Camera Help Please

[starr52]

We want to buy a camera to take on our Alaska cruise. We have digital camera but want to get a 35 mm camera. I am hoping to get a picture of some wildlife. Any suggestions on a not to expensive 35 mm camera??

Thanks in advance for you input.

[pappy3393]

Personally, I would invest in a good digital SLR camera with a zoom lense. This is a fairly expensive option though. I just bought a Canon SLR digital camera ($899) and I love it.

 

A good 35mm film camera is the Canon Rebel. Can you tell I am biased toward Canon? You need good zoom capabilities, so a good zoom lense is a must. You will probably pay more for the lense then the camera but the lense can be used down the road with a digital SLR camera if it it the same brand.

[starr52]

28-80 zoom ok??? What I really would like to get a pic of is a whale. I tired using my digital cam to photograph dolphins last August and the shutter speed was to slow so I missed everyone.

 

Rebel K2 or TI is what we are looking at now. How are those??? Thanks for your help

[Yukon]

For wildlife in Alaska the minimum useful telephoto lens is a 200mm, and a 300 is better. A zoom gives you a great deal more flexibility with no lens-changing hassles. "Not too expensive" may be much different for you than it is for me, but the Rebel K2 gets good reports. The lens you need will cost more than the camera, though - keep in mind that lens are one of the places where you really do get what you pay for (a cheap lens is worth far less than $0 if you want to come back with good photos).

 

Murray

[starr52]

thanks Murray... am searching the net now. :) Know of any good sites to look at. I really want to take pretty pics :)

[Budget Queen]

I agree with Murray- 300mm is the min. for wildlife. AND tours are necessary to greatly hedge your sightings.

[starr52]

Ok what abt a Canon EOSRebel G11 with a 70-300 macro lens???? Would that be ok?? I am really clueless here. Thanks !!!

[Yukon]

Photography Review is one of the sites I use when I'm looking for new gear - http://www.photographyreview.com/pscCameras/35mm/Canon/PRD_144219_3105crx.aspx

 

There are good 70-300s and poor ones. If you stick with Canon's own lenses you can't go wrong - others are cheaper but often have quality issues.

[starr52]

Thanks.. checking out that site now. I am just so excited to be going on this cruise. A little over 5 months now.. wonder if I can get thin by then??? LOL.. NOTTTTTTTTTT

[JPCruising]

I used the Canon 70-300 IS zoom lens on my trip to Alaska last summer and got quite a few good shots with it. At times I wish I had if more reach like a 100-400 zoom which is very expensive. I used the 70-300 lens for my whale shots along with the Digital Rebel Canon body. You can see my Alaska pictures at: www.jprphotos.com

[starr52]

JPR... those are MAGNIFICENT photos. I really enjoyed each and every one of them!

We vacationed in Sanibel Island in August and experienced Hurrican Charly. Holy MOLY!

June, we go to Alaska.. I can't wait

[starr52]

Ok.. sooooo I COULD get good wildlife pics with a canon digital??

[JPCruising]

I think you and anyone else can get good pictures if you are willing to put in sometime to become familiar with your camera and to learn some of the basics of photography. First, I recommend purchasing your camera well in advance of your planned trip. For example I purchased my Canon Digital Rebel Jan. 04 specifically for my June 04 Alaska trip. This allowed me a lot of time to get familiar with my camera. There are also several great forums that will offer good advice. So buy a camera and go have fun.

[Thoth]

The last 2 years I have taken my Canon Rebel 35mm on the Alaska cruises. I have 2 lenses one is the standard 35-80mm zoom and the other is a 80-200mm lens and was always changing back on forth. I found the need for both wide angle and close up zoom and at times at the same place. Be versatile..... is what I learned. Also take plenty of film becouse it goes quickly. I utilized 14 rolls of film which was to the delight of the Wal-Mart photo shop manager.

Also I prefer 400 speed film for Alaska, although the lower speeds did work . if one opts for higher speeds film they must be very careful in airports due to the X-rays.

[JohnQ]

14 rolls of film is good--for a day or two. But if you are going to spend any extra days or do lots of excursions, take twice as much film as you can imagine using. If you go digital, take several extra memory cards, they are getting really cheap. On the long lense, the Canon or a similar Nikon beginner 35slr camera with a 28-200 Manufacturers lense or best quality from Sigma, Tokina or Tameran would be good. Along with matching 1.4x or 2x teleconverter or a 70-300 lens, you would be set to go. As JP said, buy it early and practice and read manual. I posted pictures taken with Nikon with 70-200 and 400 lenses and Oly digital with 10x optical zoom on following site:

http://community.webshots.com/user/jq4653

[firebuffgal]

I'd suggest a any Cannon or Nikon film camera for ease of use and quality. I know you are looking for a film camera so what I've offered below won't be much help to you, but perhaps to someone looking for a digital camera (or if youd decide to replace your current digital camera).

 

I have both a Nikon D100 and D70 with a varietry of Nikon zoom lenses 18mm up to 300mm. Remember when purchasing an SLR digital camera, that there is a 1.5 conversion factor to consider, meaning the field of view is smaller than a regular 35mm film camera. So if you typically shoot with a 50 mm lens on a 35 mm film camer then use that lens on a a digital SLR, you will actually "crop"/lose some of your field of view. In other words, your 50mm lens turned into a 75mm. To compensate, you will need to find a lens large enough to get that "whole" image such as using a 28mm lens - 28 x1.5 = 42mm, about 50mm.

 

When pruchasing a digital SLR, please, please, please, ask the sales person to demonstrate this issue and if they have no idea about the 1.5 conversion factor, run, not walk, to another store or sales person. When paying hundreds of dollars for an instrument that you will use not just once but hopefully a life time, you want someone knowledgeable helping you.

 

If you decide to go with a regular digital camera (not a digital SLR camera), choose the Optical zoom over the Digital zoom. Also, try to get the highest megapixel count your pocket book can afford. 6 megapixels will print great 11x14's! Cannon, Nikon, Olympus and Minolta are all great camear manufactuers.

 

Last but not least, check out all camreas here: http://dpreview.com/

 

Hope this info is useful....

[emund]

I totally agree that dpreview.com & stevesdigicams.com are the two sites to use as the "bible" for digital camera buying. I too have been looking to upgrade my camera recently and was tempted to jump into the dSLR arena, and came close to getting a Rebel. The price of the lenses scared me off though (the kit lens offered a worse zoom than my old 35mm camera). Don't get me wrong, if you have the money, the add-on lenses are incredible for the Rebel or Nikon, and well worth the investment.

 

I chose to go for the "best bang for the buck" route and decided to get a Canon Powershot S1 IS with a 10x optical zoom and image stabilization (great feature). I can honestly say, that for sub $400 there is not a camera around that can touch it. The zoom is fun to have and will come in great use for me up in Alaska, and the feature set (manual controls, etc) is comparable to a dSLR camera. The only negative is that it is only 3.2 megapixels, but that is great for me because I don't intend to print larger than 8x10's. If you want to go with higher resolution, you WILL have to sacrifice optical zoom to maybe 3-6x. I'm a very happy Powershot S1 owner and you can read other happy reviews by users at cnet.com or amazon.com .

 

Like all camera's with a heavy feature set, you really need to spend some time with it to learn all the tips and tricks well before your vacation. Also plan on stocking up on a few large CF cards (or whatever memory card type your new camera will require)....the ship prices will be through the roof!

 

Erik

[starr52]

Edmund.. I read the reviews and ended up getting the same camera you did. Thanks much for the info. I think for the money I could spend it was a great choice.

Thanks to everyone for all of your input.

Happy cruising!

[maple]

There are more ways to skin a cat than one and more than one camera than Cannon!!!! Try these SLR's:

 

Minolta Maxxum 5

Pentax ZX-60

Nikon N55

 

All of these are under $200

I picked up a new Pentax ZX 60 body for $99.95 at http://www.samys.com/

Just shop around a little.

[emund]

Wow congrats! I'm know you will be happy with your purchase choice once you get used to the features. There is a lot to soak in, so read the manual in spurts. I've had to go back to the manual several times to read up on different features and some small things such has how to move the focal point to different areas. The high resolution video feature is a nice bonus, though I don't use it very often (just when my dog decides to do something really creative). One tip that's been really useful to me: If you are zoomed all the way (10x) and the camera is having a hard time focusing in low light, aim at something at a similar distance first that it CAN foucs on, hold that, and then return back to the desired area and you'll have a great picture. I can't wait to use the great panorama feature in Alaska too.

 

Maple: I hear what you are saying. There are some great deals on non-digital SLR's out there. The learning curve can be steep though and I would rather do my mistakes on a digital screen than waste film that I can't "delete and reshoot". To each their own though ;)

[Singinman]

I hope you to as well with your new camera as we did. :) We bought a Panasonic Lumix last year. This years model is ever better. The 12X stabilized optical zoom really works. But my wife and I just checked JPCruising's pictures and they are the best Alaska pictures we've seen on line and we have looked at several 100. I have only seen digital pictures one time that equalled his. They were taked with a $5,000 Nikon digital SLR. The Pholographer had about 10 different lenses at his disposal including a couple with a tripod mount on the lens.

 

 

Do check with your cruise line to see if they offer the service of downloading your pictures to a CD each day. AT the end of the cruise you are out $40 (with Princess) but have one CD packed with pictures.

 

jim form VA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

c

[GNisme]

My husband bought me a Canon Rebel 2 camera last year and I love it. I got an extra lense to go with it that is a 300 mm and I get great pictures. My husband has a better camera (higher end Canon) and lenses he paid over $3,000 for and my pictures are just as good, in fact better because I'm a better photographer, but shhh don't tell him that. Good luck, I can't wait to take all my pictures. I have a good digital too, and I'm going to take tons of pictures with it, but I plan to use my Canon for postcard type pictures and wildlife.

[irismike]

I have a kodak ditigal camera any tips on taking pictures with that camera. Thanks