Help with camera choice

aidoh

Hi everyone,
First off I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post in, so sorry if this is clogging stuff up.
Im not a photographer in any sort of creative sense but I study biology and would love to get a digital camera with a good zoom and good macro. I was looking at this: http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/5004339/art/fuji/finepix-s2500hd.html bidge camera and think it looks pretty nice, but as I know NOTHING about camera stuff I thought I should ask people who might. Would this be a decent camera for someone like me (who only wants to shoot wildlife close up and far off) and the occasional gaff party and stuff. I've read some reviews on blogs but weirdly they've all been too good and written with the exact same wording, which I found a bit suspect.
It'd be a great help if someone could tell me the pros (and more importantly) cons about this little camera. Thanks!

PopeBuckfastXVI

In a word (or two) not really.

If you are serious about getting any sort of wildlife pics you can be proud of you need to go for a digital SLR, even an entry level SLR with a good long lens will be better than any bridge camera.

You want a fast lens that's capable of getting to at least 200mm at f/2.8 (the aperture - lets in more light, means you can set the shutter speed faster, means capturing that perfectly sharp pic, with no shakiness or movement blur), a second hand one for a nikon could set you back about 500, and an entry level SLR would be about 3-500, second hand, and depending on where in the 'entry' spectrum it sat.

Unfortunately wildlife photography requires specialist gear, and if that's where your heart lies, you may have to spend dinaros to get it.

Either way, save yourself the 200 quid on that one, it won't do what you want, and you'll be disappointed, in my opinion.

Freddie59

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

In a word (or two) not really.

If you are serious about getting any sort of wildlife pics you can be proud of you need to go for a digital SLR, even an entry level SLR with a good long lens will be better than any bridge camera.

You want a fast lens that's capable of getting to at least 200mm at f/2.8 (the aperture - lets in more light, means you can set the shutter speed faster, means capturing that perfectly sharp pic, with no shakiness or movement blur), a second hand one for a nikon could set you back about 500, and an entry level SLR would be about 3-500, second hand, and depending on where in the 'entry' spectrum it sat.

Unfortunately wildlife photography requires specialist gear, and if that's where your heart lies, you may have to spend dinaros to get it.

Either way, save yourself the 200 quid on that one, it won't do what you want, and you'll be disappointed, in my opinion.

That's the long and the short of it. If you want to do it right, it'll cost.

But if you don't want to spend big check out the FUJI MACRO SHOTS (with older models) on Flickr.

There's a review of a different model which mentions macro http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/04/30/review_camera_fujifilm_s200exr/print.htmlHERE.

Hope that helps.

goat2

today i bought a panasonic lumix digital camera
14.1 megapixel
8 optical zoom
any one on here know or have one
how do they find this

dryadssaddle

The new Fuji Finepix HS10 is just out. it seems like an excellent all-round camera for someone looking to get into photography. it'll take superb macro and 30x zoom (equivalent to around 700mm). It costs about €500. google it and read up on it. it also shots RAW at 10fps, stitches panoramic shots automatically, records video in HD and will also record video at 1000fps (although the quality is really **** at that frame rate). It has manual controls too

aidoh

dryadssaddle wrote: »

The new Fuji Finepix HS10 is just out. it seems like an excellent all-round camera for someone looking to get into photography. it'll take superb macro and 30x zoom (equivalent to around 700mm). It costs about €500. google it and read up on it. it also shots RAW at 10fps, stitches panoramic shots automatically, records video in HD and will also record video at 1000fps (although the quality is really **** at that frame rate). It has manual controls too

I wanted to get this one in the first place but 434 quid (on pixmania, anyway) was a bit too steep, so seeing the similar features on th s2500hd i started looking at that one. Looking at the macro shots that Freddie posted would sort of point me more towards one of these fujis. They're exactly what I imagine I'd be interested in shooting. I have a few friends with semi-pro dslr cameras soI may ask to borrow one for a day to get a feel for them, and see if it would be worth my while shelling out on an entry level or just sticking with the simple fuji one.

zerohamster

aidoh wrote: »

I wanted to get this one in the first place but 434 quid (on pixmania, anyway) was a bit too steep, so seeing the similar features on th s2500hd i started looking at that one. Looking at the macro shots that Freddie posted would sort of point me more towards one of these fujis. They're exactly what I imagine I'd be interested in shooting. I have a few friends with semi-pro dslr cameras soI may ask to borrow one for a day to get a feel for them, and see if it would be worth my while shelling out on an entry level or just sticking with the simple fuji one.

As the others said an entry level DSLR would do so much better in every respect to capture wildlife shots and with a good lens you would be able to achieve your long shots.

In respect to the macro aspect, if you mean shooting insects and flowers etc... up close then you might be able to get a macro lens with a long focal range.

as far as DSLR's go I think the lens is the most importand part of your kit because it really depicts what you can actually capture and the quality of the image.

for example: a Canon 1000D
(http://camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod661.html)
kitted out with a €700 lens will capture much higher quality shots then say a Canon 5D MKII with a €100 lens (not that they are supplied with one that cheap )

another option is the Canon powershot SX20 IS which is a bridge camera with 35mm equivilent 28-560mm focal range, image stabilisation, ISO up to 1600, macro modes and a good degree of manual control to ease you into DSLR territory if you ever choose to go there.
I owned one of these a short while ago from a competition and i have to say the build quality and feel is excellent, its also quite small for a bridge and is easy to use.
If i didnt already own 2 DSLR's i would have kept it

http://camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1188.html

thats my two cents for you
also that website www.camerapricebuster.co.uk is great for finding the cheapest prices.

goat2

goat2 wrote: »

today i bought a panasonic lumix digital camera
14.1 megapixel
8 optical zoom
any one on here know or have one
how do they find this

this camera has macro
it has intelligent auto
but i am not getting the perfect clear picture
what am i doing wrong
i am only an amature

Ghost Train

goat2 wrote: »

this camera has macro
it has intelligent auto
but i am not getting the perfect clear picture
what am i doing wrong
i am only an amature

you might need to post an example or two, could be one or two reasons

goat2

Ghost Train wrote: »

you might need to post an example or two, could be one or two reasons

thanks i will in the evening
when someone else is not on this computer of ours

breadbin

is it clear when its not macro or just macro? sometimes if you're on super macro setting and go too close to the subject it won't focus. well not sure about your camera but a few i've used.

it should mention the minimum focusing distance somewhere online or maybe just pull back a bit.

another thing is it in manual exposure mode? movement blur? stuff like that?

hbr

goat2 wrote: »

this camera has macro
it has intelligent auto
but i am not getting the perfect clear picture
what am i doing wrong
i am only an amature

Which Lumix model did you buy? Panasonic cameras usually produce
nice clear images. Make sure the camera has auto-focused properly
before you take the shot. Press the shutter button halfway and wait
until the camera beeps and/or shows a green indicator on the LCD
or viewfinder. Try to avoid camera shake, especially for long zoom
or close-up shots. Make sure you have enough light or if necessary,
use the flash.