Which camera should I get?

[mikoh4792]

Not really sure to be exact. Just dim enough where the focus assist will need to be used.

I didn't know about the assist beam on the speedlites. I will look more into those. Are these speedlites(with the assist beam) expensive?

I know the flash shouldn't be harmful, but I'm more worried about the bright light scaring some of them and causing them to move out of their poses.

In my experiences most lizards don't respond at all to flash. This might vary species to species of course, but most are totally docile and ignore it.

As for the speedlites the Canon 430 EX II has an AF assist beam as does the 580EX II (that is now out of production but is the superior model to the 430 - the 600 now replaced the 580 but the 600 is very pricey - though it has the bonus of a built in radio trigger setup).

A 430 EX 2 or a pair of them would set you well for lighting for this kind of work. The flash if mounted on-camera will have the AF assist beam which will help significantly in very dim lighting, though of course even it has its limitations.

As said above, if the lizards are docile chances are you can focus manually.

Ah I see. I will be working with mostly snakes up close, and they do seem to react more to flashes in my experience. While lizards like to "bask", most snakes when out will try to slither away and find a hiding spot.

The canon 430 ex II looks good, and isn't too pricey. I guess the 70d is back on the list against the d7100

 

[mikoh4792]

"closing down" the aperture is a property of the lens only. Most will close down more than you'll ever need and if you close them down too far the shots will get softer because of diffraction. f13 or f16 are most people limits for crop/35mm cameras (somewhat variable model to model).

Back focusing and forward focusing are things that are a result of miss calibration of the AF system (sometimes overall, others only with specific lenses). Modern cameras do have AF adjustment options that let you change how the camera focuses using auto-focus so that you can fix back/forward focusing issues yourself.

Thanks for clearing that up. I know that stopping down is for the lens, but I think what Goodguy meant was a camera powerful enough for getting clean shots in low light( while stopping down to get more DOF)

 

[mikoh4792]

By the way, do you have to use the flash if you are going to use the assist beam? In other words, is there a way to use the assist beam on the speedlite without taking a "flash shot"?

 

[goodguy]

Used my Nikon 24-70mm 2.8G
The problem with these shots is if you go aperture wide open you will get nice clean image but very shallow DOF so its good to have powerful camera in low light so you can close down aperture a bit yet still get these nice clean shot!
Also shooting through the glass is always tricky.

Would you say the d7100 fits the bill for that?(powerful enough to close down and still get clean shots).

I've heard that the d7100 has "back focusing" issues. Is there any merit to claim? Or would you say those are just minor cases of malfunctioning?

Never heard that.
D7100 is actually a pretty much trouble free camera, the camera that was well known to have back focusing issues was the D7000 and I was one of the "lucky" one that had it, my D7000 always back focused no matter what I did, when I got rid of it and got the D7100 all my problems were gone.
FYI the rumor is that the D7100 should be replaced soon but that will mean it will be sold for top dollar and from what I heard it will use same sensor so I don't expect a much better low light performance.
The D7100 are sold pretty reasonably now so it will be good time to get one.
You can get used ones for very good value too, I sold mine for very little money and it was in perfect working condition.
Its low light performance is pretty much at the top of its class, to be honest all Nikon's modern cameras are good in low light!

One more thing, the 70D is not known for its good low light performance, it has an awesome AF system for movies but thats not what you are looking for.

 

[Overread18 6]

By the way, do you have to use the flash if you are going to use the assist beam? In other words, is there a way to use the assist beam on the speedlite without taking a "flash shot"?

Yep the beam and flash are not linked so you can use one without the other. The only limit is that the AF assist beam won't work if you set the AF mode to continuous mode (where it constantly resamples the focus point). This is at least the case with Canon - so you are limited to one-shot AF mode only (I believe its the same for nikon as well)

 

[mikoh4792]

By the way, do you have to use the flash if you are going to use the assist beam? In other words, is there a way to use the assist beam on the speedlite without taking a "flash shot"?

Yep the beam and flash are not linked so you can use one without the other. The only limit is that the AF assist beam won't work if you set the AF mode to continuous mode (where it constantly resamples the focus point). This is at least the case with Canon - so you are limited to one-shot AF mode only (I believe its the same for nikon as well)

Ah gotcha.

I've asked this on the canon forum, but haven't gotten too many replies yet. Would you say the "rumor" that the 70d has issues with center point focusing is true to an extent? I'm not reading that every 70d has this issue, but a quick google search of "70d focusing issues" will bring up several threads. Just want some confirmation.

 

[Overread18 6]

Nearly every time a new camera comes out there are a slew of AF focusing issues. In most cases if there is an actual problem the company issues a recall - or issues a statement. Lacking such evidence there is a likelihood that it could be an early production batch error (too minor to warrant recall or statement, major enough to get noticed somewhat online, but minor again because its short term and runs through the system fairly quick).

Many of the cases are more people not using the camera right. Modern cameras have more complex AF setups but also many don't know cameras all that well. So you get a lot upgrading from the lower level bodies expecting unreal performance from the new body.

It makes information messy to get hold of.

Personally I've not looked into the 70D much, but I don't recall hearing of any major issues with it.

 

[JacaRanda]

Rather than my personal opinion, which is of no value in this case, I suggest you ask orionmystery, a member here who does wonderful reptile shots)

A few lizards of Malaysia | Photography Forum

I was just about to post the same thing in a different thread until Tapatalk decided otherwise.

More and more I say 'look at the pictures'.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[JacaRanda]

Mandrill Christmas | Flickr - Photo Sharing! This guy has plenty of 70d shots. My wife has one and no problems.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[goodguy]

Mandrill Christmas | Flickr - Photo Sharing! This guy has plenty of 70d shots. My wife has one and no problems.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wow, those pictures are impressive, almost Nikon quality shots

Just kidding, just kidding, excellent photographer no matter what camera he uses!!!

 

[mikoh4792]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided on the d7100. I've used nikon before so I went with something I am more used to.

 

[JacaRanda]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided on the d7100. I've used nikon before so I went with something I am more used to.

Now you can actually enjoy the fun part...taking or making photos.

 

[mikoh4792]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided on the d7100. I've used nikon before so I went with something I am more used to.

Now you can actually enjoy the fun part...taking or making photos.

Yessir. I'll be taking lots of pics this weekend.

These are a few pictures I've taken in the past with a d5200. Didn't really know what I was doing at the time, but I think they're pretty cool shots.

 

[goodguy]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided on the d7100. I've used nikon before so I went with something I am more used to.

Now you can actually enjoy the fun part...taking or making photos.

Yessir. I'll be taking lots of pics this weekend.

These are a few pictures I've taken in the past with a d5200. Didn't really know what I was doing at the time, but I think they're pretty cool shots.

Like the second one, nice job on it.

 

[mikoh4792]