• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

suggestions for starting out?

P

PaHick

Gawd
Joined
Jul 2, 2005
Messages
785
Im interested in trying my hand in photgraphy. Purely for personal use. I like to hunt, and have many opportunities for some great pictures. With spring gobbler season coming up here in May, I sat down tonight and did some research on some cameras. After looking on dpreview for a bit, I am thinking about a Canon S3 or Panasonic FZ8. To be honest, its been a long time since ive personally took any photos. My ex fiance did all the picture taking . Are these cameras somethig I can learn fairly quickly? Can a novice take fairly good photos on auto settings? The reason I am looking at these two are basically the zoom, and price, which seems to be a good compromise between cheaper models and more expensive professional models.

Take for example me going scouting for turkey. Ill be on the ground will minimal foliage until the end of May. The animal will be within 30 yards. Light conditions will most likley right at dawn. Sometimes light fog. Am I on the right path with these cameras? I realize I have alot to learn. This is a spur of the moment decision, when I get a bug up my ass I usually just go for it..lol. This is something I always wanted to do as I spend alot of time in the woods in the spring and fall and really have some great opportunities. Ive seen alot of things in my 24+ years of hunting and it'd be nice to have some memories of my hopefully next 20+ years of hunting. Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
 
I suggest the S3 I have heard nothing but good things about it. You want the Image Stabilization that it has, especially when zooming. It is one of the only Cannon cameras I even would suggest. Im a Nikonian but, Nikon has been lacking in the P&S end on the last cycle or two.
 
Joves said:
I suggest the S3 I have heard nothing but good things about it. You want the Image Stabilization that it has, especially when zooming. It is one of the only Cannon cameras I even would suggest. Im a Nikonian but, Nikon has been lacking in the P&S end on the last cycle or two.
Click to expand...

I agree......S3-IS is what you want.
Fast lens, good custom shots in manual, easy to use in Auto.


Just bring some good batteries, like AA lithium, because AA battery cameras dont last a long time. Rechargeables for day to day is good....but when your out, use the Lithiums. And get a high speed card, you don't want to wait around for your camera to que back up. they are like $5 more then the reg cards most of the time.

Get a good tripod....look into the gorilla pod from joby.

Also look into teleconvertors for it, you can turn that 12x zoom into a 24x zoom. Thats crazy amount of zoom, but it will help you catch something at a distance if you have the steady hand to shoot it.

Other then that.....You're good to go.











btw, Nikon P&S cameras suck ass lately. I dont know why. Sometimes the older P&S are better then some of the new ones. OUCH! lol :eek:
 
Thanks for the input guys. I went to Circuitcity today and held both the S3 and a FZ7(basically the same as FZ8) and now im more confused...lol. I like the feel of both. Ahh, decisions decisions. Either way(S3/FZ8) I will be purchasing one of them this week, and I hope they are easy to learn. One thing that worrys me is low light conditions. Because of what ill be photographing, I will not be able to use a flash. Cant chance scaring/make aware my presence, as most likely what I photograph will be the same bird ill be hunting. I guess trial and error comes into play. Maybe ill try taking some photos in early morning hours to test the outcome. Thanks again and wish me luck! :)
 
will this help?

I've got the FZ7 and it's a neat little camera. Personally though, I started out on a Canon FTb SLR camera...and my family got this one. I just can't get used to how it has a little joystick to change f/# and shutter speed.

But once you've got the settings it can make some really good photos.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top