what camera?
02-22-2010, 09:15 AM
#2
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: S. Central NC
Posts: 21
Man, I wish I could give you a simple answer but, there's so much to wildlife photography.....
That "affordable" part, whew.
At the most basic level I would say an SLR, (nowdays digital), and a long lense, 200mm at least, 400mm better, add a teleconverter, multiplier, extender (whatever) which will cost you some speed but can give you more "tele" on the cheap and that should get you started.
Actually, my best advice would be to do a search for "wildlife photography" or "learn wildlife photography" and dive in to the deep end of the pool. Once you have a good idea of exactly what you want to do, and how you want to do it, you can decide on your "system" needs. Hang out at some wildlife photography forums and look for camera/lense reviews in your price range.
I'm not trying to discourage you (at all), it's been a passion of mine for some thirty years now and I'm still learning.
That's probably not the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps some.
That "affordable" part, whew.
At the most basic level I would say an SLR, (nowdays digital), and a long lense, 200mm at least, 400mm better, add a teleconverter, multiplier, extender (whatever) which will cost you some speed but can give you more "tele" on the cheap and that should get you started.
Actually, my best advice would be to do a search for "wildlife photography" or "learn wildlife photography" and dive in to the deep end of the pool. Once you have a good idea of exactly what you want to do, and how you want to do it, you can decide on your "system" needs. Hang out at some wildlife photography forums and look for camera/lense reviews in your price range.
I'm not trying to discourage you (at all), it's been a passion of mine for some thirty years now and I'm still learning.
That's probably not the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps some.
02-22-2010, 10:06 AM
#3
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: 30 miles from park city UT on 1,500 acres.
Posts: 884
Man, I wish I could give you a simple answer but, there's so much to wildlife photography.....
That "affordable" part, whew.
At the most basic level I would say an SLR, (nowdays digital), and a long lense, 200mm at least, 400mm better, add a teleconverter, multiplier, extender (whatever) which will cost you some speed but can give you more "tele" on the cheap and that should get you started.
Actually, my best advice would be to do a search for "wildlife photography" or "learn wildlife photography" and dive in to the deep end of the pool. Once you have a good idea of exactly what you want to do, and how you want to do it, you can decide on your "system" needs. Hang out at some wildlife photography forums and look for camera/lense reviews in your price range.
I'm not trying to discourage you (at all), it's been a passion of mine for some thirty years now and I'm still learning.
That's probably not the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps some.
That "affordable" part, whew.
At the most basic level I would say an SLR, (nowdays digital), and a long lense, 200mm at least, 400mm better, add a teleconverter, multiplier, extender (whatever) which will cost you some speed but can give you more "tele" on the cheap and that should get you started.
Actually, my best advice would be to do a search for "wildlife photography" or "learn wildlife photography" and dive in to the deep end of the pool. Once you have a good idea of exactly what you want to do, and how you want to do it, you can decide on your "system" needs. Hang out at some wildlife photography forums and look for camera/lense reviews in your price range.
I'm not trying to discourage you (at all), it's been a passion of mine for some thirty years now and I'm still learning.
That's probably not the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps some.
02-22-2010, 06:23 PM
#6
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: a van down by the river
Posts: 8,939
Start with a good dSLR. I'm a Nikon man, but Canon also makes good cameras. Which ever brand you choose, you will be locked in once you start buying lenses, because the lenses do not cross over.
I've got a D90, and for wildlife I use a 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 AF-S VR Nikkor lens. Not cheap, but it takes great pictures. My next lens will probably be somewhere in the 200 or 300 mm 2.8 lens. Most of the best shot opportunities are early morning/late evening, and the more light the lens lets in, the better.
I'm not a fan of teleconverters on lenses that are not at least 2.8 lenses. Shutter speeds get so slow as the light fades, it is hard to freeze the animal's motion.
I've got a D90, and for wildlife I use a 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 AF-S VR Nikkor lens. Not cheap, but it takes great pictures. My next lens will probably be somewhere in the 200 or 300 mm 2.8 lens. Most of the best shot opportunities are early morning/late evening, and the more light the lens lets in, the better.
I'm not a fan of teleconverters on lenses that are not at least 2.8 lenses. Shutter speeds get so slow as the light fades, it is hard to freeze the animal's motion.
04-04-2010, 06:34 PM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Alaska
Posts: 368
I can try to help but I can only tell you what i know. I recently purchased a Canon XSI kit. This is a digital SLR and it is the 12.1mp Camera that comes with a 18-55mm image stabalization lens. (trust me, the I.S. is worth it's weight in gold.) This kit will cost you between $550-$650 online. Then you can purchase a 75-300mm IS lens. (About another $550) This will be plenty for the common photographer like myself. I know this sounds like a lot of money but you need to remember, this will be used for wildlife AND cherished memories with your family. When I am 90 and cant remember my name, I want good photo memories to remind me that I was not always old and fat. haha
Now, they make a new Canon T2i that is 15.1mp. I spoke to a family friend whom is a professional photographer and did our wedding pics. She is VERY GOOD. I asked her if the 15.1 mp was worth the extra $150 and she told me no. She said she owns 5 cameras and only 1 of them is over 12 mp and she never uses it. Everyone gets caught up in the "more MP means I can blow up the pic really big." She told us that a 12 mp camera will look fantastic at any size that we will enlarge a pic too. I believe her because we have a wedding pic blown up to 14"x20" and it looks phenomenal. Hope all this helped.
Now, they make a new Canon T2i that is 15.1mp. I spoke to a family friend whom is a professional photographer and did our wedding pics. She is VERY GOOD. I asked her if the 15.1 mp was worth the extra $150 and she told me no. She said she owns 5 cameras and only 1 of them is over 12 mp and she never uses it. Everyone gets caught up in the "more MP means I can blow up the pic really big." She told us that a 12 mp camera will look fantastic at any size that we will enlarge a pic too. I believe her because we have a wedding pic blown up to 14"x20" and it looks phenomenal. Hope all this helped.
04-16-2010, 11:40 AM
#10
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: S. Central NC
Posts: 21
"It comes with a lens that goes to 560mm equivalent optical zoom."
OK, now we need to explain some technical stuff.
The Canon SX20IS comes with a 5 to 100mm zoom lens, it uses a 1/2.3 size sensor which means it has a "crop factor" of 5.6.
The crop factor refers to the sensor size as compared to a 35mm frame size. In this case the sensor is (much) smaller than a 35mm frame which means the image will be cropped by the smaller size of the sensor.
They call it a 28 to 560mm "equivalent" because 5mm x 5.6(the crop factor) = 28 and 100mm x 5.6 = 560, so it is not really a 28 to 560mm zoom it is a 5 to 100mm zoom "cropped" to the "equivalent" of a 28 to 560mm zoom (which is intentionally misleading).
Buyer beware!
OK, now we need to explain some technical stuff.
The Canon SX20IS comes with a 5 to 100mm zoom lens, it uses a 1/2.3 size sensor which means it has a "crop factor" of 5.6.
The crop factor refers to the sensor size as compared to a 35mm frame size. In this case the sensor is (much) smaller than a 35mm frame which means the image will be cropped by the smaller size of the sensor.
They call it a 28 to 560mm "equivalent" because 5mm x 5.6(the crop factor) = 28 and 100mm x 5.6 = 560, so it is not really a 28 to 560mm zoom it is a 5 to 100mm zoom "cropped" to the "equivalent" of a 28 to 560mm zoom (which is intentionally misleading).
Buyer beware!
Last edited by BowNC; 04-16-2010 at 11:50 AM. Reason: Because I can't type worth a fig
