Advice please? Looking for a camera for family pictures, bird pictures & landscapes?

[rainytown]

Hi, I'm looking for a camera that I could use to take candid pictures of people, birds flying overhead and in trees, and landscapes.

I had a canon powershot that disappeared on vacation recently.
I'm hoping to get a camera with better detailed photos of birds and of people than I was getting with that camera.

My budget is only $100-400, and I'm obviously no pro. I've been researching a lot, but am not at all sure of what to get. I don't mind used...

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[DarkShadow]

Refurbished Nikon D3300.Refurbished by Nikon usually like brand new with low clicks.It has a excellent sensor and image quality and very user friendly.The starting kit lens 18-55VRII is very sharp as well with nice color. I bought mine refurbished with only 35 clicks and looked and function as new but at a much cheaper price.http://www.adorama.com/inkd3300kr.html

 

[table1349]

Okay, I'll be the party-pooper here since it is my scheduled day. With your budget you are just not going to find something that will meet all your needs. With that budget you could find a decent P&S that will do the candid and landscape photos. Wildlife is another story. If you could push toward the $600 end you could find a used DSLR and a used consumer grade longer lens for the wildlife.

 

[zombiesniper]

$1-400 will get you a decent camera for shooting still object within 20'. Forget birds in flight.

In order to shoot longer distances ie birds at a relatively close distance 50-100'. you would need to about double your budget and that's used pricing.

Beyond that you need to start saving for a while. Good long range wildlife doesn't come cheap.

 

[table1349]

Okay, I'll be the party-pooper here since it is my scheduled day. With your budget you are just not going to find something that will meet all your needs. With that budget you could find a decent P&S that will do the candid and landscape photos. Wildlife is another story. If you could push toward the $600 end you could find a used DSLR and a used consumer grade longer lens for the wildlife.

$1-400 will get you a decent camera for shooting still object within 20'. Forget birds in flight.

In order to shoot longer distances ie birds at a relatively close distance 50-100'. you would need to about double your budget and that's used pricing.

Beyond that you need to start saving for a while. Good long range wildlife doesn't come cheap.

Did I read the schedule wrong again??? I thought it was my day to be the party-pooper! I got to check that schedule more carefully next time.

 

[DarkShadow]

Nikon D3300 shots with kit lens 18-55VRII.The D3300 will work just fine for everything but the most demanding like maybe humming birds.Focus is quick and accurate enough not to mention has lower noise then my D7200.The D3300 is a lot better then it should be at its price point.

 

[Watchful]

Sure, gulls, toss up a bit of bread and they swoop in to 3' away.

 

[DarkShadow]

But that has nothing to do with the body thats the lens when more reach is needed.No matter what you spend on a body has nothing to do with reach.I can put my 150-600 on the D3300 and get the same shots with the D3300 as I can with my D7200.BTW none of the gulls where close its called crop In post. So the Op starts within budget and save for a long lens if he or she sticks with the hobby a decides he needs a long lens for wildlife or we Might just recommend a D500 with the kit lens and the OP has a pro level camera that still cant reach birds and way beyond budget.

 

[Watchful]

But that has nothing to do with the body thats the lens when more reach is needed.No matter what you spend on a body has nothing to do with reach.I can put my 150-600 on the D3300 and get the same shots with the D3300 as I can with my D7200.BTW none of the gulls where close its called crop In post. So the Op starts within budget and save for a long lens if he or she sticks with the hobby a decides he needs a long lens for wildlife or we Might just recommend a D500 with the kit lens and the OP has a pro level camera that still cant reach birds and way beyond budget.

Fair enough, I would also recommend the 3300 or 5300 or even an older 3200 but the 150-600 lens will be 2 1/2 times the total budget if it was purchased new.

 

[DarkShadow]

The problem I think is sometimes people by a camera then it becomes a casual thing and they never really get serious about the hobby enough like all of us do.They stay content with the entry kit and never upgrade the lens or get into anything serious enough to shell out for big lenses or fast glass. Some do some don't and with such a low budget its really hard to recommend something that meets all there requirements.

 

[rainytown]

Thank you so much for taking the time to advise me. I really appreciate it! Thank you especially to DarkShadow. Beautiful pictures. And also thank you Watchful.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hi, I'm looking for a camera that I could use to take candid pictures of people, birds flying overhead and in trees, and landscapes.

I had a canon powershot that disappeared on vacation recently.
I'm hoping to get a camera with better detailed photos of birds and of people than I was getting with that camera.

My budget is only $100-400, and I'm obviously no pro. I've been researching a lot, but am not at all sure of what to get. I don't mind used...

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Given the budget I'd probably recommend a bridge camera. Something like perhaps a Canon SX60, Coolpix 600, etc - this would give you a wide range of focal lengths within your budget.

The thing to keep in mind about these types of cameras is that you are looking at a smaller sensor than a DSLR, and as such they will not peform that well in lowlight - so if your going to be using it indoors I'd recommend you look for one that can handle an external flash.

 

[jcdeboever]

Refurbished Canon SX60HS from the Canon store. If you look at my pics from the past week on here, they were taken with this camera. Google search Canon SX60HS Flickr to see some other pics taken with it. Nice little camera.

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS Refurbished

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[rainytown]

Thank you.

 

[dannylightning]

Yeah check out the xs60. Really liking allot of photos I have seen, great zoom for wild life, great image quality for a not being a DSLR. I have been viewing allot of wildlife photos taken with this and man they look nice. I am half tempted to buy one some day

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I would rather have a DSLR but if you want a camera that can do it all in that price range it's something to look at.

Now if you can afford a DSLR body and a couple of lenses I would go that route but wild life lenses can get expensive, you really need allot of zoom or you need to get extremely close to the animal, even with allot of zoom it can be hard to get close enough to small animals at times..