more and give you more freedom. With the Canons I'd go with the 40D,50D or if you can afford it the 50D MarkII. Within the Nikons I'd go with the D300, D90 or if you can afford it the D3. Although it's rumored that the D3x might soon be released.

 

[gmax]

I'm shopping for a my first camera and would like some help.

A bunch of my friends have SLRs and have been getting great pics, and I was thinking I really need one.

I have been looking at the Canon Rebels, and the 40D, but was wondering what some of your thoughts were. What should I be looking for in a camera, and lens if I am using it for bird photography and documenting?

Thanks in advance

Hello Josh,
difficult question ... you'd better at first mention your budget and intended main usage, in order to let other users here on BF help you ...

In any case, it's safer to think in terms of system (camera + lens/-es) to prevent you spending lots of money on a camera just to find out you cannot afford the lenses you want/need.

As a start, if your friends may provide you with some second-hand (good) lenses you could second that system - cameras are usually less important than lenses: cameras come and go, (good) lenses may last forever.

In any case, depending on the kit of your choice, remember to budget in the mid-term also for a tripod, backpack, bins and other bits and bobs (flash memories, spare batteries etc).

You'll soon find out that you are on the slippery edge of a black hole, ready to swallow you and your bank account ... so take your time, digest as many info as possible, think twice, try to test a kit in the field and avoid spending here and now on a cheapish item - you'll find yourself buying an upgrade in a few months time ...

Cheers,

Max

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Both cameras (rebel (450D) and 40d) are great for birding. In my opinion you'll need some 400 mm zoom lens (Canon - the best, but expensive - or Sigma, Tokina etc). For a real advice I need to know your budget...

 

[Vectis Birder]

I'd definitely go with a Canon 40D, 50D or, if you can afford it a 1D Mark III and a Canon 400mm f5.6 or, if your budget allows, a Canon 500mm plus a 1.4x converter. You are best off building a system around lenses rather than camera bodies, considering that the lenses change very little while bodies change every year or 18 months.

 

[Birdbrainjwc]

Thanks for the help!

My budget is about 1,700 to 2,000 Dollars (closer to 1,700).

My grandpa has a lens that is about 5 years old and he hasn't been using it for half that time. It is a Tamron 28-300mm 1:3.5-6.3 macro. I am not the most camera savvy person, but it sounds like I will need to get pretty close to the birds for some good pics with that lens.

I have been looking around and some of the 100-400mm lenses are pretty pricey.

 

[Fozzybear]

The long lenses can be a bit :eek!: expensive, but you can get bargains if you look around - I managed to get a 300mm f/4 prime for my Nikon on ebay for £340 all in and added a 1.4x teleconverter for another hundred to give me a pretty decent 420mm lens for less than £500.

You're right that the 28-300 is a bit short, although 300mm is ok for casual shooting and walkabout stuff... if you use a good one. You'll need to crop pretty heavily most of the time so any deficiencies in the optics will be magnified and will be very obvious. I have a 70-300 image stabilised Nikon that works really well for this, and I'm told the Canon equivalent is also very good. Since the popular big birding lenses are out of your price range then it might be worth taking a look at the Canon 70-300 IS.

I find the larger lenses are pretty bulky and you need to be pretty dedicated to lump them about but the 70-300 zooms are more manageable, especially useful if you are not used to big cameras. The big lenses are much better if you can afford them and have the muscles, but I've done ok using mostly the 70-300mm zoom.

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Hi, I have recently bought the Canon 450D rebel and find that it is really nice. I also have the 70-300MM IS lense which I am so so about. For birding one really needs the 400mm lense or a teleconverter with the 300mm. Before I bought the camera I was between getting the 40D or the rebel and after looking at the differences for the money,which were few, I chose the Rebel. The only thing that I wish I had done differently was get the different zoom or buy a teleconverter for the 300mm. It works great but for the birding I do sometimes I still need that added distance. What I do for now is I get creative at getting closer to my subject for that nice shot. It can be done or I wait patiently for the bird to come to me.

Best wishes in your shopping! There are great deals. I bought my camera with $100 off camera and $100 off zoom lense. Total cost with insurance, protective UV lenses and a few other items plus nice bag purchased separately..$1350. Watch some of the deals you see on the internet..some may sound good but in reality may not be all that great. Once you get into the IS lenses the price does go up. Both my lenses are the IS. I asked a local photography shop to match an online price and they did plus the special Canon was having at time. Sorry this may be jumbled up late for an appt so need to leave.

 

[Gentoo]

You can get Nikon D90 for about 1000 dollars body only. I wouldn't get that kit lens that comes with it. It's not the best and not really useful at all for birding as it only goes to 105mm. The Nikon 70-300VR as mentioned before is a very good lens, I have that one. If you do the type of birding I do, by going to where the birds are used to people, it'll work just fine. You will have issues getting good shots at the tidal marshes or even with small birds however. This is why my number of songbird pictures is rather limited and why I'm in the market for a lens with more reach. The D90 gives the same image quality as the 500 dollar more D300 that I have (I got the D300 before the D90 was released). This combination will cost you right about what your budget is that you stated, perhaps a tad bit more once you buy memory cards. I cannot really suggest to you any longer lenses like the 80-400mm or the Sigmas as I've not used those yet and still debating myself which of those to get. I am partial to Nikons as I said they get out of your way more. You don't have to fiddle with controls as much, for example auto ISO works like a dream, at least with Nikons Generation 2 cameras. It's iffy on the Gen 1 bodies but still works. With the D90 even the active D Lighting feature (which itself has no equal anywhere in the DSLR world), allows for an auto setting. You only need to worry about shutter speed and aperture and perhaps the occasional exposure compensation which at least on the D300 you can often change a setting with just one hand. I've heard this about the D90 as well but I've not yet used a D90 to confirm that.

So in my opinion I would encourage you to get a D90 plus the 70-300VR lens. Nikon makes their camera bodies to go with their lenses so you will be set for a while down the road.