I've used film as my primary camera in the past, but I lost an entire safari of photos this year. Whether a malfunction of the camera, security x-ray or whatever, it's gone.

If you were to buy a new digital SLR; primary use: hunting, game, bird, landscape photograhy, the occasional family or trophy photo; what would you buy?

I also carry a small pocket digital, so the SLR is primarily for longer shots, special shots, etc. I'd want a variety of quality telephoto/wide angle lenses.

Recharging could be a problem where I'm likely to be, so something that works on batteries would be preferable.

Welcome your thoughts and experience.

I bought a Pentax K-x, but it was because I could use all of my film camera lenses with it. Not high professional grade, but it takes AA lithium batteries for both the camera and flash.

Well, you can also lose all your digital pics as well so don't necessarily think that you are 100% covered on that. Some high end DSLRs can write to two card at once to create a real-time backup. Leica recently had a problem where the data was not transferred to the card...oof..


Pretty much any APS-C sized sensor of 12MP or so will do you fine. I suggest to double check native resolution to make sure you will have 300dpi at whatever size you want to print pics if you want to print them for photo quality prints. Most folks still don't make prints and just look on the computer screen, which is 72dpi. At that rate almost any camera looks good. I like to have prints of the good pics and nothing irks me more than wanting to print a pic and have it come out crap.

Costco has a Nikon 5100 with two lenses for $900 on sale. It would do anything you would likely ever need with a camera. Canon's Rebels are about the same class.

I'm not sure if there are adapters for them that allow AA usage. My Canons rely on an extra grip to do that which makes things heavy.

Saeed recommends the Panasonic non-slr zoom types and has had good luck with them.

Good luck!

I am no expert, but I started taking my own photos about a year ago, needing magazine quality shots.

I did alot of reasearch and went with the d7000 by nikon. Its still more advanced then I am though I found it to be a great product that would work across all the fronts I needed.

quote:

I did alot of reasearch and went with the d7000 by nikon.

That's a great camera!

There are so many makes and models that suggesting a particular camera/lens combination doesn't mean it's the only one capable of doing the same thing. You mention battery recharging as an issue. I don't know of any quality DSLR which works on over the counter AA or AAA batteries. They all have propriety rechargeable batteries and specific charging units. So just buy three or four batteries. There are however after-market chargers for some models which also use 12V cigarette lighter hook-ups.

I own and use extensively three APS-C sensor cameras: Nikon D60 (10MP), the Nikon D90 (12MP, now usually with my daughter), Nikon D7000 (16MP) and one full size sensor camera, the Nikon D700 (12MP). Every one of these cameras takes excellent pictures and I have posted photos on AR taken with all of them.

I will suggest that you think lenses first, camera body second. If you are serious about bird photography (and also wildlife in general) you will want a long lens (300mm equivalent and preferably 400mm) but the good ones aren't cheap. A 300mm or equivalent can be hand-held at high shutter speeds but in any less than bright sunlight really needs a tripod to take sharp pictures. Are you going to be lugging around a tripod for these pictures? Be realistic about your choices. I own a 28-300mm Nikkor f4.5-f5.6 with image stabilization and an older 300mm f4 Nikkor without image stabilization. At the 300mm length the 300mm prime gives a better quality image than the zoom, but it does not have image stabilization, is much longer and heavier and doesn't have nearly the all-around usefullness of the zoom lens. At the long end they are both equivalent to a 450mm on all my cameras other than the D700. But an f2.8 stabilized 300mm Nikkor costs several thousand dollars, where my two lenses are in the $800 to $1,200 price range.

Good lenses are good for years and camera bodies are "obsolete" every 6 months. Decide how much you are willing to spend on the lenses you will want to have, compare Nikon and Canon in this respect, and make the camera body choice second.

On my last safari to Tanzania I took my Nikon D700 with the 28-300mm as the "on the camera" lens and also took a 16-35mm Nikkor for around the camp. I don't really need more than that.

If you look at my pictures posted on AR of a recent trip to Nairobi National Park with the Nikon D60 and an 18-200mm Nikkor, you will be hard pressed to think that anyone really "needs" a lot more.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...6103246/m/7681077271


I think the Nikon D90 is presently the best deal around, for a camera body.

can you use nikor lenses with a canon eos

Yes you can . You neat an adaptor and all vill be manuel.
Try to google Nikon lens on eos.
you can also use Hasselblad ,Mamia and Bronica middelformat lenses on eos.
adaptor to this aboud 80usd http://fotodioxpro.com/index.p...adapters.html?cat=17

hunt safe wisent

I'll tell you, After seeing the new Fuji cameras, the X Pro 1 and the new X-E1, I think thats the new direction in prosumer digital cameras. I am very impressed with them for the type of shooting I do and really think they show some innovation in a market that has begun to play the same game computers did i.e. a 'new' computer was one with more Mhz in the processor (the camera just more MPs), eventually people just stopped caring and it mattered less and less when it got to a point where people couldn't perceive a difference.

I have a number of digital SLRs from both Nikon and Canon.

But, my latest favourite is the 7D. I seem to gravitate to that one more often than to any other SLR.

I have put it aside to take to Tanzania later this month - haven't made a final decision on lenses yet.

I am also taking several smaller cameras, including the Canon HX260, Sony RX100, Panasonic FZ150.

We hope to have a good selection of photos taken.

The technology advances quickly. What looked good six months ago is now obsolete. Nikon just announced a new full-frame digital camera, on the market since today, the Nikon D600. It is the lowest priced full-frame digital camera ever (around $2,000 body only) but takes all the old Nikon autofocus lenses as well as the new ones of course. It has HD video and something like 24 Megapixels (make sure you've got a few memory cards!)

If I were to recommend just one DSLR today, this would be it.

I have a D90 and used it for the past 3 or so years.

Great camera.

One tip is to download your pics daily to an iPad. You have a second back up and worse case is you only lose one day of pics if your camera screws up before you know it.

Thanks for all the input from everyone. Looks like I need a remedial course in technology, and a new camera.