biodegraded
New member
My revived aquarium adventures have pushed me over the threshold and I am looking into dslr (I currently use a Canon S95). I am starting "from scratch" as the last time I had slr kit was in the 70s. I'm slogging through specs but I could benefit if the more experienced here could narrow my camera and lenses search field.
My priorities
One of the Big Two: Nikon or Canon.
Main use will be natural history stills: corals, fish, plants, rocks, etc, shot in raw.
Macro! This will be over half of its use.
Some telephoto. (I'll gear up on this after macro.)
External flash.
Need reasonable weather and especially dust protection. (The Great Basin is dusty!)
A reasonable kit lens for general walk around use when I don't use the S95.
Irrelevant to me
Features for sport or action shooting (fast auto focus and such).
Portraiture.
Video anything.
Image stabilization (I'll be using a tripod most of the time).
Wide angle.
Everything else (full frame, ISO, etc) is undecided. My price range is $1.5-3k for a body and stock general purpose lens. I expect to drop $1k or more on my first macro lens (probably in the 100 mm category) and same on flash and whatnot. These prices give an idea of my level of interest: significant, but nowhere near pro or even enthusiast. I would be much obliged to get model suggestions for me to especially focus on (no pun intended) in my research.
My priorities
One of the Big Two: Nikon or Canon.
Main use will be natural history stills: corals, fish, plants, rocks, etc, shot in raw.
Macro! This will be over half of its use.
Some telephoto. (I'll gear up on this after macro.)
External flash.
Need reasonable weather and especially dust protection. (The Great Basin is dusty!)
A reasonable kit lens for general walk around use when I don't use the S95.
Irrelevant to me
Features for sport or action shooting (fast auto focus and such).
Portraiture.
Video anything.
Image stabilization (I'll be using a tripod most of the time).
Wide angle.
Everything else (full frame, ISO, etc) is undecided. My price range is $1.5-3k for a body and stock general purpose lens. I expect to drop $1k or more on my first macro lens (probably in the 100 mm category) and same on flash and whatnot. These prices give an idea of my level of interest: significant, but nowhere near pro or even enthusiast. I would be much obliged to get model suggestions for me to especially focus on (no pun intended) in my research.