Looking for some camera advice

[FsNovice]

I have been using my parents standard point and shoot digital camera for years now, and it produces some nice results, sometimes, but i want to do some more aviation photography and proper photography. I am completely bemused by the amass of DSLRS on the market. I would like some advice on a nice entry level DSLR, for around

[Omag 2.0]

Most dSLR's come with a kitlens, but the range isn't big enough to do aviation photography. It's usually in the 18 - 55 - 70 mm range. These lenses aren't the best either. Although Olympus gets very good reviews for it's kitlenses.

I'd advise that you go to a shop, look around and try-out some camera's. You must understand that you choose a system. Most dSLR users invest in better lenses over time and the lenses outlive the camerabody. So you'll have to stick to lenses for you brand. ( ex. you can't put Canon lenses on a Nikon)

Basically you should look for the best camera ( MP's, abilities, functions, etc.) for your budget.

Entry camera's are:

Canon 350D and 400D ( rebel XT and Rebel XTi in the US)

Nikon D40 and D40x ( but these are meant for 'normal' users, if you intend to go further in photography, you'll want a better cam like the D80 + they don't have an onboard focusmotor, so you'll have to buy lenses with this engine and you might guess that these are more expensive)

Pentax K100D Super

Olympus E410 and E510

Sony Alpha 100

Some only have 6 or 8 MP instead of the nowadays usual 10 MP, but that isn't a problem until you want to make large prints of your photo's.

Check www.dpreview.com for more reviews.

Also check out prices for lenses and accesoires, because one brand is more expensive than the other.

Basically, there aren't any bad camera's out there. You have to choose what you like.

As far as lenses go, usually 300 or  400 mm zooms are used for aviation photography. You can find cheap zoomlenses and more expensive ones. Once again, you should read reviews to decide what lense will meet your expectations and budget.

www.photozone.de

www.fredmiranda.com

Enjoy your search!

Omag

[FsNovice]

Cheers Omag, advice much appreciated, now just got to find the time to go to bristol camera shop to take a look!

[Omag 2.0]

Also think about the following:

Are you into photography allready? Or are you just a beginner?

dSLR's are good quality-wise, but it can become an expensive hobby. I've currently spent about 750 Pounds on my 400D  kitlense and a Canon EF-70-300 mm lens. I'm going to buy a lense with a big aperature for low-light conditions ( Canon 85 mm f1.8 or Tamron 28 - 75 mm f2. + an external flash. This will set me back another 450 Pounds. And this combo still won't give me all the possibilities my bridge-camera had.

If you are on a tight budget, you might want to check out birdgecamera's, who give you dSRL-like functions and settings, without the need of buying extra lenses.

For example the Panasonic FZ8 or FZ18, give you lot's of possibilities for a fixed budget. They are great to learn about photography an will avoid you spending heaps of money on a hobby you might even not like in the end.

But if you're dedicated and have the budget, do go for a dSLR.  ;)

[FsNovice]

That FZ18 looks like a nice one actually, no i come to think of it, it may be a safer bet, as, although i do a lot of photography, none of it is using advanced features, and the FZ provides a platform to try this out, and looks like a nice camera as well. A lot of reviews commented on the FZ18s problems with noise on long zooms, should this be a concern if i want to do some aviation photography? or not? Does anyone here have experience with this camera on which they could advise me on this? will take a trip soon to try it out somewhere, as it looks nice, but need to check it for real!

[Omag 2.0]

I have the FZ5 and although there is some noise, you can allways correct that using a denoise-program.

My fz5 has a 432 mm equivalent zoom, which is more than adequate for aviation photography. All my shots before december 2007 are made with this camera. Plenty of examples around.  ;)

[FsNovice]

Is the photo in your sig taken with that camera? I compared my sig photo to this, and yours seems considerably better, no noise at all!!! Cheers for the advice, i'll keep looking!

[Omag 2.0]

It is taken with the FZ5, one of my first spottingtrips to EBBR.

I'll never give up my trusted FZ5.  ;)

[pepper_airborne]

I got an FZ-8 and i dont have any more noise on long range then close-up.

[FsNovice]

cheers pepper, nice to hear such reassurance from an actual user of the product!

[pepper_airborne]

I took the photo in my sig with it, and i didnt have the time too get a stabilized position, and the plane was somewhere between 4000 and 6000FT, so yeah it works really well!

http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/020108B747NW.jpg

And this one was compressed, the uncompressed RAW looks better. I cant wait too find out what this camera can do when the planes are closer, i still havent found the time too bike too schiphol and take some shots, maby next week..

[FsNovice]

impressive, gonna go to the shop next weekend, when my bike will be in the shop being serviced, and check the FZ18 out for myself, looks good, seen some testers shots, want to verify these and make sure it fits well. Then, once i have enough! and some time, i shall cycle(great minds think alike, i live about 45 minutes cycle from the airport, so really easy to get to!) upto BIA(bristol airport) and see if i can improve on my first shots i got there!

[Mictheslik]

The guys in Bristol Cameras (the one next to St Nicks market) are a nice bunch.....I should know, I spend most of my time in there....

They're quite happy for you to have a play with the cameras and go outside the shop and take a few pics

My advice would echo that already posted. If you're serious about getting into photography then an SLR is the way to go, but remember, if you want to shoot aircraft a longer lens will also have to be factored into the cost....I have no experience of bridge cameras, so cannot speak about them, but I certainly would recommend an SLR (The 400D if we're being specific )

.mic

[pepper_airborne]

as mic is saying, if your really sure about this then a DSLR might be an investment, although i cant give you any advice on that.

[FsNovice]

went upto the shop today, didnt have the FZ18 in shop, but had a go with this one

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-olymp ... om.htm#img

really nice feel to it, and decent optical zoom, just need the money for it now, gonna check out some others as well, but the others didnt have the same level of zoom for the price and the lense on this one is nice enough. Now to save up!!!