camera suggestions

[crissie]

Hi all,
I want a new camera, mine is old and useless (no optical zoom) so I film the birds with my cam corder. My cam is old though and so I can't up load any film to the computer, I really need that new camera!
Price range is very slim I'm afraid with two teenagers and a younger one I don't feel comfortable spending much more than £150.
I know that doesn't leave much scope. As I understand it, its optical zoom I need, but how much optical zoom would give me half decent pics shooting the garden birds from about 12 feet away, I want to take pics of the kids and my dog too.

Any help appreciated. If I had lots of cash to spend on one I wouldn't need so much help, the fact I have a small budget leaves me baffled!
Kind regards C.x.

[thud]

Hi Crissie,

A vexed issue - I hate to be the first to respond..

When I had to go fishing, some decades ago now (in fact last Century) there was an oft quoted phrase.. "There are more anglers caught with tackle than fish". Cameras may be the same.

If I were photographing small birds (finches, tits, sparrows) from 12 feet or so I'd use a lens of at least 200mm focal length - more likely 300mm or 400mm. In very simple terms, the longer the focal length, the larger the bird is in the image - as if you got closer to the bird.

Probably the only source of a DSLR at your budget is going to be eBay or a second hand camera from elsewhere like London Camera Exchange - the last time I looked they advertised in the photo mags and may well have a site. That is going to be quite an old model (possible wear/repair problems) and probably body only which means you still have to shell out for a lens - perhaps as much again. I would stay away from film cameras - I would imagine processing would make a hole in anyone's pocket (just my feeling).

I don't know much about compact cameras. My wife has a Pentax (A120 I think) which cost about £100 from Jessops and it takes very nice landscape pictures. It's also good for internals - stately houses and such and snaps of people on holiday. I seem to recall it has a zoom of about 3x.

Different form of measurement for focal length with compacts. Most of the compacts have a wideangle 28mm or so lens (before you zoom). '3x' would indicate a maximum zoom of about 84mm (3 x 28). Perhaps what you need is something more like 10x (280mm). I believe you can get 15x or 18x. At what price I don't know. A browse on the Warehouse Express or Jessops' site would give you a better picture of what is available and at what price. You can get stabilisation built in and face recognition and all sorts of stuff. Second hand you may well get a more recent model than you would with a DSLR at your budget.

For some years I was happy with a Fuji - sort of mid-way between SLR and compact (or so Fuji said). More like a compact with a large zoom factor (12x or 15x I think). I didn't get the definition with birds that I wanted so eventually I saved my pennies and bought a Canon 350D (then entry level) with a very basic lens and a Sigma 70-300mm lens. The body/kit lens cost about 3x your budget but the reason I mention it is because I don't know what they are fetching now, second hand. I still have mine (and still use it) but I wouldn't want to pay any more than £150 or so for it. The Sigma lens was £109 new, from Jessops. I'd guess that was 2004 or so. The snaps on my site http://www.dentons.clara.net/ are all from the 350/Sigma combination almost all at 300mm (really must update the site). A few of the birds (on the paving) are just a few feet away - a couple (the Heron) are a few hundred feet away - but the majority are in the range 12 ft to 30 ft. Just to let you know what 300mm does.

Since then I have upgraded my kit twice - you'd need to add a zero to your budget. Are my pics any better? Perhaps a bit. The big difference is the number of throw-aways. With the 350 I might get two or three decent'ish shots form a shoot of 70 or so, half a dozen or more on a really good day. With the EOS 40D perhaps half the shots would be getting towards decent. With the current camera there are still some duds, but it is only the ones that I *really* want that fail, out of focus or too noisy - I call those 'registration' shots :-)

I'm not up on Nikon cameras, but I do admire what they do.. Perhaps someone knows of an entry level Nikon now going at a reasonable price. As a rule, stick to the big brands. There are, I understand, quite a few 'big names' in compacts.

Hope this wasn't too simplistic..