# Photographing local wildlife. Newbie.



## destinys_only_sin

This is aimed more at the budding/semi-serious photographers on the forum.

I'm looking at getting out and about in my local area with a view to photographing local wildlife this spring/summer. But, to do this, I need a camera. Having never owned anything other than a cheapo digital thing (or more recently, the camera on my phone) I'm a little clueless as to what makes a good beginners camera.

I'm not wanting to spend mega bucks on something just yet, but want something with better capabilities than the cheapo stuff I've owned in the past.

Was thinking something like this to start me off . . Buy Olympus SP720UZ Bridge Camera - Black at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Bridge digital cameras.


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## Long way down

Hang on for a a bit longer and save for a DLSR, you may regret buying the bridge camera. Never seen cameras so cheep as they are now, back in 2007 you would be looking at around £600, now they are half that price.


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## Harbinger

Yeah you can have a good photo but people will think its crap if it wasnt taken with a DLSR, thats what happened to me in college anyways:blowup:
Not only do you have to get a camera, but then you would have to get a decent macro lens which probably cost just as much as the camera at least.


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## Long way down

dEsSiCaTa_UK said:


> Yeah you can have a good photo but people will think its crap if it wasnt taken with a DLSR, thats what happened to me in college anyways:blowup:
> Not only do you have to get a camera, but then you would have to get a decent macro lens which probably cost just as much as the camera at least.




Whats it got to do with anybody else taking photos is a enjoyment what ever the camera, by getting a DSLR gives you more scope to play with, adding different lens and bigger menu to play with. You dont need a macro lens for wild life, bridge cameras take decent photos its just that your limited to what you can do


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## slippery42

you can get some seriously good second hand DSLR's at present. If you are looking to progress your photography that may be an alternative route giving you much more flexibility.

Either way digital cameras allow people to improve their skills at a rate which simply was not possible in the day of film.

Have fun


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## iiisecondcreep

Bridge cameras are an excellent way to get into photography and learn how to use a camera properly without spending a bomb. Both my OH and I started with bridge cameras (both Fuji) and we both loved them.

Reason why... Looking at the camera you linked to, that gives 26x optical zoom which is 676mm equiv (which you'd almost get from a 400mm lens on a crop body dslr). This site Olympus SP-720UZ Digital Camera Review would indicate that you will get fairly decent results at the long end (if conditions are good...). To get that much reach from a dslr (basing this on Canon), cheapest option would be 55-250 plus a 2x extender. Lens: £160, extender: anywhere from £130. BUT using an extender you may slow down or lose autofocus, it affects the camera settings as you lose light getting into the camera and you lose a degree of quality as well.
You can get an ok quality up to 400mm for just less than 300. For Canons own you won't get much change from £900 (and its fairly huge/heavy). 
(NB The 250 gives you pretty good 'zoom' without the extender and its a very decent lens for the money).

Also, the bridge cameras will likely offer a macro mode, you can get macro on a dslr without buying a macro lens and by using kit lens only by reversing which can be challenging because it will be completely manual or with a macro adaptor which will lose you a lot of depth of field which can make focussing tricky.

Bridge cameras are a great introduction to photography and can really help you find out what you want from photgraphy before you go out and spend a fortune on camera and various lenses. Not to mention the hassle of carrying around and having to change lenses. 

My main criticism of the camera that you have linked to would be that it does not seem to offer a manual mode or even shutter/aperture priority modes. Personally I would go for camera which offers this... such as http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePix-S4500-Digital-Optical/dp/tech-data/B006Q8VAR2/ref=de_a_smtd


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## vawn

I was holding out for a dslr I would still love to get my hands on a rebel but i got for £50 off ebay a fuji fine pix and it's awesome, 14mp and 18X optical zoom the macro is pretty darn awesome the auto features make it really easy to use in any scenario n my fave bit at the moment is the rapid shot feature which means I never miss those brilliant wildlife moments 

FinePix S2950 Bridge digital camera | Fujifilm United Kingdom


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