Camera Labs

Hi Everyone

When I got my panasonic lumix dmc-fz38 back in October 09, Ive become hooked on photography big style. My pictures just lack that x-factor, . I love to Macro and shoot pictures of wildlife, trouble is when I zoom in to the Birds its not crystal sharp images..and its frustrating..
So to cut a long story short, Im told a DSLR is better, because of the different lenses on offer (including tele-zoom ect..)
To start i want a budget DSLR, in the region of 500-700 pounds..
Ive heard the Canaon 500d is a good choice. is it ?

Any advice would be much appreaciated

Glyn B

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Glyn B

Have a look here on the which brand part of the forum.
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=31

hth,

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Joe
Canon 40D + BG-E2N Grip | 70-200mm f/4L USM | 50mm f/1.8 Mk II lens | 17-85mm IS USM lens | Canon 430EX II | Other bits
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The big thing with bird photography is getting something with a fast focus.. especially for birds in flight.

First thing to figure out is what brand you like.... Nikon, Canon and Pentax all make good bodies as do the other companies.

If you are serious about wildlife take into account that body build and weather proofing go a long way.. especially if you plan on multi-day trips in rough country.

In regards to lenses... rough rule of thumb is if you are shooting mammals a 200mm is a good starting point... if you are into birds a 400mm is needed... they dont need to be primes and to start you are much better off with zooms. A 400mm goes much farther in getting better shots of mammals as well... in regards to birds... after a while you will be craving a longer lens than 400mm as well but that will be down the road.

I shoot almost exclusively wildlife and the vast magority of the time I have a 100-400mm zoom on my camera.. it really fits almost every situation for wildlife.

I'm partial to canon but that is just me.... all cameras have plus and minus points.. best thing to do is go to a camera store and touchy feely them... fondle them... ... to your hearts content and go with what is comfortable for you and of course take a look at gordon's reviews

If you are curious as to what type of shots you will get with a 400 zoom take a look at my flickr account, link below, most of my shots are taken at 25-60 meters or longer

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

Hi Wolfsong

Thanks for your reply, I will take your advice and like you said visit some stores for a handling session..Like you said there's pro's and cons with all cameras. Iam leaning towards canon, and the canon 550d, but the nikon d5000 looks a good challenge.
I know canon do a huge selection of lenses too and cheaper maybe than the nikon? I would be wanting a good all-round lens, and after-market ones from the likes of Myphotoland, look ok. But is it wise to stick to canon's own lenses for example? You sound experienced enough to know what your talking about. have you had experiences with "Duff" lenses?

Kindest regards

Glyn B

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Glyn B

I've only owned a dslr for about a year now.... owned a 35mm bout 15 years ago so my experience is very limited compared to others here on camera labs. If anything I consider myself ignorant when it comes to other's knowledge here on camera labs in regards to the technical aspects of cameras and lenses.

Canon lenses are for the most part cheaper than nikon and canon also offers a larger variety... at least up here in canada. You may want to take a look at sigma and/or tamron lenses as well. Ppl speek very highly of them and they are a lot cheaper than canon lenses.

In regards to bodies... like I mentioned above.. read a lot of reviews but in the end it comes down to you and how it feels in your hands... even the reviews will vary slightly from site to site with cameras that are close in performance like many canon and nikon models are.

Now this might be a very simplistic way of looking at it but my opinion is that if the ppl who get payed for impartially writing their reviews about these cameras cant find large differences between 2 bodies and opinions vary slightly one way or the other on certain performances of the cameras then the odds of you even noticing these differences as a beginner are small to say the least. That being said go to the store(s) and play with them... see what "feels" best in your hands... see how the function buttons/dials work for you and if you are comfortable with them and how they function. Take some pics with them and get the store to put them on their computer so you can look at the results.

Time and time again you hear ppl proclaiming how good one brand is over the other and how lousy other brands are in comparison. The truth is if this was the truth you would be seeing the vast magority, if not all, pro photographers using the same brand and this is not the case by any means... it really is all about personal preference and what you like in the feel of a particular camera as well as what you like in regards to pictures taken with a particular camera.

One final comment on camera performance.. No one will dispute that a great photographer can take a great image with a lousy camera.. Photography imo is more about the person and his/her knowledge of the gear and knowledge of subject, light and other variables as well as their passion for it and commitment to it.

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

Hi wolfsong

Thanks for replying once more. Well you have opened my eyes alot wider now, and Im going to go this weekend to our local camera shop with my wife in-tow with an open mind. Your right in saying its down to the individual really who's using the camera. I think thats a good summary.

Great help Wolfsong, I thank you

p.s ive just started with this forum and cameralabs, so we might catch up with each other in the future.

Also, have you visited www.ephotozine.com ? Im on there under Glynbig, and lumixKING

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Glyn B

Dpreview.com and Steve's digicams are also very good and helpful review sites, for both camera and lenses. Keep in mind, though, that dpreview.com is a pixel peeper review site, and while they have very thorough reviews, they can also get ultra picky about resolution, noise, and such in sample pics. Stuff that most people probably wouldn't even notice.

And this is just my own choice, but you might also check out the Nikon D90. It's advantage over the Nikon D5000 is that it can take older AF lenses that have no internal focus motor on the lens. (Lots cheaper than focus motor lenses) It also has a much better LCD screen and viewfinder than the D5000.(Although the D90 does not have an articulating lcd screen...same as the Canon)

Keep in mind that the Canon 500D, Nikon D5000, and Nikon D90.....none of them have any sort of weatherproofing. Although bad weather covers for all of the above are not very expensive.

In the end, I think you would be happy with either the Canon or the Nikon.....just depends on which one feels better to you. Also be sure to check out some of the other brands, as well.....as Olympus, Pentax, and Sony all make some very decent slrs.

Best of luck to you!

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Nikon D90
Several used lenses for the above....
Canon PowerShot S3 IS

no matter what you pick I look forward to seeing some of your pics in the wildlife section of camera labs

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr