Back 40 #23910 L Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Looking to buy a new digital camera and need some advice. Wanting it for general use, vacations, shoots, etc. I also want to take wildlife photos. I "think" what I need is as follows: optical viewfinder shutter speed up to 4000 focal length range up to 400 transfer photos to cell phone I would like to keep it in the $500 range. Recommendations please! Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marauder SASS #13056 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Will you be using it for videos as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back 40 #23910 L Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Marauder, Yes, but mostly for photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Go to the bookstore and buy one of those buyer's guides that come out every month or so. That will give you a general idea of what is available. Finding something with the specifications you have listed in the $500.00 range will be tough. Do you want an SLR, a range finder styled camera or an all-in-one compact? Finding an optical viewfinder on a range finder style or compact really limits the models you can look at. The other thing you need to consider is the sensor size. Bigger sensors generally cost more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Devers Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Canon just reduced the price of the T5 to $399 with the 18-55mm kit lens. Since this is a DSLR you can get any Canon EF lens you want to use for nature. I have both the 75-200mm and 100-400mm which are great lens for nature. Image stabilization is great. The part about transferring to your phone can be done via your pc with the phone attached. Or use some photo sharing thing so you don't use your phones memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Dollar Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Both Larsen and Stone gave some good advice. The Canon kit Stone mentioned is a great start which can be added to later. I have a Nikon setup which gets the job done. As Larsen mentioned you will most likely go above the $500 limit if your looking to go up to the 400mm focal length. One of my lens which is a 70-200 f2.8 was $800 all by itself. Of course there are much less expensive lens out there. But vacation photos are one thing... wildlife is another. I am trying to understand why would you want to put the photos on your phone? With any of the midrange cameras out today you will very soon fill that up because of the size of the files plus the risk of losing them. You should store them on a PC then have some sore of external storage as backup. On the PC you can edit them much easier as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Dave Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 One factor that is sometimes overlooked is a camera's battery. Whenever possible I opt for one that uses AA batteries rather than some other format rechangeable. Nothing worse than having a battery die and no replacement at hand and having to wait until you can rechange to take more pictures. Of course if everything else is right, you can just buy a spare battery and make sure it's charged and take it with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Dave Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Johnny Dollar - I don't know about him, but one reason I want pics on my phone is the ability to upload them to facebook and the like when I am not near a PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Devers Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I use dropbox for that. I can copy photos, video, documents etc to dropbox from my pc then from my phone's dropbox app I can upload to facebook or just look at them without using my phones limited memory. Like Johnny said the size of these photos can eat up your phones memory pretty quick. But to my knowledge there isn't a camera available that would transfer photos to your phone anyway. So that point is moot. You still have to download the photos from the camera to a PC then do something with them such as dropbox or some other file sharing website that you can get to from your phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Dollar Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Johnny Dollar - I don't know about him, but one reason I want pics on my phone is the ability to upload them to facebook and the like when I am not near a PC. Very true and a good reason. And there are ways to upload photos directly from your camera to your phone (depending on the type of phone you have) using a USB adapter. My only concern and without knowing what Back 40 is looking to do, was for general storage and making the files secure. If he was just looking to upload to a social media type page.... then we are golden! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back 40 #23910 L Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Thanks everyone for the advice. I checked out that Canon T5 and that does look like a good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Ron Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Howdy, Sounds interesting. I really like most things Nikon. And maybe think water resistant. I like to tuck a camera in a pocket. Carry a big bag-o-gear for a while and it gits OLD. That pro whatchacall it is a video camera that has the ability to take any frame and make it a picture. Each frame is about 8mp. That and huge capacity of modern computers might just make a still camera obsolete. Instead of taking one picture at a critical moment you take a video, review the section of interest, delete the pix you don't want print the shot you like. Something to think about. Price is decent too. Best CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Devers Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 CR you talking about the T5? its an 18 mp camera for stills but in video mode its more like 2 mp which is the frame size of a 1080HD video. So taking a frame from the video is an easy thing to do with the proper editing software and its great for web but not really for print unless you're staying with a small print. Speaking of video since I shoot a lot of video using these cameras. Just keep in mind they aren't a replacement for a camcorder. They take absolutely beautiful video, no doubt about that and Hollywood uses them all the time as a B camera or crash cam since they are relatively inexpensive but they don't have auto-focus or auto-zoom in video mode. So if you're shooting a sporting event or something moving toward or away from the camera. You'll have to be very good at manually focusing or your subject will go out of focus pretty quick. Just wanted to mention that since Back 40 said he would sometimes use it for video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Why not one of those point & shoot digital cameras for around $200? Cannon, Nikon and other maufacutres makes them and can be found at Walmart, Bestbuy and the like, They have zoom, they have from 12-18mp, they have auto focus, they can do video, they will fit into your shirt pocket, a memory card that holds booko pictures, rechargeable battery that will last a long time, download to a PC.. Sure, there are more expensive cameras that have superior zoom lenses capabilites and can take xx frames/second and such, but it takes a gadget bag to hall it around, and guess where it is left after the novalty wears off? One of those simple digital cameras will probably do 90% of what you want and it is like hauling around another cellphone. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Dollar Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Why not one of those point & shoot digital cameras for around $200? Cannon, Nikon and other maufacutres makes them and can be found at Walmart, Bestbuy and the like, They have zoom, they have from 12-18mp, they have auto focus, they can do video, they will fit into your shirt pocket, a memory card that holds booko pictures, rechargeable battery that will last a long time, download to a PC.. Sure, there are more expensive cameras that have superior zoom lenses capabilites and can take xx frames/second and such, but it takes a gadget bag to hall it around, and guess where it is left after the novalty wears off? One of those simple digital cameras will probably do 90% of what you want and it is like hauling around another cellphone. Just a thought. I think Back 40 left the pocket model back in the dust when he mentioned he wants to photograph wildlife and venture into the big time zoom range. Pocket models are fine for what they are made for. As far as slinging a camera bag around. That's all I bring with me. I have a bag with a Nikon body, 28-70 f2.8, 70-200f2.8, 11-20 wide angle, 20-55 normal... and that's just my vacation bag! I've been hacking that around for years. haven't gotten tired of it yet. The photos prove that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I think Back 40 left the pocket model back in the dust when he mentioned he wants to photograph wildlife and venture into the big time zoom range. Pocket models are fine for what they are made for. As far as slinging a camera bag around. That's all I bring with me. I have a bag with a Nikon body, 28-70 f2.8, 70-200f2.8, 11-20 wide angle, 20-55 normal... and that's just my vacation bag! I've been hacking that around for years. haven't gotten tired of it yet. The photos prove that. Sure could be. Then I suggest he walks into a electronic/camera store with his $500 and see how far it goes. He will end up with a couple choices in that price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Devers Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Here you go. The Canon T5 with two lens and camera bag. 18-55mm 75-300mm Not quite your 400mm range but for $500 I believe this is as close to that as you will get. http://www.costco.com/Canon-EOS-Rebel-T5-DSLR-Camera-2-Lens-Bundle.product.100128185.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rancho Roy Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 If you want something better than a "Point and Shoot" but you don't want to go the whole "Replaceable Lens" deal, but you still want to put it in your pocket or range bag....Check out the Olympus Stylus 1 300mm Optical lens which in this cameras foremat acts like a 500mm lens 2.8 contant F stop at all ranges. Extremely good low light camera. Lens retracts so you can put it in your pocket And it has a REAL Viewfinder!!!! Huge when using the camera outdoors in bright light. Under $500 and there is nothing else like it out there http://www.cnet.com/products/olympus-stylus-1/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pay Dirt Norvelle #90056 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I just bought a T5i for $749.00. If you are willing to spend a bit more you might look at that. I really like the swing out viewer and the ability for videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back 40 #23910 L Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks SD, that a great deal!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Bill Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I changed over to a Nikon P500 couple years back. Did not like carrying extra lens. This camera has 36x optical zoom with digital zoom up to 4x. Full auto and manual capable with pre set shooting available. Also video capable. 220 shoots per battery charge. Only negative is can not put on filters and no RAW. Around $400 0n amazon. Out of production but a replacement is P610. http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product-Archive/Compact-Digital-Cameras/COOLPIX-P500.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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