What is your recommendation for a best quality digital camera mainly used on safari and outdoor activities?

Thanks.

We have been very pleased with our Canon. The pictures are very high quality (though that's also a function of megapixels) and it's much easier to use than many other brands. My mother's Olympus requires an engineering degree to use.

LWD

The big 2 in the SLR's are Cannon and Nikon. I think that a very general consensus would be that Nikon bodies might be a little more refined and Cannon has a better variety of high quality lenses.

I bought a Cannon since with a SLR (what you want for high quality) the lenses are your most lasting investment. A fine set of lenses will last you through several bodies. If you are quite well heeled go with a 5dMk II with a 24-105L to start with (about $3500 more for a pro-quality body). If you want to spend less try the new Rebel Ti (around $900) with a lens. Both will also shoot HD video!

Nikon also makes comparable models, usually they seem to be a little more expensive.

I've bought several items from Joel at Cameraland and got great service and excellent pricing. I wouldn't let him talk me out of Cannon or Nikon though.
B&H Photo is kinda the Camera Walmart, I try to only use them if Joel doesn't carry something or is out of it and I'm too impatient to wait.........................DJ

I have this
http://www.titanium-gunworks.d...a/leica-d-lux-4.html

Leica here - it is awesome! I never regreted to buy it!

Leica of course makes excellent optics but most or all of their compact camera's are actually made by Pentax (Leica makes the lens', like Zeiss makes them for Sony's).

But there is a large quality difference between a compact Point and Shoot camera and an SLR. If you want good and quick a Point and shoot like the Leica ScubaPro shows is a good idea. If you want the highest quality and interchangable lenses you'll want an SLR of one flavor or another.

I bought one of the best Point and Shoots money could buy and was a little disappointed in what I could accomplish until I bought an SLR..........................DJ

First you have to decide if you want a point and shoot with a long zoom or an SLR with interchangeable lenses. Let me know and I will be happy to make some suggestions

Joel Paymer
Camera Land
575 Lexington Ave
New york, NY 10022
cameraland@aol.com
www.cameralandny.com

I use a old Cannon point and shoot for most of my back pack hunting.
In hunting blinds I have been very happy with my Cannon SLR 40D or D40. I forget the nomenclature. The lenses I use are a 300 F4 IS and a 70-200 2.8 IS. I also have L type 1.4X and 2X multipliers.
They take great pictures. If you start going larger and faster than these lenses then you begin getting into REAL weight and MONEY!
That Cannon 300 F4 IS (imagine stabilization) is a great lens for wildlife and is size managable!

Fuji Z10 point & shoot, goes in a shirt pocket.

I was an Olympus man in the SLR days and went digital with a Fuji ending up owning 2 so was impressed with them. Then I was lucky and won a Panasonic off this forum from Cameraland – did they flinch at posting or serving a customer from the UK, not at all. The Panasonic has a Leica lens, and the focusing, and features are miles ahead of the of Fuji both of which have since been sold.

Then you need a Snap Shot Adapter for your binoculars http://www.swarovskioptik.com/en/products/40 in combination with the Panasonic its an excellent outfit and when not needed slips in you pocket.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by djpaintles:
Leica of course makes excellent optics but most or all of their compact camera's are actually made by Pentax (Leica makes the lens', like Zeiss makes them for Sony's)./QUOTE]

Panasonic, actually. Not Pentax.

Thank you Gentlemen.

I don't know enought to know if I want a point and shoot or a SLR. I want quality pictures from a camera I can easily carry. Is that a reasonable request?

I have a Cannon A-1. Is this a camera to try and add accessories or update? (I know its old). My other cameras are Nikon Cool Pix. I get by with these cameras but am trying to figure out if and how to improve.

Thanks again.

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
Leica of course makes excellent optics but most or all of their compact camera's are actually made by Pentax (Leica makes the lens', like Zeiss makes them for Sony's).

Panasonic, actually. Not Pentax.

Thanks for the correction, at least I remembered it was P something :-) ..............DJ

quote:

Originally posted by Buliwyf:
I don't know enought to know if I want a point and shoot or a SLR.

Actually, you just answered your own question right there. You want a Point & Shoot.

A DSLR is a very specialized piece of equipment. Sure, you can use it like a P&S (point and shoot) camera, but why? You've got lens options, depth of field, flexibility at such an unbelievable level that it can be mind boggling. In the past you worried about film grades - ISO 100-1600...and then you worried about the type of film: Kodachrome, B&W, Fuji - it's all different. And THEN you start to consider the f-stops and more.

Think of it this way: You have a gun safe. In it you have 25 different rifles ranging for hyper specialized .204 Ruger varminters all the way out to a .600 Nitro Double gun. AND, you handload for all of them. You have 15 different powders and 10 bullets types or more per caliber.

What do you pick to go hunting with? Depends on the game, right?

OR, you just reach in and grab that Remington 700 in .30-06 that punches out a 180gr. bullet at 2800fps and groups 1" at 100 yards.

The P&S is the .30-06. It can do everything, but it's not specialized. It could be more accurate, or maybe shoot a heavier bullet. It's not an Elephant Gun, but how often do you actually Hunt Elephant?

Unless you absolutely want to deal with all the variables of a DSLR, then what you really want is a P&S.

I have a DSLR - an older Nikon D70 with a few lenses. The only time I reach for it is when I have very special situations: weddings or family gatherings.

Any other time I reach for the Point & Shoot. It's more than enough for 90% of the situations out there. The simple truth is that the P&S camera's today are absolutely superb. In broad daylight it gets very difficult to tell the difference between the P&S and DSLR cams. Unless you WANT to be highly artistic with your shots, then there is little point in a DSLR.

you can check out www.dpreview.com for reviews. They have a number of very good comparisons to review. My recommendation is simple:

Panasonic ZS1 series is a superb starting point. The quality is excellent. It's got a GREAT zoom. It's image stabilized. And the colors are true and strong.

It's also pocketable - which really is a big deal.

Anyway, good luck with your choice. But I really think you already answered your own question when you asked "Do I want a DSLR?". If you did, you'd know.

Thank you Robert and everyone else for taking the time to point me in the right direction.

I appreciate your help.

Buliwyf

I bought a Nikon D90 and an 18-200MM lens last year. On Auto or Program settings it operates exactly like a point and shoot, at least compared to my Nikon F3 or my FM2. However the image quality is very good and the option to go for control is there if you want to use it. I now pick up my D90 for point and shoot. I have posted some of the photos taken with it on my July 2009 Namibia hunt report.

I'm with Wink on this. Took the same Nikon setup around the world with me recently and took over 3500 photographs many in difficult lighting situations. Simply superb, rivaling film SLRs and better in some respects.

No compact P&S in my experience even comes close so those are relegated to a "snapshot" role now.

Ultimately it depends on how much you want/can spend, how small it has to be and mostly how important those photographs are to you it terms of quality.

Wait a little while.
With technology advancements, your camera, cell phone, GPS, and short distance radio will be all you need in one package with batteries that last a week between charges. If we ever get generic SAT links for phones, then ????
We are almost there already with memory capacity.

It's like the answer to the question on what is the best hog gun (Answer: The gun you have in your hands when you see a hog.) The very best camera is the one you have with you when there is a photo opportunity. The great camera back at the truck or the camp might as well have never have left its home in China.

Whatever else you might buy, I recommend that you purchase one of the simple, relatively inexpensive, breast pocket-sized digitals; some of them are hardly larger than a credit card. You can carry it at all times on your person without even knowing it's there, so when you find yourself somewhere you would otherwise not be lugging a larger, more sophisticated camera along, you will always have the little bugger to capture the just-killed trophy kudu or the live shot of the out-of-season 6x7 elk you stumbled across while hunting muleys. Buy one of these little cameras and carry it always, then shop for your "serious" camera.

SLR cameras are admirable in their capabilities. They are also large, heavy, expensive, and complex. Unless you are a pro or a highly dedicated amatuer, skip the SLR and get one of the nearly-as-good P&S digitals with a 10X or even 15X zoom lens. These usually have automatic features that allow an amatuer to get a decent shot off without fumbling with settings for 30 seconds while the photo subject runs off. They also can be had in 10 or 12 or even more megapixels, allowing you to "blow up" the photo even further and still maintain detail.

Despite there being dozens of "brands" of cameras on the market, my understanding is that there are only a handful of actual manufacturers, so the difference in "brands" is usually one of features rather than quality. Most of the digitals are of very good quality.

If you select a brand that uses SD or Micro SD cards you'll find that memory cards are somewhat cheaper than XD or Memory Sticks. Also, when you find a camera that appeals to you, type the model designation into Google or some other search engine. This will bring you a plethora of independent reviews and comments which can point out shortcomings like limited battery life or overpriced accessories, or advantageous features.

Eezridr; the problem with waiting awhile is that you never end up buying anything because there is always something better or cheaper on the horizon. I'm sure you have DVD players/recorders HDD's etc that in todays dollars you now paid far too much for too little but were cutting edge at the time. Have to bite the bullet sooner or later or not have any fun.
Stonecreek; Most of us have a P&S available for still and/or video for that once in a lifetime opportunity that you weren't expecting. It's in your phone.
For serious photos of your safari or trip nothing beats an SLR, film or digital (yet).

On my last four hunting trips I have taken two cameras, a Canon S5IS and a Canon 850IS. The S5 is a little large to carry around unless it is in a pack so the majority of pictures taken were with the 850 - more than twice as many as with the larger camera.

The smaller 850 fits in a shirt pocket and was always available when needed. The large was used after for trophy pics, scenic photos, or portraits when there was more time for set up.

If I had to chose only one - I'd go with the smaller.

quote:

Originally posted by Ozzie:

Stonecreek; Most of us have a P&S available for still and/or video for that once in a lifetime opportunity that you weren't expecting. It's in your phone.
For serious photos of your safari or trip nothing beats an SLR, film or digital (yet).

Taking a photo with a phone yields about the quality of one of those cameras behind the cash register at a 7-Eleven. The little-bitty P&S cameras, some of which are now incredibly small, can be had in qualities up to 12 MP and 5X zoom. The photos I took with my 7MP P&S shirt-pocket model in Africa two years ago equalled, and in some cases bettered, those of our guide's, who was a professional photographer, and those of my compantion's, who had an expensive film SLR. I would advise when looking for a pocket model P&S to look for one of the increasingly rare ones with an actual viewfinder. When in bright sunlight it is often impossible to see the image you're trying to frame on the 2 1/2 LCD screen.

I will stipulate that for serious photos nothing beats an SLR -- if you happen to be a serious photographer. I'm a fairly serious shooter, but like most other shooters, am not a serious photographer. Those of us in that category are handicapped by a complicated and expensive SLR. Ansel Adams I ain't, but I can take some fantastic hunting photos (and hundreds of them) with any of the P&S digitals on the market today.

Currently I use two older Nikon CoolPix Point & Shoot and one 30 year old Cannon A1. After listening to comments I'm think I'm good to go with my older CoolPixs. I'm thinking to replace my Cannon A1 with a Digital SLR, but I saw a camera line referred to as a "bridge" camera. More than a P&S and less than a DRLR. Questions:

1. Do you agree with retiring the A1?
2. Comments on "bridge" cameras?

Thanks.

Unless you are a photographic artist who does his own dark room work, film cameras are essentially obsolete. There are certainly some lighting/color/contrast effects that certain artists can achieve with film which digitals don't quite duplicate. But for capturing an image with high fidelity to its live appearance, digitals are in most ways superior to film. And so much cheaper, with essentially zero cost per frame.

An issue that hasn't been addressed is photo preservation and storage. Although we think of digital code as timeless, no one quite knows how long an electronically stored file will exist without corruption in any of the current media (flash, hard drive, DVD, etc.) We also don't know when the industry will suddenly declare an electronic medium dead, like the 5 14 and 3 1/4 floppy discs or cassette tapes. You could very well end up with a thousand photos stored on a medium that no computer has a slot for ten years from now.

Depending on storing your photos on the hard drive of your personal computer is a very short term thing for most of us because we get a new computer on the average of once every three to four years. I know that I lost a whole group of treasured photos when a technician tried to rid my computer of a virus and wiped all of my photos out. Hard drives can also crash.

Currently, most computer nerds agree that if you really want to preserve your most important photos you should print them out on high quality non-acidic paper. That seems old-fashioned, but it may be the most dependable in the end. You can also store them remotely somewhere like Photobucket, but who's to say how long and effectively some third party will preserve your files? Something to think about.

I'm going to have to disagree with the idea that Point and Shoots are "nearly as good" as a SLR. I have a few different point and shoots a couple of them among the highest rated models. There is definately a substantial difference in image quality between my Canon G9 and my 50D. I do use the highest quality lenses available for my 50D -"L"s and so maybe there's less of a difference if you use say just the kit lenses. but if you want high quality an SLR is simply better.
Yes you can get some good pics with a P&S, I've taken several. But I know that I could have taken higher resolution and better pics had I used my SLR. Megapixels aren't everything. An SLR with a good lens at 10mp can take better pics than a P&S 14.7mp camera.

There is certainly something to be said about the best camera to use is the one you have with you! I think the best plan is to have a good P&S in your pocket at all times and have a SLR available for when you have a little more room an time and/or want the highest quality photo's possible............................DJ

I had my own photography business for several years and as far as 35mm, we used all Nikon Pro equipment. I have some slr's with thousands of frames through them. All the major brands carry good equipment, just go with the best pro equipment. More importance with the SLR should be placed on the glass-use all pro lens. It is expensive to use the fast glass but well worth it.