Camera advice

acidrain

acidrain

Executive Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
6,965
Reaction score
1,762
Location
At a computer
Just looking for advice on a camera.

My main use will be for work purposes and generally zoomed in all the time as we do rope access work and it is mostly inefficient for me to get to where they are in order to take quality close ups hence the need for zooming.

I was looking on takealot and found myself staring at this but I notice that the telephoto lens has no IS so would this affect quality when handheld and zoomed in? ( this is where my bridge mostly fails as the quality really sucks when fully zoomed in +-20m away )

What kind of distance can you expect on that lens while still maintaining crystal clear quality.
 
acidrain said:
( this is where my bridge mostly fails as the quality really sucks when fully zoomed in +-20m away )

What kind of distance can you expect on that lens while still maintaining crystal clear quality.
Click to expand...


What is your object size at that distance? For example, "I want a photo of an object that is 40 cm wide to fill my photo horizontally".
 
A couple more questions:

Is the rope access done outside in good light conditions or is it also done in low light interiors? When done outside is there usually a bright background such as concrete (in this case you will need a camera with better metering and possibly a good dynamic range)?

Are there any contaminants present, such as dust or chemicals?

Are there any codes for the working environment regarding the use of electrical equipment?

Do you have requirements regarding portability or weight of the camera?

From your use of the bridge camera you should have an idea of the equivalent focal length that will be suitable. What should it be?
 
General Object size would be a normal person. Just needs to look as if the photo was taken right next to them. It's mostly for our website and brochures. rarer cases would be zooming up on grinding work for a more dramatic look if that makes any sense
 
acidrain said:
General Object size would be a normal person. Just needs to look as if the photo was taken right next to them. It's mostly for our website and brochures. rarer cases would be zooming up on grinding work for a more dramatic look if that makes any sense
Click to expand...

Ok, the Canon you listed has a crop factor of 1.6 (for Nikon D3x00, D5x00, D7x00, etc. use 1.5). Using the "Dimensional Field of View Calculator" (http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/calc.htm), you will see that a 300 mm lens will give you an subject size of around 1.5 m filling the long dimension of the image (i.e., person standing, portrait orientation photo).

So the 75-300 mm lens will nicely cover a person at a distance of 20 m (you may end up using a focal length closer to 200 mm in practice).

The 18 megapixel sensor will also give you plenty of detail --- the lens is likely to be the limiting factor in terms of sharpness (but only in comparison to really expensive telephoto lenses).

You should be able to manage just fine without IS if you mostly shoot outdoors during the day, provided you keep the shutter speed around 1/500 s. If you are mostly going to shoot hand-held, though, the IS will make it easier to frame the shot, so I would personally recommend a lens with IS at a 200 to 300 mm focal length. You can probably get a bundle with the same camera and short lens (18-55 mm), and just buy the telephoto lens separately. I am not a Canon user myself, so someone else will have to make a recommendation for a telephoto lens with IS.
 
Thanks for the advice thus far.

I have also looked at a similar Nikon in the price range given and came across http://www.takealot.com/nikon-d3200-24mp-twin-dx-lens-value-bundle-200mm/PLID32818403.

When comparing it to the 650D it seems to be the better choice: http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-EOS-650D-vs-Nikon-D3200 ( apparently 30% better photo quality amongst other things... pro's outweigh the cons from the looks of it). Also there are 2 twin lens bundles for the 3200, one with VX lenses and the slightly more expensive one with VR lenses, whats the difference?
 
acidrain said:
I have also looked at a similar Nikon in the price range given and came across http://www.takealot.com/nikon-d3200-24mp-twin-dx-lens-value-bundle-200mm/PLID32818403.

When comparing it to the 650D it seems to be the better choice: http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-EOS-650D-vs-Nikon-D3200 ( apparently 30% better photo quality amongst other things... pro's outweigh the cons from the looks of it). Also there are 2 twin lens bundles for the 3200, one with VX lenses and the slightly more expensive one with VR lenses, whats the difference?
Click to expand...

Nikon makes two versions of the 18-55 mm and 55-200 mm lenses: with VR (IS) and without. The "DX" in the name tells you the lens is designed for (only really works on) crop-sensor cameras (not full-frame cameras, but those start at R20k). So you can say "18-55 mm AF-S DX VR". If they say it is a "18-55 mm AF-S DX" lens, then one would assume that it is without VR, but you would have to contact them to confirm. Given the price, though, I would suspect non-VR.

Snapsort is a dangerous tool to use, especially if you tell people you used it ... :)

But in this particular case they have managed to highlight most of the important differences. The D3200 has a much better sensor than the 650D, but this is not something you are likely to notice on a properly exposed photo. The difference between 18 MP and 24 MP is not nearly as much as you would think (only a ~15% actual difference in linear resolution).

The best advice I can give at this point is to go and try out both (even try the Pentax K-500) in real life. You may find that you prefer the "feel" of a particular brand.
 
Not really sure why you want a dSLR for this task. I'd be looking at something like the PowerShot SX50 or 60 HS
 
bwana said:
Not really sure why you want a dSLR for this task. I'd be looking at something like the PowerShot SX50 or 60 HS
Click to expand...

Well the main use will be for work but won't be my only use as I've already started playing in the field of photography and dslr seems to be the cameras to go for for photographers.

Anyways takealot had a daily deal on a Canon 1200D with a 18-55mm lens so grabbed that along with a sigma 70-300 telephoto lens and I gotta say I have not regretted it at all. This was my first shot and even though it can be probably picked at to death, it is miles ahead of what my Bridge camera could do.
 
Last edited:
Fair enough. Are you sure it's the 1400D though?
 
DSLR Canon vs Nikon Starter Bundles

Hi All
Kalahari has the Canon 1200d Twin Lens for R4500.
As a beginner looking at a DSLR for the first time (i don't intend becoming a professional) taking pics of family and scenery, would anyone recommend it?
Vs the Nikon D3200 which will cost more (maybe there will be better specials closer to the festive period).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X