Wildlife Camera?

[gallopingclothespeg]

I'm looking for a digital camera for my other half as a Christmas present and I've absolutely no idea what I need!

She wants something which will be used for general family/holiday photo's but also wants to do some wildlife photography, especially the huge numbers of red kite around where we live.
My budget is probably up to a maximum of £500

Any suggestions?

[anonymous-user]

The problem here is, that wildlife photography is one of the most expensive areas of photography to do properly. Wildlife is often far away, fast moving, and in variable light conditions.

This requires equipment that can autofocus rapidly and accurately, manage variable light conditions, and have a very capable zoom range or focal length, all of which is expensive.

Any decent lens that can handle wildlife and have a decent zoom range will be £500/600 upwards. But many of the well respected wildlife lenses are £1000 upwards.

A half decent camera body to pair it with will be £500 upwards.

And.. you will likely need a 'normal' zoom range lens for holidays and family photos, so budget another £200-300 for that.

Is there any wiggle room in your budget or are you happy buying used?

If it was me, I would buy a used Sony A7II and a Sony 24-240mm lens. This will cost you about £1000 all in, but will probably offer you best 'bang for buck' and will do everything you need from holiday snaps to zooming into wildlife.

An A7III body would be a bit better, but thats going to be a few hundred quid more.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 18th November 15:32

[gallopingclothespeg]

On the back of your reply, I may have to go used.

I thought about increasing the budget but I'm not sure how much use it'll end up getting. I could easily imagine a DSLR getting used for family stuf at home and being left behid when out walking etc ue to the size of it.

[anonymous-user]

gallopingclothespeg said:

On the back of your reply, I may have to go used.

I thought about increasing the budget but I'm not sure how much use it'll end up getting. I could easily imagine a DSLR getting used for family stuf at home and being left behid when out walking etc ue to the size of it.

I've edited my reply to add more info. My apologies!

I had around £6000 worth of fairly high end camera gear and lenses, but I've just sold it all, because I never bothered taking it anywhere that much, and stopped taking it on holiday as I didn't enjoy carrying a 'proper' camera around with me all day.

I've gone back to a pocket camera as I find that anything I can stick in my jacket pocket or chuck in the door pocket of my car gets taken many more places and I get a lot more photos. If I'm honest, all the photos hung on my walls in my house are from pocket cameras, because those are the ones I have had with me when I've seen a great view or a cityscape or whatever.

So yes, you are right to be worried about it not getting used or taken anywhere. You have to be really keen on photography to actively take a DSLR or Mirrorless camera and lens out with you.

I personally think that photography is one of those things were people are best left to their own devices with regards to buying the gear. If she is really really keen on it, then take her to a camera shop (when they reopen...) and go though the options, and the price will be an eye opener. She will sharp decide if it's something she really wants to pursue or not.

It's an expensive gift to buy someone and then have sat in a cupboard because they aren't really into it.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 18th November 15:43

[FunkyNige]

gallopingclothespeg said:

On the back of your reply, I may have to go used.

I thought about increasing the budget but I'm not sure how much use it'll end up getting. I could easily imagine a DSLR getting used for family stuf at home and being left behid when out walking etc ue to the size of it.

That's the big issue here - a camera that takes brilliant wildlife photos is going to weight a ton and will be left at home when you just want to go out for a walk.
If you want to take good photos of wildlife the compact superzooms could be worth looking at, cameras such as the Sony HX99 and Canon SX740. They won't match a mirrorless/SLR with a big telephoto lens for image quality but being really small they can just go in your wife's coat pocket if you're out for a walk.

[anonymous-user]

FunkyNige said:

gallopingclothespeg said:

On the back of your reply, I may have to go used.

I thought about increasing the budget but I'm not sure how much use it'll end up getting. I could easily imagine a DSLR getting used for family stuf at home and being left behid when out walking etc ue to the size of it.

That's the big issue here - a camera that takes brilliant wildlife photos is going to weight a ton and will be left at home when you just want to go out for a walk.
If you want to take good photos of wildlife the compact superzooms could be worth looking at, cameras such as the Sony HX99 and Canon SX740. They won't match a mirrorless/SLR with a big telephoto lens for image quality but being really small they can just go in your wife's coat pocket if you're out for a walk.

Good suggestion with the compact superzoom.

Like you say, a compromise in quality, but at least they stand a chance of being taken places and used.

[sgrimshaw]

Sony RX10 M3 and above, used. Might need to stretch the budget a little bit though.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/sony-cyber-shot-rx10...


ETA - the Sony HX99 referred to above is a lot of camera for the money. Whilst the RX10 range are exceptional, no-one can make the claim that they are compact

Comparison here: https://j.mp/36M4Byn

Edited by sgrimshaw on Wednesday 18th November 16:58

[gallopingclothespeg]

Thanks for the advice all.

The HX99 looks like it may fit the bill, I'll have to see if they come up in any of the Black Friday sales next week.

[sgrimshaw]

gallopingclothespeg said:

I'll have to see if they come up in any of the Black Friday sales next week.

Keep your eye on Amazon, I've had some massive bargains on Sony cameras on there over the years.

[sgrimshaw]

WEX has the Sony HX99 on offer at £379:

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/sony-hx99-digital-ca...

Currys have it at £379 as well:

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorde...

Edited by sgrimshaw on Friday 20th November 12:30

[Dan_1981]

Does she have any photography experience at the moment?

I ask as you could spend a small fortune on some kit for her, she vanishes up the hills to take pictures of the birdies and comes back disappointed, with blurred out of focus dark pictures, and slings the kit in a drawer never to be used again.

[Richjam]

Currys do Nikon 3500 with 18-55 and 70-300 lens for £599. 300 lens on a crop sensor is adequate for wildlife particularly Red Kites as their quite large! Shot below was taken on a D3300 with 70-300 lens. It is cropped but not massively.


https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorde...

Edited by Richjam on Saturday 21st November 21:32

[gallopingclothespeg]

After a bit of a chat with my other half she's decided she wants a camera that's more point and shoot that can go in a bag or pocket rather than a DSLR so that narrows it down a bit.

The general consensus on a cycling forum I use is whichever Sony RX100 is withing budget when people ask about cameras.
Is that the case or is there anything else worth looking at?

[gangzoom]

gallopingclothespeg said:

The general consensus on a cycling forum I use is whichever Sony RX100 is withing budget when people ask about cameras.
Is that the case or is there anything else worth looking at?

Why wouldn't you just use a smart phone which you can carry in saddle bag/pocket anways?

My wife recently got a Note 20, the zoom range goes from really wide to x5 optical zoom.





You are not going to catch flying birds with a phone camera, but nor would you get any good results of widelife with any bridge/compact camera.

For something to use on the bike, even my now 3 generations old Samsung S9 produces very good results. I'm going to be upgrading to the soon to be released S21 ultra after seeing just how much better my wifes Note is in some situations - The S21 is suppose to have x10 optical zoom versus the x5 on the Note, so providing the AF is good enough you might be able to get some widelife shots.

[FunkyNige]

gallopingclothespeg said:

After a bit of a chat with my other half she's decided she wants a camera that's more point and shoot that can go in a bag or pocket rather than a DSLR so that narrows it down a bit.

The general consensus on a cycling forum I use is whichever Sony RX100 is withing budget when people ask about cameras.
Is that the case or is there anything else worth looking at?

The RX100 is a brilliant camera, but the one that's in budget (I'm just using WEX prices, they may be different elsewhere) is the III that was released back in 2014 so you're looking at 6 year old autofocus, connectivity.
Also, it 'only' has a 24-70mm zoom, whereas the HX99 has a 24-720mm (not a typo, seven hundred and twenty) so think the similarly priced HX99 would be better suited for the wildlife photography you're after.

I'm happy to be corrected by someone with experience with both, but going by the specs and your need of a longer zoom I'd go for the HX99.