1K budget nature / wildlife budding photographer

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andydeano

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Andy
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After the helpful and informative help with my own camera purchasing in https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/mirrorless-£2k-to-spend-decisions-decisions.635783/page-2

I thought I'd ask about the above for the daughter, she's quite an accomplished photographer having won a few county schools photo competitions and been runner-up in others. Her current camera si an E-PL1 with original kits lens and the Olympus 40-150. She done well out of Christmas and I'm putting some towards her budget as I see it as an investment. She's very much a wildlife / nature / animals photographer.

Upgrade options

M43 - EM10/2 / E-M1 (better tracking I believe) 60mm macro, Olympus 75-300 and 12-50(the current 14-42 is terribly slow)

M43 - GX7 14-140, Olympus 60mm macro, 100-300 and a prime 17/25/45

DSLR - D5500, 18-200VR or sigam 24070 2.8 Macro, 70-300VR

Fuji - while it would be cheaper to get her a nice body X-T10 and she could use my lenses, I think it would probably frustrate her, she already is with the E-PL1 :p, at school she has used Canon and Nikon DSLR's

Understandably the M43 would be lighter and offer more lens choice and more reach with the crop factor, but I'm not sure if the focus speed/tracking would on par with a D5500, she like capturing birds taking off landing on water (lake near where we live) along with birds in general / in trees etc etc.

I'm slightly inclined towards the Nikon DSLR, sure it's going to weight more, but from much reading around over Christmas it would seem DSLR's still have the edge over M43 in terms of focus tracking. (G80 with DFD and EM-1 with firmware version 3 improved a great deal but it's not quite on par yet.) Or would M43 be more than enough....I'm not wanting the camera to be a hindrance to her developing her skills, settings/technique obviously need to be learned but I know how frustrated she gets with the E-PL1 but also know she has gotten pretty amazing pics from it as well. She does hate the focusing speed on it.

Thank you for any thoughts. checking my sanity....
 
I don't know if this would help but if you are prepared to buy secondhand, I would consider buying a Nikon D7100 body with either a Sigma 150-600 C or the equivalent Tamron version as an ideal wildlife / bird photography set up for your Daughter.
The reach she would get from this would be a huge asset and also the AF would be a vast improvement on her current system.
Alternatively she could go the Canon DSLR route and get the original 7D with either the zooms referred to earlier here or the superb Canon EF 400 f5.6 prime which again would come within budget if you went the used route again.
You should be able to get both of these 'used' given your 1K budget and she could keep the Oly for a walk around kit alongside the DSLR.
 
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Would your daughter be OK with the weight and size of the 150-600,if so it could be a good way to go.
 
Wardy07, I was intending to buy everything secondhand. She's not going to mind and it's the best bang for buck way to a good setup.

I've not looked at Canon because I'm not familiar with there cameras lenses. I'll check out the 7D though.

The Sigma/Tamron looks an impressive beast for the money! Would certainly be a major step up

Thanks for your thoughts and input.
 
mikew said:
Would your daughter be OK with the weight and size of the 150-600,if so it could be a good way to go.
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She's likely to always be out with me, so Carring shouldn't be to much of a problem.
It would be used on a tripod so shouldn't cause to many issues for her.
 
andydeano said:
She's very much a wildlife / nature / animals photographer.
.....
I'm slightly inclined towards the Nikon DSLR... it would seem DSLR's still have the edge over M43 in terms of focus tracking.
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What kind of wildlife / nature / animals? If it's birds in flight, the AF performance of a DSLR would be advantageous. But most other wildlife doesn't move that fast.
 
Given the mkii release the mki em1 is remarkable value s/h currently, seen almost mint going for sub £400.
 
StewartR said:
What kind of wildlife / nature / animals? If it's birds in flight, the AF performance of a DSLR would be advantageous. But most other wildlife doesn't move that fast.
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She's not really had the opportunity enough to get birds in flight. Down to never having a DSLR with her and my Fuji just isn't up to it.
 
B1ts said:
Given the mkii release the mki em1 is remarkable value s/h currently, seen almost mint going for sub £400.
Click to expand...

I've noticed them for around £450 with a 6/12 month
Warranty. I believe the focusing system is better on an em1 over the em10's. If Olympus continue to support the camera with updates as well as Fuji do with there cameras, they are excellent value.
 
EM1 focussing is just about usable for moving things, I recently had some success tracking two collie puppies and a 1 year old Springer. It's no way near the AF of a decent DSLR but usable, both shots below were taken with the dogs running at the camera, most of the series are in focus too.

With the EM10 or EM5ii I never even bothered to switch CAF on, it is that bad.

Benji by Ned Awty, on Flickr

Springer on the run by Ned Awty, on Flickr
 
andydeano said:
Wardy07, I was intending to buy everything secondhand. She's not going to mind and it's the best bang for buck way to a good setup.

I've not looked at Canon because I'm not familiar with there cameras lenses. I'll check out the 7D though.

The Sigma/Tamron looks an impressive beast for the money! Would certainly be a major step up

Thanks for your thoughts and input.
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Just a heads up if you do want to go the Sigma 150-600 route, there is a 3 month old Nikon fit one on another forum for £490. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to name the forum here but if I can I'll happily pass on the link if you want it.
Maybe someone could let me have clarification on this subject?
 
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andydeano said:
Wardy07, I was intending to buy everything secondhand. She's not going to mind and it's the best bang for buck way to a good setup.

I've not looked at Canon because I'm not familiar with there cameras lenses. I'll check out the 7D though.

The Sigma/Tamron looks an impressive beast for the money! Would certainly be a major step up

Thanks for your thoughts and input.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, the 7D appears to be a little behind the D700 for performance - plus the larger sensor and lower noise would be advantageous I believe..
 
I have found the following to be good for Wildlife
D7200 or D7100 or D700 + Nikon 300mm AFS f4 + Nikon 1,4TC

if funds allow Nikon or Sigma 105mm f2.8VR ..... which is great for Portraits when you can get close

buy all used off here
 
Comfortably possible - I would suggest the canon 100-400 mark 1 and a decent body - squeeze a 7D in for that, I think. 100-400 is a corker!
 
Wildlife is a very wide subject

Why not concentrate on one aspect of wildlife ? Get top gear for that there is no such thing as a do all lens. I would recommend she starts on insects and flowers they are obliging subjects and she will get spectacular results. Gear Nikon 7100 and 105 2.8 VR for a grand no probs
 
Go DSLR of some sort for wildlife. It's a very demanding subject on autofocus. About the harshest there is.

Also the lenses you need to use are best stabilised with a heavyish camera pushed firmly to your cheek. Holding a long lens out in front of you to frame on a screen on the camera is a pretty terrible idea for camera shake blurring.
 
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thanks for all the replies.

Have been reading up on Canon gear and seems that canon 760 has a pretty impressive focus system over the d5500, although IQ better of the d5500 (lack of AA I'm sure).

I have noticed that canon lenses seem to be cheaper secondhand on as much as a like for like I can find.

Unfortunately I don't have access to the classifieds on here so will the usual secondhand places.

Was tempted by an EM1 and the 75-300 for £650, but hadn't done much reading up on that particular camera with regards wildlife.

Thanks for the further / recent input. DSLR it is....Did come across a blog of a guy using an A6000 who was getting some remarkable results, expect the lens was pretty much the whole budget.
 
As already said, depending on what you're daughter will be shooting, m43 ( at this budget ) isn't the place to go if the subject is moving. I've been a sole m43 user for 2 years but I'm considering a change / to add a dslr
 
Either canon or Nikon dslr range will do ,I really do think you need to sit back and research the models available though .things to look for are focus speed and options ,burst rate and buffer no point having 10 frames sec if the buffer fills up in a second ,crop factor a 1.6 crop ( most lower end models) will effect more noticeable reach .although prime lenses for either brand are best I.q wise zooms will offer a better option and don't forget other lenses to sigma and tamron have some super stuff available .
Make use of flickrs search facility to seek out shots taken with a chosen camera lens combo that will give you a better idea .and finally wildlife photography can be rather expensive once you start ,make sure you can keep up with the expense needed. But it's also very satisfying
 
damianmkv said:
As already said, depending on what you're daughter will be shooting, m43 ( at this budget ) isn't the place to go if the subject is moving. I've been a sole m43 user for 2 years but I'm considering a change / to add a dslr
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Unfortunately I think this is right. We get a lot of short-eared owls near where I live and I was out yesterday afternoon trying to photography them with my EM-5ii and the Olympus 75-300ii. It didn't manage it at all well. I tried C-AF but gave that up as a dead-loss and switched to S-AF, but even then my success rate was very low. My son was with me using a Canon 5Dii and 300/4 plus 1.4 TC and he got a higher success rate, and generally much better results. That might be partly down to the photographer of course...!

The Canon crop bodies (7D, 80D, 760D etc) would give a useful bit of extra reach over the full-frame, so if it were me I would go that route. In fact I'm tempted to do exactly that myself and move away from m4/3rds :(
 
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Thanks for the replies.

Have been searching Flickr with various lenses / bodies.

The 7D seems excellent value considering the focusing system (seems ideal for birds in flight / sports). Also being The APS-C sensor helps with the reach.

With the continued move to mirrorless systems I makes secondhand prices for DSLR very attractive and returns an excellent bang for buck as they say.
 
Just as an update after all the assistance, ended up with a brand new Nikon D7100, sigma 50-500mm f4-6.3 APO EX HSM, sigma 18-50 f2.8 EX DC for less than £1100

So next will be a 105 macro lens of some description and at 70-200 / 70-300

Have to say the Nikon with 18-50 is pretty much instant on focusing.

Once again thanks for the suggestions and thoughts.
 
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