Recommendations For A Digital Slr Type Camera

[Cheffi]

I'm looking to buy a new camera as I'm not having much luck taking really good close-up clear photo's of my fish. Would have to be beginner friendly. A sample photo along with the recommendation would be good p.s. I would like to have some money left in the bank after buying it

 

[Lord Zogat]

I'm looking to buy a new camera as I'm not having much luck taking really good close-up clear photo's of my fish. Would have to be beginner friendly. A sample photo along with the recommendation would be good p.s. I would like to have some money left in the bank after buying it

You might be best to go around to a few local camera shops and ask them what they recommend and compare prices. Or ask friends and family who they would recommend. Find out if you can buy it locally and what service they offer for repair and help.

Buying from a store will be more expensive, buying on line might save money but may not get oyu a warranty or service.

They are not cheap, probably looking at easily over $1000CND or 500 pounds? for a good one, maybe more.

 

[Nick Sw]

Cheffi just make sure you get one with adjustable F stops, I think it means the shutter speed, it`s better if you want to take quality pictures of your aquarium.
I made the mistake of just choosing one now I regret it.

Quote
"In fish photography it’s the aperture(the f number) that is always going to be more important. The aperture controls something known as the ‘Depth Of Field’. When you see a great fish shot where the fish is in focus and the background is blurred and not distracting, the shot is likely to have been taken with a smaller aperture. "

You could try this site but it`s heavy going
http/aquatic-photography.com/

 

[Cheffi]

Cheffi just make sure you get one with adjustable F stops, I think it means the shutter speed, it`s better if you want to take quality pictures of your aquarium.
I made the mistake of just choosing one now I regret it.

Quote
"In fish photography it’s the aperture(the f number) that is always going to be more important. The aperture controls something known as the ‘Depth Of Field’. When you see a great fish shot where the fish is in focus and the background is blurred and not distracting, the shot is likely to have been taken with a smaller aperture. "

You could try this site but it`s heavy going
http/aquatic-photography.com/

Thanks for that nick, I have been impressed with your photography so are you saying if you'd had the f stops they would have been even better?

There's no point in going to a store for something like this as they are only interested in selling you a camera not what is going to be best for you especially if that is not the most expensive one. I'd rather go by people's experiences and see some photo's of evidence. I don't want to do this for a living or anything just to get some really good close up shots like some I've seen on here.

 

[Nick Sw]

Cheffi I`d like to know more as well as I`ve really struggled with my photos, I just followed a tutorial and my camera didin`t have the option to change to the correct settings, from what I`ve seen some of the cameras used for aquatic photography aren`t exactly compact which is what I wanted for everyday, I don`t fancy the prospect of buying another

 

[scubadoo]

Two threads about the same subject at the same time !

Cheffi, why not take a look at Creynerds thread which mentions various D-SLR's that are currently available.

All D-SLR's will allow you to vary the depth of field manually (ie how much of the picture is in focus at one time).

For close up photo's you often want a small depth of field so you can focus say on a fish, but allow the backgound to be a bit blurry and out of focus. This means that your eye concentrates on the parts of the photo that are in focus. Of course if you want to give it all equal empgasis, then you would set a greater depth of field.

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

If you want to go the final step and buy a true digital SLR, I picked up a Nikon D50 last year, has the option to use totally automatic settings, but then as you gain confidence you can start to experiment with the settings yourself, also has the advantage that you can buy add ons (lenses, flash guns etc) to give more creativity/experimentation!!

Nikon D50 with standard kit lens (supplied with the camera):

Nikon D50 with Sigma 105mm macro lens:

Andrew

 

[Bloo]

Quite personally I would not recommend a "true" film SLR unless you are a serious photographer - or at least really know what you are doing and are very confident.
Even with my very good D-SLR (Canon 20D with various add-on lenses and flash bits) I only use approx 1 in 50 photos. Utter waste to try and get that developed first. Especially when dealing with subject such as fish. Taking pictures of stationary objects (nature & people) is a doddle compared to live animals.

It really just depends on your budget Cheffi. My suggestion is to go into a good camera shop in your area - pic a day and time that would be fairly quiet - so not a lunch hour or weekend if at all possible - and take your time looking at all the camera features & buttons and speak to the sales people.
If you're going to spend (a significant to you) amount of money, you need to make absolutely sure that you're 100% happy with what you're getting.

There are so many camera review sites on the www, but dpreview is probably one of the best.

Good luck

 

[mandi]

I use a Canon Powershot S2 IS -- a good bargain (around $500) and it does a descent job. But it's not a true SLR though you can make some manual adjustments.

I really regret not spending the extra $250-ish and going up to the Canon Digital Rebel XT. I plan on making that my next purchase. A couple of my friends have them and adore them -- they're still beginner-friendly, but are great for intermediate/pro users too.

 

[denis coghlan]

Hey Cheffi

You are most likely sick of me going on about my camera as I have mentioned it to you before. I am going to be a lazy bum and just copy and paste what I had to say before.

"Quote by me" The camera I am using is a fuji FinPix 7000, its not an SLR but its as close as you can get. I would highly recommend this camera, it doesnt cost the earth and you can get good quality pics with it. It goes up tp 12 million mega pixels but I would rarely use that setting as each shot is about 4mb. The shutter speed, aperture, macros, super-macros and every thing else on the camera are great and are fully automatic and manual. It is quite possibly the best 500 euro I have ever spent (apart from my fish tanks of course). If anyone reading this is thinking about getting a digital camera (and does not want to pay for an SLR) I would go with one of these.

These are a couple of pics I have taken since I bought the camera, I still don't really know how to use it, but I am getting there. My theory is that if you take enough photos one or two of them are bound to be of ok quality.

Fuji Ireland s7000 webpage

Some pics of my fish

The pics of the mbuna are all taken with the shutter speed turned up!

Dojo with the macros

Hillstream loach with the super macros

And if you dont want to take pictures of fish you can use the camera for other things.

Really long shutter exposures (this was 15 secs)

Really fast shutter exposures

And pictures of fluffy animales!!

Sorry about all the pics, I do get carried away!

Good luck hunting for a camera.

tanks

 

[Cheffi]

Hi there,

If you want to go the final step and buy a true digital SLR, I picked up a Nikon D50 last year, has the option to use totally automatic settings, but then as you gain confidence you can start to experiment with the settings yourself, also has the advantage that you can buy add ons (lenses, flash guns etc) to give more creativity/experimentation!!

Nikon D50 with standard kit lens (supplied with the camera):

Nikon D50 with Sigma 105mm macro lens:

Andrew

If I could take pic's like this I'd be more than happy. Had a look at this model on the high street and it's within budget and I'd expect to get it cheaper online.
Before I went digital I had a very good Canon SLR camera that took superb photo's but I don't want to go back to film.
Also like the sound of the Fuji I think I considered it previously. I am more interested in recommendations like you guys are giving me than listening to a camera salesmen after all you guys have nothing to gain from recommending or slating your cameras. Thanks I'll let you know what I decide on and hopfully post some better photo's.

 

[Cheffi]

Two threads about the same subject at the same time !

Cheffi, why not take a look at Creynerds thread which mentions various D-SLR's that are currently available.

All D-SLR's will allow you to vary the depth of field manually (ie how much of the picture is in focus at one time).

For close up photo's you often want a small depth of field so you can focus say on a fish, but allow the backgound to be a bit blurry and out of focus. This means that your eye concentrates on the parts of the photo that are in focus. Of course if you want to give it all equal empgasis, then you would set a greater depth of field.

Sorry must be stupid but I can't find any post by this member for camera's. His profile says he's only posted twice and I can only find one post?

 

[Bloo]

Cheffi, why not take a look at Creynerds thread which mentions various D-SLR's that are currently available.

Sorry must be stupid but I can't find any post by this member for camera's. His profile says he's only posted twice and I can only find one post?

It's Craynerd not Creynerd - and this is his camera thread

Ps: "tanks a lot", awesome photos !

 

[scubadoo]

It's Craynerd not Creynerd - and this is his camera thread

DOH !

Spepling was nerfer on ov moi string pionts !

 

[Cheffi]

Cheffi, why not take a look at Creynerds thread which mentions various D-SLR's that are currently available.

Sorry must be stupid but I can't find any post by this member for camera's. His profile says he's only posted twice and I can only find one post?

It's Craynerd not Creynerd - and this is his camera thread

Ps: "tanks a lot", awesome photos !

Thanks Bloo, a very interesting thread.