cameras

[knoppers]

I am thinking of getting a new digital camera. I have a sony 2megapixel now, and was woundering do I need a high pixel camera to take good wildlife photos. the prices are coming down, but do I need a 8 pixel or higher for qaulity photos? I notice that quality goes down when zoomed in. what is the best camera out there thats not outragous in price?

[hobbydog]

There are a lot of good options out there. There are many opinions out there but a high megapixel camera is a good thing. What it allows you to do is crop your pictures which in a way is a type of zoom. There are 10X cameras out there which are ok but the quality at the zoomed out ranges is not going to be good. I would look at what either Nikon or Canon has in your price range.....what is your price range? What type of pictures would you like to take most of the time?

[Steve Foss]

If you're serious about wildlife shooting, you'll need a digital SLR, not an all-in-one.

Compact digital cameras can have high megapixel counts, up to 8 Mp, but their sensors are smaller than the SLR sensors, and many go lower resolution when you hit the max zoom capability. You'll get better pics from an 8 Mp Canon Rebel XT SLR digital than you will with any of the 8 Mp compacts, and the XT isn't that much more expensive than the good 8 Mp compacts. The original digital Rebel, still for sale and cheaper than the XT, is a 6.3 Mp camera, and that's plenty if you want prints up to 12x14 (even bigger in the right mode with the right know-how).

The compacts also are pretty slow-witted when it comes to autofocusing the lens, and that's a BIG issue for wildlife shooting. Critters don't tend to hang around while you're waiting for your camera to get in gear.

Problem is, if you buy, say, the new Rebel XT (for a bit under $1,000), it comes with an 18-55 mm lens, and you'll need a telephoto if you want to shoot wildlife. An inexpensive option there, but one that takes sharp pics, is a Tamron 70-300 mm macro zoom. They run about $150. I used one before I upgraded, and they take nice pics. The macro is a good feature, too.

As the previous poster mentioned, there are too many ins and outs to discuss this thoroughly here.

I shoot the Canon 20D digital body, most commonly with Canon's 100-400 mm image stabilizer zoom lens. When I shoot in the RAW mode (again, too complicated to discuss here), I can make a print 3 feet by 4 feet and very sharp (truly). JPEG, the more standard mode, makes smaller files that can't be blown up as large as RAW.

Of course, if you're going to make your own prints you have to have a computer and printer (or one of the new smart printers that allows you to load in a memory card or CD and print right from those). Otherwise, you can take the memory card into many photo stores and some of the big box stores, download and print your pics right there.

The options are all over now, and they just keep getting better.

If you just want to take nice shots of people hoisting fish into the boat or posed shots of people with fish or deer or family groups, get a compact with at least 6 Mp, and you'll be able to have very nice prints made up to 8x10. If you really want to catch wildlife doing what wildlife does, you'll need to lay out more cash.

If you want to see these items and prices, go to this site: canogacameradotcom. That's where I do almost all my shopping for cameras, lenses and supplies.

[knoppers]

thanks for the good info.

[Steve Foss]

If you want to "talk" more about it, shoot me an e-mail with questions.