Digital SLR Cameras

[Hood]

I originally was looking at the Oly. 750, but I just don't think I would be satisfied. So I am looking at the digital SLR's (Canon 10EOS)

I am wanting to use it for wildlife photography.

How fast can pictures be taken with these? On 35mm you can by a motorized film advance and basically take pictures as fast as you can press the buttons. Does it take longer since the picture is being processed?

I figure my cost for a good lens and the camera to be about $2000.00

Should I wait longer for the prices to start dropping?

Any suggestions for a good setup to purchase and things I need to consider?

Thanks

 

[WildBird]

Hood - Most advanced digital cams have a "multi burst" mode that records multiple exposures after pressing the shutter release once. There is no delay until the last frame is fired, and then there is a delay as the file is "written" to the media card. If you are after fast moving sports subjects, wildlife included, then this is a valuable feature. I understand that the Canon10D excels with this feature and can capture up to 9 frames at once. The controls are somewhat complicated on this camera compared to the 300D, which has the same recording sensor but fewer advanced control features and a plastic rather than metal body. For carrying in the field (and in general) I think I would opt for the 300D at about half the price of the 10D and spend the difference on a good image stabalized telephoto lens. The Canon lenses are excellent, but IMO Sigma lenses made to fit Canon rival the quality at a fraction of the price. BTW, the Olympus C-750 is an excellent camera at a bargain price with great telephoto reach and capable of pro level work in skilled hands. WB

 

[Saskman]

Hood

The Canon 10D will fire to a maximun of 3 frames /second to a maximum of 9 shots brfore it has to write to the CF card. The 300D shoots to a maximum of 2.5 frames /second to a maximum of only 4 shots before it has to write to the CF card. The much more expensive 1D will shoot to a max of 8 frames /second with a 21 shot buffer. Digital SLR cameras will produce photos with much less noise than point and shoot cameras. This is nice because I find that shooting wildlife you will be shooting photos in lower light conditions alot of the time and the digital SLRs will alow you to bump the ISO up quite a bit higher than the point and shoot cameras and still get photos with acceptable noise for enlarging photos. SLR cameras are a lot more bulky and will not fit in your shirt pocket like the digicams but I find that is a small price to pay for the advanced features you will get. You will find with most digital SLRs that the photos will seem alot softer out of the camera than with digicams. Alot of people are upset about this when they first use them. With the digicams there is aggresive sharpening applied with in the camera while with the SLRs this is left up to the photographer in post processing. This gives you greater control in how you want your photos to come out. If you do not enjoy post processing you probably won't enjoy a digital SLR.

The 10D is a great camera and I love mine. I mainly use it for wildlife photography as well and currently have a Canon 75-300 image stabilized lens. It takes very good photos but I have just upgraded to a Canon100-400L image stabilized lens( should be here on Monday or Tuesday). I will be selling my 75-300 lens so if you do pick up a 10D and are interested in a second hand lens(about 6 months old) you can e-mail me at cambarlow@shaw.ca and I will give you a very fair price. Sigma has come out with 1 image stabilized lens as well but I am not sure if it can be purchased yet. I am pretty sure it will run at a higher cost than the Canon 75-300IS lens. The 75-300IS lens is a very good lens for the money. I find image stabilization to be very important with my wildlife photography. It allows me to handhold the camera in most situations and not have to use a tripod to get sharp photos.

Getting into the world of Digital SLRs can get pricey because you will always want to get more and more gadgets LOL.

Here are a few photos I have taken with the 10D and 75-300 image stabilized lens.

This last photo was taken after the sun had set and I used ISO 800 to take the photo and it is still relatively noise free.( there is definately some noise but still very useable)

To see more photos taken with my 10D you can check out this link: My 10D Photos

Saskman

 

[Lan-Lord]

Hood, the turn around time from shot to shot is alot faster for a dslr. Also a biggie (for me at least) is shutter lag. A non-dslr will frustrate you because you have to wait just a little bit after you press the shutter button before the picture actually fires. Saskman outlined lenses pretty well. Good clean high ISO shots are definitely a plus with a dslr and definitely needed for low-light wildlife shots. High ISO's are basically unusable from a point&shoot digicam. I think your target of $2000 will be hard to achieve, even if you take the (more affordable) Rebel route. You will probably at least need 300mm of glass, more if you can afford it, for wildlife shots. Also memory cards (the bigger the better), probably a good sturdy tripod and/or lenses with IS. In the end, you will not want to only use this cam for wildlife, so you will probabably need some lenses in the 30-130mm ranges too.

I also am looking into getting a dslr system especially for wildlife shots in the next year or so and I have a hard time pricing it out for less than $5K.

 

[BlackTimber]

While not an SLR Digital I just got the new Panasonic FZ10. It's is about as close as you can get to an SLR Digi without being one.

I can only ISO from 50-400. I have shutter up from 8 sec to 1/2000 and Apature from 2.8-8.0
12X optical zoom plus 3X digital with I.S
Leica lens.
4.0 Megapixel
I expect this camera will serve me well for taking wildlife pics. You do have a little more options with the SLR-Digi's but you will have to spend a lot more.

Just a thought anyway.
Here are a couple pics I took only in 460

 

[Hood]

Thanks for the help and replies. The responses have been very helpful.

You guys have excellent photos!

Another question I have is in regards to lenses. I assume with the IS Lenses, you still have to consider your F Stop. Is this correct?

What kind of prices do the 300mm lenses run (with a decent F Stop)?

Thanks

 

[Saskman]

The larger the aperture you can afford the better but when you start getting into f2.8 lenses you will be paying big bucks.

Here are a few lenses for Canon Cameras to give you an idea of prices:
Canon Zoom Lenses
75-300 f4-5.6 USM $179.95 (non IS)
100-300 f4.5-5.6 USM $279.00 (non IS)
75-300 f4-5.6 USM IS $414.95
100-400L f4.5-5.6 USM IS $1389.00

Canon Prime Lenses
300L f4 USM IS $1139.95
300L f2.8 USM IS $3899.95
400L f5.6 USM $1019.95 (non IS)
400L f4 USM DO IS $4949.95
400L f2.8 USM IS $6499.95

Sigma(Canon EOS mount) zoom lenses
100-300 f4.5-6.7 $129.00( non IS)
100-300 f4 EX IF HSM $839.00 (non IS)
120-300 f2.8 EX APO IF HSM $1899.00 (non IS)

Sigma(Canon EOS mount) Prime lenses
300 f4 APO Macro $689.00 (non IS)
300 f2.8 EX APO HSM $2199.00 (non IS)

As you can see there is quite a range in lenses and also quite a price difference. The nice thing about the IS is it will alow you to hand hold the camera at slower shutterspeeds required by the smaller aperatures. The clean photos produced by the 10D and other dslr's at higher ISOs will also help you compensate some for a smaller aperature. Don't get me wrong, I would definately love to have a f2.8 telephoto lens but as of now it is just a dream ( these prices I have quoted are all in American funds you can add alot to those prices if you want to buy a lens up here in Canada)

Saskman