Photos again
Well Im back in thinking about new cameras, Im trying to just focus on this for now, gives me something to think about other than all the other stuff that goes round and round and round. Ive nearly chosen but Im still toying with either the nikon d70 or d80. But then its the choice of lenses thats when I get stuck, supose I could get a magazine and read up on them, but that sounds to straight forward to me! If anyone has any ideas please feel free to leave any suggestions.
11 comments:
Nohing to do with cameras:
Sue Kidger, a BHPS carer from Twickenham will be live on 'The Wright Stuff' on Channel 5 tomorrow at approx 10:10am.
Boo
What lenses do you use with your coolpix I wonder. Your photos are very sharp compared to others I see on the web. How far away from the birds are you when you shoot? Are you outside when you shoot?
that squidgy is definitely offering opportunities
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0608/06080901nikonafs70-300vrlens.asp
it costs £337 is brand new out this month
may not have as much zoom as your current camera.
You take such beautiful pictures Nic. Love the squirrel. OC
anon, the lens is fixed with the coolpix, so hoping for better photos with different lenses. Im in the house when I take the photos, window open, but cutain closed to hide from the birds. Thanks for your kind comments.
Pete, thanks I will have a look
Boo, I will be at work then!
D80 + 18-135mm Lens. Landscape - Portraits.
http://www.jessops.com/Store/s35925/1-1035-1203/Home/Current-Promotions/Top-10-Web-Deals--/Nikon/D80-%2b-18-135mm-Lens/details.aspx
Sigma 70-300
Telephoto with Macro Facility.
http://www.jessops.com/Store/s26776/0/Lenses/Sigma/70-300mm-f-and-4-56-DG-Macro-(Nikon-AF)/details.aspx?&comp=y
Get a tripod and a memory card.
Nic to take birds you're going to need a lens that is at least 300mm (or equivalent). Your coolpix is already a good camera but I think you might not be getting the best out of it, 8M pixels is great, and built in VR is great too, none of the Nikon SLRs have VR.
if you have plenty of money by all means get an SLR, D80 is good but don't overlook D50 which is nearly as good; forget the D70. if money is definitely no object get a Canon 400D/30D and 100-400 IS lens (nearing 2K).
the whole point of an SLR is the ability to use lots of different lenses and lots of flexibility to get all kinds of shots (portrait, landscape, night, macro) but this comes at a cost of course which I learnt to my expense.
sure you can get cheap zooms for under £200 but I daresay the quality is going to be any better than the pics you're already taking. Nikkor 70-300VR lens is out soon at £380-ish which might suit you if you're getting an SLR. if that seems expensive that's really just the tip of the iceberg - how about the 80-400VR (£1000)
or you could consider another bridge camera, I've heard lots of good things about the Panasonic FZ30
I'm willing to bet however there is more potential to be unlocked in your camera - it seems to have sufficient range, but the photos look a bit noisy or shaky, have you experimented with the VR, mounting the camera on a tripod, or a beanbag instead of handholding it, try lots of different things, see if you can lower those ISO settings to make it less noisy, does the camera has sharpening options in it etc.
I would try turn off VR, turn off sharpening, set ISO to 50 or 100, set JPEG to highest setting, set to Sports mode, put the camera on something solid like a book angled at something you want to take a shot of, or sturdy beanbag, focus on the head/eye of the bird/creature, and gently squeeze off 3 shots, see if they are sharp
Thanks for the suggestions. It is a very noisey camera, unless in optimum light conditions. Money of course is an issue, I have set a realistic budget I think, which will be helped with the fact it will go on 0% credit card until my bonus comes through. One thing I know how to do is juggle money!!!
I wasnt going to change the camera until next year and you have got me thinking whether I should or not. Guess I thought it was just a natural progression to upgrade the camera. I will think on some more though
sorry for my big posts - I was in the same situation 6mths ago as you are; I had a little fuji bridge camera, 3M pixel with a zoom that went out to 250mm equivalent, and couldn't help thinking corrr look at those SLRs and how much bigger they are and how big their whopping big zooms must go to !
well I got the Nikon D50, 6M pixel, and 18-70mm lens, cost £500, and was so excited when the box arrived and unpacked it all and started trying it out. After half a day of using it I was really downhearted. Not only did my little Fuji zoom massively closer for macro shots, it also zoomed out much longer. I felt like such a mug. Ok, then there must be lenses that reach further, and closer. Reach further yes, reach closer yes, but not both in the same lens.
Ok, lets find a decent zoom with at least 300mm. And I couldn't believe the cost. I figured I really wanted to blow away the Fuji so started looking at 400-500mm, first came across Nikkor 80-400VR, cost over £1000, nearly passed out. Looked at 500/600mm prime lenses, the cost and weight...wife revived me with smelling salts.
6mths down the line I still haven't got a long lens, mainly due to the prohibitive cost. yep you can get a Sigma 70-300 for less than £150 but it's a 'fair to ok' lens. If I'm spending hundreds of pounds on a lens it had better be spankingly good, not just 'ok'. You can get a good quality 'bigma' sigma 50-500mm or tamron 200-500 for £700ish but blimey are they heavy, not something you want to walk around all day with and you need a tripod with it. Anyone who doesn't need a tripod probably has 50% concrete in the genes. Nikkor 300mm AFS is super-sharp and responds well to teleconverters to increase the range, if you can afford the 850 quid for the lens and 300ish for the TCs that is. All other lenses just seem to be ok-ish or mediocre and yet still cost half a grand upwards
so expensive and so frustrating
wish I'd bought a bridge camera ? yep
one with those x10 or x12 zooms already built in like the FZ30 or Canon S3
I've been reading up on SLRs and lenses for the last 6mths so feel free to pick my brains if you want I don't want to take up too much of your blog !
regards
Martin
Martin - I mentioned the 70-300VR Nikon. It seemed decent value at £339
Nic - Martin has a point about power. You cam comes with image stablisation and decent reach. Might be worth going into jessops and picking them up to consider the weight.
The Squidgy is a nice series of shot
sorry Pete I did try the url you posted but it didn't work it seems cut off and finishes at 'nikonaf' ?
but yes the 70-300VR holds some promise, may get it myself next year
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