Buying a camera for the Amazon Rainforest and the Galapagos Islands

[Smilemon]

Hi everybody,
I’m taking the trip of a lifetime this January to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. I will be studying comparative ecology in the highland Andes, the rain forests in the Amazon Basin, and the islands of the Galapagos. I'm looking for a DSLR that will perform well in a variety of conditions. I'm a fairly competent photographer, but I'm going to say a little bit about my background just to give everyone an idea of where I'm at in my search.

I've shot a lot of film in the past and I'm an able darkroom worker. I have an Olympus OM-1 film camera with a decent number of lenses, and I feel pretty good about the mechanics of a SLR camera and how everything works in terms of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, ect. I also worked as the editor for my high school yearbook and shot sporting events with an array of Canon cameras, ranging from the 30D, Rebel, and 50D, but that was two years ago and I’m not very up to date on how the technology has changed.

I'm a sophomore in college, I have a decent job (I'm an RA), but my budget is tight. I'm willing to skip a few meals and lattes to purchase a good camera, but lets just say at this point I could only spend a little more than two months paychecks, so about 800 dollars, give or take a bit. I know this puts me back a bit, and I might have to skimp on some features and probably not even buy an additional lens, so please take my list of requirements with a grain of salt, and refer to it as more of a wishlist. If anyone has taken rainforest pictures, and has good tips, please let me know.

Wishlist:
1. Really good lowlight autofocus. The rainforest is a dark place. The Rebel xsi I used in the past was terrible at autofocusing in the dark, the 50D was really good at it, but who knows, tech might have changed.
2. A fast lens, I’m used to shooting my 50mm f1.4. My hometown is Fairbanks, Ak, so I like to be able to shoot in low light. I know that my next request will make this hard to fulfill.
3. I’d like a longer lens, as I hope to take pictures of some canopy dwelling animals.
4. Shoots HD video w/sound? I’d like to take some skiing video when I get home.
5. I’d like to try and do some time lapse, but its not a big deal if I cant.
6. I’d also like to take some underwater photography, but I can just use a disposable for that if a good waterproof enclosure is hard to find. I don’t care about fish all that much.

Necessities:
1. Long battery life or solar charging options because finding stable power supplies will be tough.
2. It has to be fairly compact and lightweight.
3. I’m going to need big memory cards, and probably a few of them. I won’t be able to upload any pictures for the 3 week duration of the trip.


So by now everyone who has read this will probably want to tell me that I can’t get a quality low aperture zoom lens and a DSLR on a budget of 800 bucks. My request is this, don’t be a naysayer. Just give me some other options. If I have to make sacrifices, where should I sacrifice and what should I focus on?
Thanks for your time,
Kyle

P.S. I'm open to buying used gear if the sensor/glass is in good shape. It just has to fit the bill.

P.S.S For close up/still photography, say of plants and other sessile lifeforms, could I used a lens adapter for my old Olympus 35mm lenses? I know the autofocus wouldn't work, but I only really need that for the faster moving animals. Then I could focus more money on my longer lens.

 

[Smilemon]

I've been doing some more research and the Nikon D3100 seems like a good entry level camera, but would I look like a complete dweeb if I bought it in red?

 

[Trever1t]

I'd be inclined to look at something a bit more weather resistant. The climates you'll be visiting are brutal. Maybe look for a good used D300

 

[Smilemon]

I'd be inclined to look at something a bit more weather resistant. The climates you'll be visiting are brutal. Maybe look for a good used D300

I was thinking about putting the body of the camera and most of the lens into a gallon ziplock or even a gortex stuff sack, and cutting a hole for the lens to peep out. I was also going to use a clear filter on the end to protect it from scratching. Is the D300 a good bet for heavy rain? I don't think heat should be too bad, is that something I should be concerned about though?

 

[Dom6663]

Thats a big list for an $800 budget. Here is what I might recommend to you,

Canon t3 body around $400 Amazon.com: Used and New: Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging (Body)

Canon 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 around $250 used $200
or
*curse me for saying this* In this situation a sigma 28-300 f3.5-5.6 might be useful? around $200 used

And of course that leaves you with a nice bit of money for 50mm f1.8 ($120)

So thats $400+$200+120= $720.

So with that $80 you can get a couple additional used batteries, and SD cards

Put in another $100 into your budget and you can get some camera shock resistant 'armor' and some accessories for camera maintenance

 

[Smilemon]

A 28-300 3.5-5.6 sounds pretty terrible lol. I have a sigma 28-80 for my OM-1 and it's the worst lens I have, but it still takes some decent shots and is useful when I have to pack light. Is the Canon t3 a better bet than the nikon d3100?

 

[mjhoward]

I seem to recall reading about a few photographers that subjected their cameras to similar environments and had 5DII's failing from the humidity. As Trever says, the rainforest is going to be especially brutal.

 

[Smilemon]

I seem to recall reading about a few photographers that subjected their cameras to similar environments and had 5DII's failing from the humidity. As Trever says, the rainforest is going to be especially brutal.

Eeek.. Is it possible to humidity proof a camera?

 

[BlairWright]

$800... that's a bit low for DSLR, if you were to buy a DSLR at that it's not going to hit your performance requirements nor would it be waterproof/resistant which is extremely important in a rain forest.

I would recommend the Sony NEX5, it's a micro 4/3 but has an APS-C sensor and pretty decent low light capabilities.

 

[Destin]

$800... that's a bit low for DSLR, if you were to buy a DSLR at that it's not going to hit your performance requirements nor would it be waterproof/resistant which is extremely important in a rain forest.

I would recommend the Sony NEX5, it's a micro 4/3 but has an APS-C sensor and pretty decent low light capabilities.

Honestly, with the Humidity and conditions you'll be going through, you'd need to at least triple your budget to get a dslr that could handle it trouble free along with a lens or two. The canon 7d is one of the toughest dslrs and what I'd reccomend to you. But it's beyond your budget.

You may consider a used 50d, it's older but still a good camera. And they're decently tough

But I might just pick up a waterproof, shockproof point and shoot so that you don't have to worry about damaging it.

 

[dxqcanada]

Possible suggestion for the limited budget ...

Used Pentax K200D body (weather sealed, and uses AA batteries).
Used Pentax (or other) K mount manual focus lenses (you can get good glass for cheap).

No video capability ... and this would be older camera technology.

 

[cgipson1]

You are going to need a quality (read that as non-beginner body) like a D300 or D700 (or Canon equivalents).... I wouldn't trust anything less to handle the humidity and other environmental factors. And you probably won't find anything but a body, for the money you suggested. If I was going where you will be, a good macro lens would be a must also. If you have to travel light, one all purpose zoom would be good also... although it may not have the quality of dedicated high end lenses.. it would be more than adequate.

I know a member here (KMH) has a 300 for sell for about $800. he may still have it... darn good price. A d3100 or a low end Canon would die within weeks most likely... they are not sealed well enough for long term exposure to those environments.

 

[Smilemon]

Thanks so much for the replies so far, I'm going to look for some used bodies today and see what I can come up with. Shooting video is fairly important to me, but not more important than having a camera survive my 3 week trip.

I'll only be in the rainforest for about a week and a half, then I'm taking off for the Galapagos islands which are much drier. Is it too risky to use a splash bag, or line my camera bag with silica packets, to defeat the humidity? I'll also be there during the dry season, which gets about 3 - 5 inches of rain a month, as opposed to the wet season which can be over 80 inches.

If I have to buy a more expensive body, does the lens also have to be expensive and waterproofed?

Also, what are warranties like on digital cameras. If I bought a d3100, and took my point and shoot as a backup, and the humidity killed the d3100 (even after I tried all the preventative measures), would it be too much to hope for a replacement or repair?

I'm not a cheap person, and I really like nice stuff, so don't think I just want to scam a system. But if anyone read my first post, I'm looking at spending about 2 months of paychecks and then some to buy a camera. Relatively speaking, I'm looking to make a big investment in a camera, but spending more than 800 - 1200 dollars will be tough.

I'm also not very enticed by the micro 4/3 design. I like the SLR design.

 

[joealcantar]

From what you posted I would get something like this: I would even call them to see how they think it would hold up in that kind of environment. Look into insurance for your gear breakage and theft etc.
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Camera, all built in no changing lenses getting sensors dirty etc. 24-600 Zoom "imagine the possibilitie" : DMC-FZ100K - LUMIX® Digital Cameras - Point & Shoot Models - Shop and Compare at Panasonic
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Storage: Seeing you are wanting video it will fill those memory cards up quickly, this thing is small enough to fit in a camera bag or backpack, I have one of the 1st one that came out P2000 and that keeps on ticking: Epson P-7000 Multimedia Photo Viewer
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You may have to see what you have for power availabilty, if you say rainforest is dark solar recharging pad may be out of question. Just food for thought.
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Sounds like a nice trip, shoot well, Joe

 

[analog.universe]

That Panasonic^ has a 24x optical zoom on a 5.6x crop factor sensor.... I would never.