Best cameras for photography?

[OkieChickenGal]

I mostly want to take pictures of chickens, horses, family, and other animals.. I would appreciate your recommendations on lenses.Thanks for all the helpful info!

 

[BuChix]

ok so... with erratically moving objects, which animals are when you're trying to get a photo (or small children), you can get away with a cheaper lens if you're shooting in bright light. As in natural light, not flash.

My best success with moving objects in various light conditions was a lens that could open it's aperture really wide. Think of an aperture like a flashlight. The largest aperture (1.4mm-2.8mm- one of those, the smaller the number the bigger the aperture things) is like getting one of those large spot lights they use on police helicopters vs a small aperture (5.6 and higher) which is like a penlight in comparison.

More expensive lenses have big apertures. Cheaper lenses have small ones. You can use a smaller aperture with no problem if you're shooting in bright daylight. Or have a flash (which doesn't play well with fast moving subjects) or a camera that has a large sensor that can bump the ISO really high.

Sorry long story short... get an older nikon camera DSLR, or newer one with a kit lens and shoot in bright light conditions. Get the hang of it. I

ISO is the sensitivity to light of the "film". It's like a cheat to crank it to the highest setting, you won't get detail (usually graininess is a big problem here) but you can get an image. Might not be a good image but an image. Think of all those security camera footage that is grainy and hard to see details of.

If you just want to get some decent photos, and don't want to get really into all this stuff or spend a lot of money... get a kit. Canon Rebel or Nikon D80 or whatever number they're on, costco seems to have them for a decent price regularly.

Basically what gets a better picture quality is the ability to change your settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) which is both camera body and lens dependent but it also depends on your composition. And lighting. Spend a little time experimenting and you'll get some good stuff. One of the photos I posted was shot with my iphone.

I've got over $20,000 in camera equipment (I'm a legit pro photographer). Cameras are tools. You can have the very best circular saw or welder, but that doesn't mean you know how to use it well. But you can spend a little time with it and the user manual, experiment, find some tutorials online and take some damn good shots. Without cutting a finger off or burning/blinding yourself like with power tools.

Also, gigabytes are cheap, film wasn't. Plus you can check the back of your camera to see how a picture turned out and have the ability to delete it. A little practice goes a long way.

 

[mdees88]

Did you ever get a camera?

 

[PhilippinerDreamer]

I love my Sony FDR-AX53. Shoots in still at 17.5 mp and does 4K video also with night vision and connects wireless to internet. Not sure if I can post a link to my images all online at FLICKR..... If so, hope an Admin can let me know. In the mean time this is an example (not my best by a long shot) Has awesome large format also.