Camera suggestions?

[alten78]

I've been in awe at a lot of the macro and overall photography skills of many over the past decade or so that I have been in the hobby, which is about as long as I have said that I was going to one day buy a decent camera to try to capture my own (as soon as I get things to the point that I would like to share )

That said, my knowledge of photography or what to look for in a camera is essentially zero. Seeing that we are almost into November and I have both a birthday and Christmas coming up, the wife has been bugging me on what to get. I'm not looking to break the bank here or the highest end camera/lens out there, but something that will do a good job? Suggestions?

 

[Wazzel]

Any from cannon or Nikon will do well for you. I would suggest getting one up from the bottom model if you are just starting out. I got lots of good shots from my Nikon d5100 for several years. I just upgraded to a D610 last year. Good lenses can be expensive. I like Sigma over the brand lenses. 90% of the quality at about 50% of the cost, depending on the lens. Kit lenses are really not that great, but you should get a package and at least one of the kit lenses so you can play around. For close up you are going to need a macro lens at some point in time. I still need to get one.

 

[alten78]

Thanks for the tips! So many options, features, prices, and new terminology had my head spinning. I guess asking this question is asking what kind of lights I should put over my tank :lol:

Good to know about the D5100, I was looking at that and D3300/3100 as they are in my price range and "appear" to be good starter types.

 

[reefmutt]

I agree with Mark's advice.
Sometimes they put together 'kits' with slightly upgraded lenses.
The way I look at it is that the lenses rarely change much but camera bodies get upgraded every couple of years. Put a couple extra dollars in decent lenses and they will last forever.
Just about any digital slr camera will produce fantastic images but the image is only as good as the lens will allow..

 

[toothybugs]

If you go Canon, the t3i or T5i body do well for a lot of folks. The killer is, however, a good macro lens. A longer lens will let you shoot further in to the tank but comes with a bigger bill. Most people I know shoot with a 60mm or 100mm (I have the 100mm f/2.8 and it's great)

Sigma makes a good product but I couldn't tell you which lens to get if you go that route. I would be willing to let my T5i body go because I want to upgrade it for noise handling in low-light situations (which we don't have with aquaria).

 

[alten78]

Awesome, thanks for the tips and suggestions! Im trying to read more and get myself acquainted with as much as I can, its starting to make a bit of sense

 

[reefmutt]

There's a great camera and lens review site which I know because it's really geared towards all things canon (I'm a canon user) but they do review some other makes as well..
The website is called the digital picture . com.
Not sure if I can post the actual link so just remove the spaces and check it out.
A very informative and detailed site... Maybe too detailed, sometimes..

 

[Happyschneider]

Dpreview.com will give you all the reviews you want. But it is geared towards general photography.

Would you want to do anything else with your camera? Or would you want to uniquely use it for aquarium?

You might want to look into renting the different makes first as they have somewhat different feel and handling. It's always good to have a first hand experience.

In general, if you get a recent body you can't go wrong. The noise is hardly detectable at the iso you would need with corals. If you talk fish you might have to invest in a flash and or good high iso camera so you can capture the fast movements depending on your fish.

Lens as someone else already stated, macro is clearly the direction you want to go. If you say macro, you say tripod and remote release or make sure you can connect the camera to the computer to control it from there.

Most important thing is on how to manage all the photos cause you will have hundreds. I like lightroom from Adobe but there are many other solutions.

Once you have the camera, make sure to read a good book about light and exposure. It will make everything so much easier and straight forward. Good luck, I'm just about to upgrade my old school 20d to a 5d. Full frame is beautiful when shooting macro but expensive.

And remember, it is not the camera but the photographer who takes the picture

 

[alten78]

My first thought would be primarily used for aquarium use, but it would be a much better sell to the wife for an "overall" family piece of equipment. I have an uncle that does a lot of nature pictures that I am always fond of, wouldn't mind trying my hand (eye?) along those lines as well. I see there are many many different lenses to be had for all the different types pictures taken, im sure I will have my hands full going forward!

Thanks for the links, I wouldn't be me if I didn't review every piece of hardware I want to buy!

 

[toothybugs]

Also, there is a Photography subforum here with a lot of knowledgeable folks and some really good stickies. Its just further down from this one, under the Nano and Large Reef forums. Scope it out.