Wildlife Photography

[BarkingFox]

I want to move into wildlife photography - and perhaps build up into a more professional level, than I currently am.

I'm looking for a camera that produces good quality pictures, is not too complicated or outrageously expensive (However, I do appreciate that the best quality cameras are expensive).
Nonetheless are there any good ones for a begginer? Particularly useful for wildlife photography?

Does anyone have any good advice?

Many Thanks!

[OldBoy]

Look at the secondhand market, as you can pick up a Nikon D200 at less than £400. It's a semi-pro weather sealed body and shots at 5fps. I've still got mine and use it instead of my D3 sometimes. They only thing that lets it down is noise above ISO 800, hence why I got the D3. Use it in Program mode and the camera will choose the ISO, Shutter speed and Aperture then, as you become more use to it you can select Aperture or Shutter priority or both with manual. When I brought mine it cost £1,300 brand new.

[Cathus]

A decent quality lens would be good, especially if you are looking to get into the realms of professional photography.

If you want to go to that length then you'd be looking at a prime telephone at least 300mm, but they're not cheap.

[Cathus]

Worthwhile? depends on how much you use it and how much pleasure it gives you.

I'm lucky enough to have a 600mm prime but it costs over £7,000, it's one of my most used lenses and produces beautiful quality photos so for me it's worthwhile. I do earn some money using it but not enough to pay for it by any stretch. If I had the money I'd get a 400 f2.8 prime.

you can't beat a high quality lens

you won't find many professional wildlife photographers using a £300 70-300mm lens for a reason.

[markgozz]

Most new beginners or mid range cameras be them Canon, Nikon, Sony or what ever are going to give you a very good quality image if you put a good lens on them , I am currently looking at a Nikon 300mm f4 for about £ 1,000 to go on my Nikon D90 @ about £500 , not a lot of money in the grand scale of things and the reviews are very good for the image quality on this lens . But a good professional quality lens with a wide f stop is always going to cost you thousands .

Mark

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by BarkingFox

Oldboy - Thanks for the advice, I'm cautious about second hand, due to my lack of knowledges I fear I could be easily fobbed off with something dodgy - nonetheless I'll certainly look into it! Do you know of any other cameras that I can buy brand new, that are reliable and good for a novice?

If you go to somewere like Grey's of Westminister, who only do Nikon equipment, then you can be sure they check everything before reselling it. Some others do the same like Mifsuds.

http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/...hp?cat1=4&pg=1

I know the Nikon D300 is weather sealed but not sure on the Canon brands. Olympus and Pentax cameras are also weather sealed, but don't know enough about them to say which model you should choose. Mifsuds have a D200 for £399 which has only 2,000 photos taken with it and it's rated for 150,000 photos. They also have a D300, which is the upgrade of the D200, for £639 and it's has better ISO than the D200.

http://www.mifsuds.com/acatalog/Used...l_Cameras.html

As for lenses then with Nikon you can use older AIS lenses, which can be a lot cheaper than the modern versions but are still great optics. You can check out Ken Rockwell's site for all Nikon lenses and what he thinks of them. He like me raves about the Nikon 400mm F2.8 AIS which sold for £9,500 when new, but I got mine for £2,400 from Mifsuds a few years ago. The only faults with it is, it weighs 6kg and isn't weatherproof.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by markgozz

Most new beginners or mid range cameras be them Canon, Nikon, Sony or what ever are going to give you a very good quality image if you put a good lens on them , I am currently looking at a Nikon 300mm f4 for about £ 1,000 to go on my Nikon D90 @ about £500 , not a lot of money in the grand scale of things and the reviews are very good for the image quality on this lens . But a good professional quality lens with a wide f stop is always going to cost you thousands .

Mark

If you can get the Nikon 300mm F4 at £500 grab it, as you can stick a converter on it to get either 420mm F5.6 with the 1.4 converter or a 600mm F8 with the 2x converter. I've used both with the D200 and D3 but you need a tripod to get the best from it.

[markgozz]

I wish , the lens is £1,000 ish the D90 is £ 500 .

I will get the 1.4 converter at the same time as all the reviews I have read recommend this pairing ,and I think I'm right in saying that the Nikon 1.4 converter will keep the AF but the 1.7 or the x 2 don't .

Mark