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Camera Advise


Ken Davison South Wales

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Hi All

 

Since moving from 35mm to digi cameras whilst I have had some quite tasty little point and shoot jobs I am now looking to upgrade to something with a bit more humfff. Budget around the £400 to £500, a decent ish SLR which could form the bases of a new setup. Mostly used for landscapes and wild life with a bit of zoom for snapping the birds in the garden.

I fish, I catches a few, I lose a few, BUT I enjoys. Anglers Trust PM

 

eat.gif

 

http://www.petalsgardencenter.com

 

Petals Florist

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With a budget of £4-500 you won't get much in the way of bird photos, a 400mm lens only gives a roughly equivalent view to a pair of 8x binoculars, I use that comparison cos you probably have a pair somewhere and it gives you a clue what the camera will see, a good 400mm lens on it's own will cost more than your budget.

 

Landscapes are perfectly possible within your budget, most cameras can be bought with a kit lens, usually about 18-55mm (which would be about a 28-80 on a 35mm film camera).

 

A bridge camera might be more suitable, they are in between (hence "bridge") a p&s and an SLR, the Panasonic FZ38 and Canon SX20 IS are a couple worth looking at, most of them have more zoom available than you can sensibly get with an SLR (but stick to the optical zoom don't bother with digital zoom )

 

A couple of links to hopefully help - prices and detailed reviews.

 

Camera price buster

 

DP Review

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ayjay, Ken D,

 

My daughter, in her quest for yet a bigger and better cell phone says someone (shall I ask her?) has a 12mp zoom camera (28 - 80) in the phone device.

 

My question, are cell phone cameras approaching "camera" quality for 99% of all pictures. Is the technology close enough to the "top" to consider a device yet?

 

Ken D,

 

Over here, an IPhone4 is about $400. You sure you want "JUST" a camera?

 

Phone

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Hi Both

The reason I said SLR was in the hopes of getting hold of just the camera and adding lens as and when funds allow, I realise a good telephoto was out of reach on the budget, but it is choosing the box, so many out there and looking good this is one example Nikon D3100 + 18-55mm VR Lens + 55-200mm Non VR Lens at £500 in Jessops.

 

The trouble with Iphones and the like is they are almost out of date when you purchase them. :lol: No I am looking to build up a new digital setup, not top of the range but some thing with reasonable attributes.

I fish, I catches a few, I lose a few, BUT I enjoys. Anglers Trust PM

 

eat.gif

 

http://www.petalsgardencenter.com

 

Petals Florist

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The reason I said SLR was in the hopes of getting hold of just the camera and adding lens as and when funds allow, ................

 

...................... so many out there and looking good this is one example Nikon D3100 + 18-55mm VR Lens + 55-200mm Non VR Lens at £500 in Jessops.

 

If you're prepared to wait and add lenses later then an SLR is the way to go for ultimate quality of pics.

 

This, from the conclusions page of the DP Review site would concern me with regards to the NikonD3100.

 

DP Review Nikon D3100 conclusions

 

Will not focus all Nikon lenses (though most popular choices are available)
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Hi Both

The reason I said SLR was in the hopes of getting hold of just the camera and adding lens as and when funds allow, I realise a good telephoto was out of reach on the budget, but it is choosing the box, so many out there and looking good this is one example Nikon D3100 + 18-55mm VR Lens + 55-200mm Non VR Lens at £500 in Jessops.

 

The trouble with Iphones and the like is they are almost out of date when you purchase them. :lol: No I am looking to build up a new digital setup, not top of the range but some thing with reasonable attributes.

 

ive had both types mate;

i started out with a canon s3 which is like an slr in shape but really just a powershot with a very good zoom. It could take superb photos and some really amazing stuff even at full zoom...it had integral image stabilisation etc

current gen of that model is the: sx130 or sx150?

 

having said that i was lucky enough to paid for some pc work with a brand new Canon Eos 450d...got myself the standard lens and also a 55-250 for zoom work...and it produces superb quality photos.

You honestly can tell the difference between the images in comparrison.

but as has been said..a decent zoom lens for a digital slr will set you back your budget and then some. the 55-250 was about £180...go higher and you really start adding up some serious cash.

also be sure to include image stablilisation in any lens set-up you want for a digital slr...its in the lens, not the camera! and it adds to the price as well!

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Fi..._comparison.asp

i found the above link really helpful when it came to figuring out lens' and magnification etc.

but be aware that a point and click zoom does not directly compare to a digital slr lens...all to do with the size of the image sensor or something...but in real terms a 12* opitical zoom on a point and click will be a significant costing lens for a digital slr!

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The reason 'the D3100 wont focus all lenses' is simply that Nikon have moved to focus motors in the lens at the budget end of the market. It no problem for most people, and IMHO, the new lens motor/setup works extremely well. However, the longer lenses as has been stated are not budget, so D90 is about as low as you can go . . . to accommodate both styles of Nikon lens.

 

A D90 with a general purpose 18-105mm lens looks like will set you back about £660'ish?

 

The other route suggested is a Bridge camera, lens up to X30!!! . . . trouble is the overall quality is compromised, this is 'as in ultimate quality' . . . you may be happy with how it performs. But as with any long lens, you will not be able to hold it still enough, even with 'stabilisation', answer, a tripod ad £50 to your budget.

 

D3100 is a excellent camera, but the eventual long lenses will cost . . . as will the same long lenses you will want for a D90 . . . the point is, the D90 might give a little more flexibility in the used market, motorised lenses are still quite new as 'Nikon fit'.

 

Hop this helps to put some focus on the subject? :rolleyes:

 

SW

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The reason 'the D3100 wont focus all lenses' is simply that Nikon have moved to focus motors in the lens at the budget end of the market. It no problem for most people, and IMHO, the new lens motor/setup works extremely well. However, the longer lenses as has been stated are not budget, so D90 is about as low as you can go . . . to accommodate both styles of Nikon lens.

 

A D90 with a general purpose 18-105mm lens looks like will set you back about £660'ish?

 

The other route suggested is a Bridge camera, lens up to X30!!! . . . trouble is the overall quality is compromised, this is 'as in ultimate quality' . . . you may be happy with how it performs. But as with any long lens, you will not be able to hold it still enough, even with 'stabilisation', answer, a tripod ad £50 to your budget.

 

D3100 is a excellent camera, but the eventual long lenses will cost . . . as will the same long lenses you will want for a D90 . . . the point is, the D90 might give a little more flexibility in the used market, motorised lenses are still quite new as 'Nikon fit'.

 

Hop this helps to put some focus on the subject? :rolleyes:

 

SW

 

Yes I have a clearer picture now :D:rolleyes:

 

I have earmarked a couple of canons on flea bay, going to watch the bidding for a couple of days.

 

I must say the bridge camera seems tempting, I have an excellent tripod left over from my 35mm days, I use it with the cam recorder.

 

I am no David Bailey that is why I love digi jobs and I may be aiming my sights a bit high, I use to waste hundreds of pounds :D my first vist to Petra I used ten rolls of film in a day, over the weekend 20 plus and then onto Karak :rolleyes: I guess you get the picture. I am slowly scanning my way through the pics.

I fish, I catches a few, I lose a few, BUT I enjoys. Anglers Trust PM

 

eat.gif

 

http://www.petalsgardencenter.com

 

Petals Florist

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Yes I have a clearer picture now :D:rolleyes:

 

I have earmarked a couple of canons on flea bay, going to watch the bidding for a couple of days.

 

I must say the bridge camera seems tempting, I have an excellent tripod left over from my 35mm days, I use it with the cam recorder.

 

I am no David Bailey that is why I love digi jobs and I may be aiming my sights a bit high, I use to waste hundreds of pounds :D my first vist to Petra I used ten rolls of film in a day, over the weekend 20 plus and then onto Karak :rolleyes: I guess you get the picture. I am slowly scanning my way through the pics.

 

for me the Dslr will out-strip a composite anyday; now that ive used both. however the one side of things they do fall flat on is the portability. For instance we've made a couple of trips to London recently, museums etc...and carting the Eos450 and its lenses about was a real pain in the butt for a whole day of walking and tubes and train journeys. I have a decent backpack system with it that holds the camera and lenses and bits and bobs etc...but you have to almost think at the start of your day out what you "might" be seeing..so do you pack your big lens, your tripod? etc etc

and that backpack gets heavy through the day!!

having said that i took it to the Cats Sirvival Trust; left the stuff in the car and just carried around the Eos with the 55-250 and was happy as a sand boy.

in an ideal world i would suggest you maybe pick up a dslr 2nd hand then maybe start with a cheaper lens option like a 70-300 without image stabilisation; you can pick up Sigma lenses like that for maybe £130;

buy yourself a little compact with a semi decent zoom..i have a canon with 4 times that comes fishing with me (the missus inherited my S3 with the 12* zoom) and then save up or hunt down some 2nd hand lenses with image stabilisation a bit bigger and better. or save up for one brand new lens you really want.

for instance looking just now at my local camera centres 2nd hand pages they have an Eos 20d at £175 and a canon 70-300 is lens at £295! thats not a bad little combo! and probably a great little starter body in the Eos 20d. not huge pixels but if your not blowing things up to A3 then 8.2 meg should be fine.

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for me the Dslr will out-strip a composite anyday; now that ive used both. however the one side of things they do fall flat on is the portability. For instance we've made a couple of trips to London recently, museums etc...and carting the Eos450 and its lenses about was a real pain in the butt for a whole day of walking and tubes and train journeys. I have a decent backpack system with it that holds the camera and lenses and bits and bobs etc...but you have to almost think at the start of your day out what you "might" be seeing..so do you pack your big lens, your tripod? etc etc

and that backpack gets heavy through the day!!

having said that i took it to the Cats Sirvival Trust; left the stuff in the car and just carried around the Eos with the 55-250 and was happy as a sand boy.

in an ideal world i would suggest you maybe pick up a dslr 2nd hand then maybe start with a cheaper lens option like a 70-300 without image stabilisation; you can pick up Sigma lenses like that for maybe £130;

buy yourself a little compact with a semi decent zoom..i have a canon with 4 times that comes fishing with me (the missus inherited my S3 with the 12* zoom) and then save up or hunt down some 2nd hand lenses with image stabilisation a bit bigger and better. or save up for one brand new lens you really want.

for instance looking just now at my local camera centres 2nd hand pages they have an Eos 20d at £175 and a canon 70-300 is lens at £295! thats not a bad little combo! and probably a great little starter body in the Eos 20d. not huge pixels but if your not blowing things up to A3 then 8.2 meg should be fine.

 

I have been watching a couple on ebay, this one caught my eye "CANON EOS 450D SLR CAMERA LENSES CANON EFS 18-55mm and Canon Zoom 75-300mm" looks in excellent condition complete with box and software etc.

Edited by Ken Davison South Wales

I fish, I catches a few, I lose a few, BUT I enjoys. Anglers Trust PM

 

eat.gif

 

http://www.petalsgardencenter.com

 

Petals Florist

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