Help me find a camera?!

helloamys

helloamys

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I'm getting my little rubbish digital camera replaced for Christmas for an SLR type one becuase Im after a better quality and sharpness, on most of my photographs Ive taken, the horse's legs are, not blured but not as clear as the rest (any suggestions to stop this?) but mainly because my digital one if convered in sand/muck/all sorts after many years of use
If you haven't already guessed - I haven't a clue about cameras :)

So far, Ive had a look on Flickr to see what photos are being took with what camera (I did try to look on proper website but had no idea what most of the words meant).

I would like to mainly take dressage and general horsey photos with the occasional labrador thorwn in. Id quite like them to be a high quality and nice and sharp

After a long look on Flickr, I found a few cameras/photos that Id like to find out more about
Canon EOS 20D or mebbies 400D
Nikon D60 or D3000

Ive been told my budge is about £400 but I dont mind paying a tad more a good camera

I know looking on Flickr isnt the best way to go as I imagine a lot of it will depend on technique and stuff but I think I can get a good idea


Theres no camera shops anywhere near where I live so can't go there to annoy them with all my questions, the best I could do would by Comet or Currys
Im about to try and find a camera forum for dummies and ask some more questions but I though seens so Id be mostly taking photos of horses, Id ask you lot first :)

I think I need some one to say - **** is great, go and buy that one :)

Any more suggestions/recomendations/advice very very welcome

Thanks
 
I've got a cracking one, not an SLR, but it's really REALLY good. It's the Panasonic Lumix FZ28, think it was about £250. Photo samples ...
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Bit of an overload, but you get the idea. It's really easy to use, and much MUCH cheaper than an SLR.
 
I have a Nikon D40 and my dad has a Nikon D60 and they are fantastic - get fabulous photos every time and for capturing animal movement they cant be beaten.

Here is a couple of shots from my D40

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Rubycanter010810.jpg
 
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Sorry its took me ages to reply!
I gave my mam a list becuase I still can't decided so hopefully she'll just pick one to save me :)

Dibbin - I love the picture of the Sky, was it really that orange? Its really good :)
I might have to look at some of the higher range digital cameras, that is so much better than the one ive got now

Staarzan - Thanks for the offer but as its for Christmas, my Mam wants to buy it herself from a shop - she's not the internet shopper type :)

Batty100 - I had a look about the website, and bookmarked it, its really helpful - the review for the D3100 sounds good, Thanks :) Ive also added the D40 to my list as well :D

Paint Me Proud - Your bay horse looks lovely! :) I love how you can see the detail in their legs, thats my main reason for upgrading. Both added to my christmas list :)

Sleepeeze Dad - Thanks for the link, Im just going to have a browse, a 12 month warranty sounds good though :)



Thanks for all the suggestions/recomendations :D

Any more?
 
Can't go wrong with a 400D, I had the older 350D as my main camera for years until I needed something a little more substantial for pro use.

I will say though that it's not just the camera, but you need an equally good, if not better lens in order to get fantastic shots. The kit lenses that come with most of these cameras are useless for serious sports photography and almost everyone will want to upgrade within the first year of buying an SLR. To give you an idea, my 40D is about £600, the lens I use is £650, the lens I will buy next when funds allow is £1200.
 
Yup, that was taken in the middle of the night last August ... me and OH were trying to get photos of a meteor shower lol. I've got some really nice shots of the stars :)

There's probably a newer version of mine out by now, I've had it for about 15 months.
 
Twizzel - I know the lenses will get expensive but Im hoping to upgrade as I get better and start taking it more seriously so I wont realise its that expensive.. or thats the plan :)
Can I ask what lense you currently have?


Now Im stuck between Cannon or Nikon..
Im temped to just 'ip dip' it because I cant decide :)
 
My camera wants to join in with the help :P I have a Samsung PL70 which also takes fantastic photos and videos, cheap I believe, too.

Samples...

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(Yes, they are all mine xD)
 
I have a Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd and I really like it. Here are some photos that I have taken with it (just on the automatic modes as I've not yet got around to learning more). Sorry for the amount of them but I tried to get an example of several situations.

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Twizzel said:
I will say though that it's not just the camera, but you need an equally good, if not better lens in order to get fantastic shots. The kit lenses that come with most of these cameras are useless for serious sports photography and almost everyone will want to upgrade within the first year of buying an SLR. To give you an idea, my 40D is about £600, the lens I use is £650, the lens I will buy next when funds allow is £1200.
Click to expand...
Second this! A good rule of thumb (in my opinion) is you should aim to spend at least as much on the lens as on the camera body. With most standard SLR cameras with decent sensors, which includes Nikon and Canon, you will see improvements in the image quality with more expensive lenses. In general, you won't get better images by buying really expensive bodies. The only reason to spend a lot of money on the body is if you really need the fastest shutter response, fast repeat rate, fast autofocusing and long time between changing batteries (by using an extra clip-on battery pack).
 
I have a panasonic DMC-GH2

Its very good and even my mum can take good action shots with it and shes not brilliant with the camera. Very easy to use but quite pricy at about £800. Luckily we got it second hand off someone who didn't realise how much it was worth for £150 :p
 
Twizzel said:
I've got a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens at the moment, but when funds allow will upgrade to the Canon equivalent :)
Click to expand...
I have a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 too, and love it! It has given me sterling service over the years, and is still my best lens. Unfortunately, it's on a old Pentax 35mm film camera body. When I feel I can justify spending the money, I'm getting a Nikon D300s with one of these...

http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Produ...S-VR-Zoom-NIKKOR-70-200mm-f%2F2.8G-IF-ED.html
(NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8)

P.S. There's another recent camera thread here...
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=415947
 
Thanks for all the replies, I'm spoilt for choice now :D

Jester Ben - I love the second photograph! And your bay has very white socks :)

HollyWoozle - I think I'll be sticking to automatic settings for a while too, I quite like the quality :) And abit off topic but Ive never seen a horse from above or looking up before :)
And were abouts was the last picture taken, it looks lovely
I quite like the sound of that camera, it doesnt look to complicated for me to use

Fburton - So it's better to spend say £300 on a camera and then £600 on a lense than the other way round?
And thanks for the link - I'd knew Id read a post about cameras a few weeks back but couldn't find it. It's a really useful thread

Kokopelli - Sounds like a bargain :D, I would like something that my mam can use aswell whilst I'm riding

Twizzel - Thanks :)

Laura1234 - I've added the Nikon D60 to my Christmas List :)
It's either a Nikon or Canon but I think Nikon sounds a tad better

Kerilli - Ive never looked at any Sony ones yet.
That one looks good, it's a decent price aswell so might be able to get a lense thrown in :)
Sorry to be nosey but did you take the pictures in your singature with that camera?


Thanks again everyone :)
 
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kerilli said:
i've got the Sony DSC-H50 and really rate it.
It does videos too, which is a fabulous feature.
Click to expand...

Your camera has really interested me as you can also do video's on it. I've just popped it in to E-Bay and the only thing I can find are accessories - 100's of batteries and camera cases. Am I doing something wrong? Great thread this as I am also looking for a new camera which can capture horses in full flight. Do all the ones mentioned have a fast shutter speed? Also what optical zoom should I be looking for? It's all complete jargon to me!
 
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helloamys said:
HollyWoozle - I think I'll be sticking to automatic settings for a while too, I quite like the quality :) And abit off topic but Ive never seen a horse from above or looking up before :)
And were abouts was the last picture taken, it looks lovely
I quite like the sound of that camera, it doesnt look to complicated for me to use
Click to expand...

The last photo was taken in the Molise region of Italy (I was on the back of a horse). The horse looking up is a Spanish stallion in Mijas and the eventer was at Badminton.

I enjoy photography but don't know much about it - I wanted a camera which could just help me to take nice quality photos but would then also allow me to fiddle with the settings when I hopefully get more knowledgeable. It does take a while to get used to it but I am happy with it. I think it costs about £250. :)

ETA: I recently bought this book but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Cheap and highly rated though! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Com...9922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290672885&sr=8-1
 
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