Dart Den
Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...
Dart Den

Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
i need a camera
#1
I'm a point and shoot kinda guy and am needing a new camera.
I know nothing about what to buy or what 90% of the buttons they have do.

Any suggestions for a good all around camera? Something that I can get good close up pictures with, easy to use and versatile?

Would prefer to stay under a grand with everything but not necessary if a few more bucks make a big difference in quality and function.

Thanks for any advice
Reply
#2
Are you looking to remain as a point & shoot or wanting to move into the world of SLR?
Reply
#3
Wanted to move to SLR.

And keep it as simple as possible
Reply
#4
I'm shooting with a Nikon D90 and am more than satisfied. In my opinion, as long as you have a decent lense. I dislike Tamron and other off brands; nothing like the smooth fluid motions that nikkor lenses have Smile
Reply
#5
What's your budget. I'm close to considering selling off my 1D MKii and a decent amount of lenses. 100mm macro and 50mm macro included. Cannon Ring light, etc., etc...
Darts with parasites are analogous to mixed tanks, there are no known benefits to the frogs with either.


If tone is more important to you than content, you are at the wrong place.

My new email address is: rich.frye@icloud.com and new phone number is 773 577 3476
Reply
#6
RichFrye Wrote:What's your budget. I'm close to considering selling off my 1D MKii and a decent amount of lenses. 100mm macro and 50mm macro included. Cannon Ring light, etc., etc...

Budget is flexible but looking to stay around 1k. Not set in stone. But not looking to spend 5k then not know how to use it and then stick it in the closet, which is normal procedure for me..... if I can use it and its a fair price then its in my budget.

I googled your camera and came up with prices ranging from $500 to $10,000 so not real sure what I'm looking at.

SnakePaparazzi Wrote:I'm shooting with a Nikon D90 and am more than satisfied. In my opinion, as long as you have a decent lense. I dislike Tamron and other off brands; nothing like the smooth fluid motions that nikkor lenses have Smile

I just looked at those. Would I want to get the package with a load of other stuff included?
Looks to be $800 to $1,500+ depending what package or options, is it worth while to get one of the packages?
Most important part...... is it simple to use or major learning curve?

Thanks for the help...
Reply
#7
[Image: 8yradagy.jpg]

Get a micro four thirds body (like a GF2) off eBay for $300. Add 50mm vintage macro from Nikon, Olympus, or Minolta for 50-80 bucks.. Add $25.00 adapter and then spend $20 bucks on a ring light on amazon.

You can spend less on the body too...just buy something 2-3 years old.

[Image: 4uma6are.jpg][Image: ga4e5any.jpg]
Reply
#8
Don't forget to look at store display model. I paid $350 for my Olympus E520 body, two lenses, two batteries, OEM case, and all the box stuff.
Later and Happy Frogging,
Jason Juchems
Reply
#9
FWIW I found Bob Atkins' site helpful when I was hunting around for a new kit a few years back. Good forum with good advice. In general, unless you are hardcore, the recommendation was to go with a consumer/prosumer body and spend your money on your lenses. I bought a 40D new, then a few months later I added a used 20D backup body from Adorama. It was the first used camera body I had ever purchased and I was nervous, but the transaction was smooth and I was pleased with the product. I saved a good bit of money buying used, and I had two camera bodies to work with which allows me to "switch" lenses without changing them out (a life saver if you ever have to send a body in for service). So I opted for cheaper bodies to focus on building out the lenses in my kit.

I find primes to be a joy to work with, producing incredible images and often without the need for a flash. I've got an assortment of primes; for frogs I mostly use my 100 mm 2.8 Canon macro. It's generally not fast enough for unassisted photos, but when properly lit with either a flash or additional lighting it can produce stunning images. Outdoors, no other lens in my kit can approach its sharpness. I also have a 50mm 1.8 and an 80 mm 1.8, and they produce awesome images indoors with no flash. I'd say 60% of the kid pictures are taken with the 80 mm. Outdoors, I use a 28-135 and a 70-300.

As you can see I'm into Canon, but you cannot go wrong with Nikon either. Pick a vendor and realize you will be a Canon or Nikon person for the rest of your life once you buy into their lenses Smile I'd say find out what your friends have, then buy that body so you can share lenses. The other thing you can do is find a local shop and rent a lens for a weekend to get a feel for it - nice way to try something out before investing.

One item you should consider is a good tripod. It's pretty valuable working with frogs. I like a heavier tripod - I trashed a 28-135 lens when my old cheapo tripod tipped over. I replaced the lens, but then I dropped some coin on a manfratto with a pistol grip and a Canon remote trigger. That combined with the 100 mm 2.8 macro is the mainstay of my frog kit Smile

I don't think you would be able to pull all that off for $1K, unless you go used on the body (maybe save $200, but you'll give up the kit lens and trade for a better body). The 100 mm 2.8 (non-IS) is about $550, a new T3 with a kit lens is around $500, and $300 for a good tripod (base with pistol grip) would put you at $1350 or so. That would give you a walking around lens and a frog lens. I use a CHEAP (seriously - $30) ring lamp for macro work, so that would help with lighting. Anyhow, that blows your $1K budget a bit, but you could look used to knock it back closer to your range. Generally once you buy high end consumer (or dare you stray into the Canon "L" series professional lenses) lenses you will have them for a LOOONG time. I got into SLR 20 years ago and never looked back.

All the SLR's have a "full auto" setting that you can use as a beginner. As you get comfortable with the camera you can start experimenting with different settings. There's a good series of books by Scott Kelby that introduce you to digital photography. They are cheap too - I think I paid < $15 for mine.

Good luck!
Jim from Austin | https://www.oneillscrossing.com/dart-frogs/
fantastica nominant | summersi | reticulata | A barbotini
Reply
#10
In all honesty, you need to go to a photography forum and read. Canon has it's own forum site ;
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

To give you all the relevant info about your options here, you'd have only a bit less luck going to the Canon forum and asking about Darts...

I too have Canons and I too have the 100mm macro 2.8 and I can in no way tell you how to take great macro shots with either it or my Leica P+S. But, there are about 10, 000 posts there that can.

I have owned both Nikon and Canon. I chose Canon this time because they hold a bigger market share and that gives both breaks in price and more availability at times.

Just trying to point you in the right direction in the terms of info bang for the buck.
Darts with parasites are analogous to mixed tanks, there are no known benefits to the frogs with either.


If tone is more important to you than content, you are at the wrong place.

My new email address is: rich.frye@icloud.com and new phone number is 773 577 3476
Reply
#11
I appreciate everyone's input and advice.

I think I'm just going to start with a Costco package. Its a Nikon 24 mega pixel with a couple lens for $800
If I remember correctly it is a d something 3200.

I just want to be able to take good pictures ( good for me - I know that is all relative..). I don't want to make it a hobby at this point of invest hours doing research. When I started looking there was just to many options to sort through when I'm starting from scratch. My plan tomorrow is to hit up costco unless someone tells me that is a bad idea..

Thanks for the help
Reply
#12
Get a good P+S.
Darts with parasites are analogous to mixed tanks, there are no known benefits to the frogs with either.


If tone is more important to you than content, you are at the wrong place.

My new email address is: rich.frye@icloud.com and new phone number is 773 577 3476
Reply
#13
D3200 with an 18-55 is $600 on Amazon. I don't think you can go wrong with Nikon or Canon! There are also some combo specials listed on Amazon for add on lenses - typical, you can get discounts by adding another lens to your purchase. I'd dig around on Amazon before heading over to Costco, maybe you can pickup another lens for the total price.
Jim from Austin | https://www.oneillscrossing.com/dart-frogs/
fantastica nominant | summersi | reticulata | A barbotini
Reply



User Panel Messages

Announcements
Announcement #1 8/1/2020
Announcement #2 8/2/2020
Announcement #3 8/6/2020