My first Camera (new guy checking in)

mikaakim · Jul 18, 2012

Hey everyone,

I needed a hobby! So as an avid environmentalist & someone who has always loved photograpthy but never had the time to really get involved with it. I decided, now, due to certain issues in my life to put my two loves together and start my venture into nature and wildlife photograpthy - simply for hobby and enjoyment reasons!

I went to my local future shop and they had this item for sale. the link shows it to be $729 but i actually got it for $510. I got it that cheap because it was a returned one, someone had brought it, opened it, and decided after not actually using it they didnt like the feel of it so returned it (again completly unused) 2 days later! I thought that was a good deal, especially with a 300mm telephoto lens which i believe is perfect for nature/wildlife (correct me if im wrong)

Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2MP DSLR Camera Kit with 75-300mm F4-5.6 III USM Lens : Digital SLR Packages - Future Shop

I am curious if anyone could give me their opinions on the following:

1) Was this a good choice of camera (package) especially for the price?
2) I am hoping this camera is capiable of succeeding on wildlife/nature photograpthy, could you give your opinions on what it is and isnt capible of?
3) What optics should be next on my list?
4) any beginner wildlife/nature tips/lessons would be great

Could anyone post any image examples of what i should be able to get with what i have so far?

thanks, i look forward to learning of everyone here, and being an active member as I start my journey into the world of photograpthy

BTW you are all gods/goddess at photograpthy after looking at some of the photos in other sections. :hail:

o hey tyler · Jul 18, 2012

1) Was this a good choice of camera (package) especially for the price? Yes, pretty much any camera you start off with will serve you well. And once you see how it limits you, you'll decide to upgrade.
2) I am hoping this camera is capiable of succeeding on wildlife/nature photograpthy, could you give your opinions on what it is and isnt capible of? The camera is capable of shooting wildlife and nature, it's not the ideal camera to do so, but that shouldn't be too big of an issue this early on in your photographic journey.
3) What optics should be next on my list? Well, something wide, and something long would be my suggestions. 100-400mmL, and proabably a Sigma 10-20mm
4) any beginner wildlife/nature tips/lessons would be great. I am sure you can find some while reading the forum. I'm not particularly 'up' on wildlife or nature photography. I do weddings, portraiture, and some commercial photography.

Good luck and enjoy!

SCraig · Jul 18, 2012

Yes, you can shoot wildlife with a 300mm lens. Best place I can recommend is a zoo, a park, or your back yard. Seriously. It's pretty short for most true wildlife but a bit of baiting in the back yard or patience in a park can net you some excellent bird and squirrel shots. I've gotten some good shots of birds, deer, squirrels, and, of course, zoo animals with my 300 but I have to pick the places. If they are in the top of a tree forget it, they will just be a spec on the image.

sovietdoc · Jul 18, 2012

Now that you have the camera, now you need to figure out what to shoot with it. Based on what your major interests will be, you will figure out if you need more glass or a different camera.

Usually in a nutshell here is a breakdown of characteristics of cameras and lenses with their respected categories:

CAMERAS:

Usually cameras are split into 2 groups. Crop sensor (like T3, t3i,t4i...60D, 7D) and Full Frame (5D II, 5D III, 1D...)
Full frame basically means that the sensor inside the camera equals the size of 35mm film from back in the day. Crop sensors are smaller that 35mm.

The upside of FF is better light performance, bigger Field of View and smaller DoF due to the large surface area of the sensor, while the upside of crop is that by making the sensor smaller, you're increasing the effective focal length of the lens. So on full frame your lens will have less "zoom" Wedding photographers usually shoot with FF because of the field of view and low light performance, while a lot of people who need maximum reach of their lens (sports, wildlife), shoot crop.

LENSES are split into primes and zooms. Primes offer smaller DoF, better low-light performance and usually better optical quality, but zooms offer convenience of changing focal length on the fly. The best zooms have f/2.8 as the largest aperture which makes them decent for low light (concerts, birthdays, weddings) but are also heavy and expensive. The longer the lens is, the smaller aperture it will have, kinda like longer lenses (400mm+) have f/4 or f/5.6 instead f/2.8

Primes are extensively used for weddings and low light (50mm f/1.4 or 1.8 and 85mm f/1.4 and f/1.8) or 135L for half-body portraits. Long primes like 400, 500, 600 and 800mm are for sports and wildlife.

So once you figure out what the "stats" mean and what they do, you can easily figure out what you need for your particular photographic needs.