Camera Labs

Hi all,

New here, so im hoping i have posted in the right place.

Im looking for a good quality DSLR around the mid range / high range pricing. I had originially decided on the the Canon 600d, but however due to having left sided impairment i found it difficult to use mainly because of the lack of the digital zoom and becuase i had to turn the lens with my left (impossible) to zoom.

I have read on the site that the digital zoom is only available when you are shooting in movie mode.

Can anyone recommend a good camera in this range with a digital zoom. I will be mainly using the camera for landscape shots.

Thanks

Alan

Is there a specific reason why you need a digital zoom? Would a lens with a 300mm focal length (for the sake of argument) not suffice?

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

Thanks for the reply.

Apologies for my ignorance, but im pretty new to all of this. If like you suggested i got a 300mm lense, would i still not still need to zoom from 75mm in order to magnify?

Thats the issue i have, i cannot use my left hand on the lense in order for any kind of zoom. So if bought a better lense with a bigger zoom - presumabley i would still have to zoom in/out with my left hand on the lense and still encounter the same problem.

i initially thought was a pretty simple thing too look for, but im obviously wrong.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Hello Mrshankly, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
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As to your Q: You might have a look at motorized zooms, like the 10-100mm Nikon 1 lens that Gordon wrote about here.
With this lens you simply turn the zoom-button to one or the other side: " the Nikkor VR 10-100mm f4.5-5.6 PD-ZOOM, a super-zoom model with a 10x range equivalent to 27-270mm and built-in vibration reduction. The PD in the title refers to Power Drive, which uses a motor to smoothly operate the zooming mechanism".
Unfortunately it seems that the zoom-button is still on the left side of the zoom. But it might still be easier to control than a zoom-ring.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi Mrshankly.
Are you wanting an interchangeable lens camera, or would a bridge/superzoom camera, eg the Nikon P510, suit your needs?

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Yeah, good idea! You can zoom those with a button on the body, right?

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Or, between a superzoom and DSLR, there's the m4/3 format. Specifically, Panasonic recently released a couple of "power zoom" lenses.

Or, have you considered using a monopod? I routinely use my camera(s) one-handed when they are mounted on my Manfrotto 561BHDV-1. (Admittedly, Panasonic's fast "live view" auto-focus is a big help here.)

Mark

Now I understand. As Thomas, implied the number of powered zoom lenses with DSLRs is very limited.

_________________
Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

Indeed I know only two lenses with a motorized zoom - The Nikon 10-100mm for Nikon 1 cameras and the Canon 35-80mm F4-5.6 Powerzoom for Canon EOS.

So you won't find a DSLR with a motorized zoom. Digital zoom doesn't really offer good quality so I'd prefer a superzoom with a motorized optical zoom over a DSLR + digital zoom. If there are any DSLRs offering digital zoom anyway - haven't seen one.

Last year I hurt my right hand and couldn't use it for a while, so I put my camera on a tripod and handled it with my left hand only - this worked quite good and with the right hand only it would have worked better.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

Maybe have a look at something like this
http://www.instructables.com/id/DSLR-Vi ... oting-Rig/
It is designed for shooting video with a DSLR but gives an idea of how controls can be adapted.

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Nikon D90
Nikkor AF-S DX; 18-105 f/3.5-5.6G VR, 55-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR, 35mm f/1.8G
Speedlight SB-700

http://keystrokesukimages.com