Would appreciate any comments / opinions as I'm considering stepping into the world of photography.
The main subjects would be birds, butterflies, dragonflies, wildflowers and scenic / landscape type photos .... that sort of thing.
I don't really want to go down the road of £1000 + digiscoping kit.
So, as I see it, it'll be a 35 mm. The problem is that I know very little ( bordering on nothing ) about cameras or photgraphy - terms such as f-stop, apertures, ASA are, in all honesty, meaningless. Nor do I know anyone who does know.
So, is this a sensible road to take ? Or, do I know so little I shouldn't even be allowed near a camera ?
I have, though, looked round a few shops and come up with a couple of 'deals' ( ??? ) .... Any comments / opinions on these ?
1 ..... Nikon F65 with 28-80 mm & 70-300 mm lenses .... £270
2.... Nikon F55 also with 28-80 & 70-300 mm lenses .... £290
I did look in a local camera shop but was more expensive, can't remember exact prices though. Anyone have experience of 2nd hand equipment ?
One question I've not really had a satisfactory answer to yet is about magnification. When you buy bins / scope it says X 15 ( or whatever ), cameras seem to come with XX mm lenses - been told a couple of times to divide the XX by 50 and that'll give you the magnification - is that correct ? If it's correct then 6X magnificaton is the most I'd get from the 2 above, would the addition of a 2X converter then work ok ?
As I said ...any suggetions / comments would be really useful.
Thanks in advance
You're in luck Carlos, BF Photography forums are about to be joined by one of the U.K's best wildlife photographers, with articles and maybe direct replies to your questions. Hang in there and you can get some advice from the best.
Andy
Hi Carlos,
I can't help you with the technicalities - far better to wait for expert advice - but the recent photos I have put in the Gallery, and attached to my Northumberland trips are 35mm photos.
I have absolutely no technical expertise, so they will give you an idea of what can be achieved from a zero knowledge base.
You must be aware, of course, that the Farne Island photos were easy close subjects, where I used my camera (Minolta Dynax 500i) on one of its preset settings, with autofocus.
If you come across the photos of the Redshank and the Reed Bunting, they were taken using a Cosina (not a good brand) 400mm lens with a 2x convertor, which necessitated manual focus.
The subjects were a good few yards away, but having seen IanF in action with his digi-scoping kit, I know that he would have achieved images of far greater quality than that.
I already had my 35mm kit, and so I am very reluctant to put it to one side, and rather, I am trying to put myself in situations where I can maximise the effectiveness of my kit.
So from your point of view - and I fully understand your reluctance to commit yourself to a grand's worth of gear - it would be a shame to spend £200-£300 (maybe more?) and then end up spending a further grand to go digi-scoping anyway.
Just my thoughts.