I’m recently retired and considering taking up photography as a hobby. I spend a lot of time hunting, fishing, camping and hiking. I’m very interested in capturing mammals and birds in their natural habitats. What would be a good beginner camera and lens ( high magnification) that doesn’t drain my bank account.
Canon T8i?
Full bodied or a smaller bridge type camera...
Welcome to the forum.
Thanks for the quick reply. Most of my subjects would be 50-100 yards away. What would be a good lens? What about using a spotting scope with a camera adapter and a good photo rendering software?
Dean Walters wrote:
Thanks for the quick reply. Most of my subjects would be 50-100 yards away. What would be a good lens? What about using a spotting scope with a camera adapter and a good photo rendering software?
It depends on your shooting requirements.
I have an 18-200 Sigma that lives on my camera.
I never considered using a spotting scope. I usually keep both eyes open when I use my camera.
Jeeze, editors? Elements is nice. Most cameras come with (download) an editor. Canon provides their DPP editor.
If you want to seriously get into wildlife photography you will need at least a 400mm lens. There are many good beginner DSLRs. Mirrorless cameras are the rage but they are quite expensive. Nikon and Canon have great entry-level cameras. Just do an internet search and then check prices on Amazon or B&H or any other camera supplier.
Welome the Ugly Hedgehog site. In perusing your misc. questions I would like to offer this as a suggestion that may hopefully be of some use to you. From a cost saving perspective I highly reccomend giving the folks at KEH camera a call. They in fact, do have a great reputation amongst many of the members here on this site. and more to the point, they have answers from pros that address every question you can possibly think of. You can start by renting or buying stock items from their vast inventory of new and used camera bodies and lenses and decide for yourself what works best for what you want from a camera body / lens combination. I trust you already know how all the camera setting options (shutter speed, iSO, aperture, manual mode) etc. work. PS; B&H photo is also a great place to shop.
Steven
Loc: So. Milwaukee, WI.
I'm in South Milwaukee, welcome!
Dean Walters wrote:
I’m recently retired and considering taking up photography as a hobby. I spend a lot of time hunting, fishing, camping and hiking. I’m very interested in capturing mammals and birds in their natural habitats. What would be a good beginner camera and lens ( high magnification) that doesn’t drain my bank account.
R10 with RF 18-150mm kit lens and RF 800MM f11.
Incredible reach for wildlife and the least expensive kit that does what you are asking for and will still allow growth as you become more interested in the hobby.
What’s your basic photography knowledge? Photos of wildlife at a distance are difficult to do. There are several good "bridge cameras" with easy to use features, close-up combined with long zoom capabilities that would give you a good place to start with a lot of focal length versatility. Bridge cameras don’t have interchangeable lenses but their photo quality is decent.
Welcome to the Forum, Dean.
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