Advice Please

[Stu_London]

Hi

I am off on the net weather storm chase to USA next month and need to update my rather rubbish digital camera in advance of this.

Can anyone recommend a good model - perhaps one which is particularly good for nature and weather shots.

I wouldn't say money is no object, but would invest substantially in the right model.

Thanks in advance

Stuart

[tufty]

Stuart

Can i suggest that whichever model you decide on, that you purchase the camera the other side of the pond.

With the exchange rates that they are the camera would effectively be half price.

However, there may be customs issues, but who is to say you didnt take it over with you.

My camera went defective on me whilst on holiday in florida, so we just nipped in to walmart as you do, to be able to continue our holiday....if you get my drift

[Ross B]

Canon 400D

It has an automatic mode so dont worry about it being difficult to use. If you learn how to use the functions before you go and take a tripod with you it will be great for lightning shots as well.

Im not sure if Canon offer an international warranty however, so you will need to take that into consideration if buying over there. You would maybe be better buyin it in the duty free area in the airport over here?

Im not sure if the Canon 450D is out yet, been to busy lately to keep up with photography stuff.

[multi cellular thunderstorm]

Canon 400D

It has an automatic mode so dont worry about it being difficult to use. If you learn how to use the functions before you go and take a tripod with you it will be great for lightning shots as well.

Im not sure if Canon offer an international warranty however, so you will need to take that into consideration if buying over there. You would maybe be better buyin it in the duty free area in the airport over here?

Im not sure if the Canon 450D is out yet, been to busy lately to keep up with photography stuff.

Looks like the 450D has been put back from March to April, it would be best to wait for that.

If you do buy the camera when you get there i'm sure they'll be out by then.

Best UK price looks to be £529 from 7dayshop

[Budgie]

I can also recommend the EOS 400D, best thing I every did was buying that.

Or if you're looking for something that doesn't need interchangable lenses then Fuji also do some good cameras like the S9600 with a 28-300m lens.

[Ilovecornwall]

i would recommend a samsung d75 it has a 7mp camera , an automatic shoot thing where it adjusts the settings to just the right photo it has ASR where if you have a shakey hand it comes out clear still a mode where you do the settings yourself different scenes and night mode ect!!!

[Rustynailer]

Canon 5d are comparatively cheep as chips atm...thats why I have one, the 24-105 L lens will do the chasing stuff too. I would expect to get those two for the equiv of £1700-1800 in the aforementioned super powers camera shops with a bit of shopping around.

The 400d quoted by Ross B cuts the mustard though, with a good lens like the 24 105 L. Canon international warranty stands when your name is on the receipt

Russ

Edited March 12, 2008 by Rustynailer

[Just Before Dawn]

Lots of Canonista's on here I notice - are you used to using a digital SLR Stu? The Canon 400 is a very capable piece of kit (this from a Nikonian) - I've got a Nikon D70 - which is a good starter DSLR and can be picked up secondhand for under £200 these days if you're canny - and a Nikon D200, which takes a bit more skill to use but is capable of producing some pretty impressive images. Certainly picking it up in the States is a good plan (Nikon do an International warranty, I believe) as it'll be a lot cheaper, but if you're not used to using SLRs it can take some time to start producing really top quality images and, of course unless you pick up a kit (in which case you're stuck with the lens in the kit) you also have to budget for a lens as well. Best advice is to pop into your local LCE or camera shop and try a few out.

If you want a point-and-shoot digital, I can't recommend the panasonic Lumix range highly enough. I have an FX-55, it has a leica lens and is a cracking camera for candid shots and have taken some of my best landscapes with it.

Edited March 22, 2008 by Just Before Dawn

[Yeti]

Don't laugh.

Go to Aldi and buy a digital camera when they are on offer. I have always bought mine from there; I recently bought a 6mp camera with 4x optical zoom for 69.99. By far and away the best value cameras, and always brand names under disguise with a 3 year guarantee, 4 rechargeable AA batteries, a charger, SD card (mine had a 512Mb), a case and any necessary leads.

People laugh at Aldis but the quality and value cannot be beaten. Unfortunately, they don't normally sell SLRs.

Edited March 22, 2008 by Yeti

[Pale Blue Sky]

Hi

I am off on the net weather storm chase to USA next month and need to update my rather rubbish digital camera in advance of this.

Can anyone recommend a good model - perhaps one which is particularly good for nature and weather shots.

I wouldn't say money is no object, but would invest substantially in the right model.

Thanks in advance

Stuart

Hi Stuart

I took my little Olympus Mju 800 compact camera out chasing last year, and got some decent pics. It's fair to say the zoom wasn't up to much, and not great for lightning shots either - which is the bonus of a DSLR like one of the Canons already mentioned above - but for convenience sake (jumping in and out of chase vehicle) for me it was the better choice! I was more interested in watching the weather than photographing it anyway

Whatever you choose, have a great time out there!

-PBS-

[Sticky]

I woud definitely recommend the Canon 400 DSLR, I used to own one & the picture quality is excellent

[Thundery wintry showers]

I currently have a Canon Powershot A560 which has pretty much everything I need for taking pictures of the weather, good quality pictures using its landscape mode, and videos that run at up to 60fps (though I choose 30fps to save memory). Those are where I get my lightning captures from. I believe it cost me just short of £100.

I did have a hard look at many of the other brands, especially as I had previously had problems with "E18" lens jamming errors with my PowerShot A75 and A85 (the A75 due to faulty lens design, whereas the A85 wasn't really Canon's fault as I took it to the beach and got a lot of sand caught in the lens mechanism). However, it seems that the problem is less common on Canon's newer cameras than on the old A70/A75/A85/A95 range, and it appears the other brands suffer from the same lens problems anyway.

Other good brands include Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Fuji. The problem I found was that from the perspective of taking photos and videos of weather it was hard to get as good a set of features as with the Canon range for the same price.