What camera should I buy?

I am a big fan of INaturalist. As a former photographer with less and less time I found myself using more and more my smaprtphone Samsung Galaxy S9, sometimes my Canon EOS80D with either 100/2,8 macro or 400/5,6L lens, sometimes Canon SX40HS but I am thinking about something else. I will try to summarize pros and cons of each of my considerations:

SMARTPHONE (e.g. Samsung Galaxy S9)

ligthweight
always with me
good for flower and insects and some reptiles
location data
easy upload
not good for birds, mammals and some reptiles
not so good quality, especially in low light

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15587243
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15587290
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18303445
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/17492844
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/17254192
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16262996
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15586824

HYPERZOOM COMPACT (e.g. Nikon P900 or canon SX40HS)

lightweight and compact
good coverage, from wide angle to extreme telephoto (e.g. 2000 mm for P900)
location data (P900, pitty P1000 doesn't have GPS)
easy video shooting
not so good quality, especially in low light
not good autofocus for birds
shutter lag
not so good macro capabilities, problems with focusing

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4919921
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4914364
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4919854
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4919836

SLR with hyperzoom (e.g. EOS 80D + TAMRON 18-400)

still relatively light
quite good coverage, not 2000 mm, but 640 not so bad for birds
no need to change lenses
picture quality much better than mobile or hyperzoom
good autofocus
no shutter lag
not so good macro capabilities (but you can carry macro lens)
not state of the art picture quality
no GPS (on my EOS 80D)

SLR with telephoto zoom (e.g. EOS 80D + Canon EF 100-400 L lens)

heavy
outstanding picture quality
outstanding autofocus, no shutter lag
good coverage for flowers, birds, butterflies, and bigger insects, though not really macro (0.31x)
excellent quality to make crops
no GPS (on my EOS 80D)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18659517
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18659249
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/10545454
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/10545313

I am not looking at money, of course, the latest option is the most expensive, I am really looking here at the best and most effective option. Sometimes I think about Nikon P900, than about Tamron 18-400, now my prefered choice is Canon 100-400, especially now when I am linking examples. What would you choose?

Posted on Νοέμβριος 28, 2018 0609 ΜΜ by

fero

Σχόλια

I know VERY little about photography, but I’ve really enjoyed my Nikon P900 (@nanofishology also uses this model). The zoom’s quite nice, and the macro’s not too too bad (although, I do wish it was a bit better).

My two cents are worth less than that though — I have no experience with SLR’s... But I do enjoy the ease of the Nikon P900! :)

Αναρτήθηκε από sambiology πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

This hugely depends on what organisms you want to observe.

The other two common choices are an Olympus TG 5 and a DSLR/Mirrorless camera with a 90-200mm prime.

The TG 5 has gps, great macro, is waterproof and small.

If insects, fungi and plants are high on your priority than a macro prime lens and macro flash are a great choice.

Αναρτήθηκε από glmory πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

I think you can spend an eternity and a fortune trying to find the "perfect" camera and fail. I like the P900 because it's "good enough" for what I need it for. Sometimes, I get PHENOMENAL images out of it! and sometimes... I'll put the lens cap back on and use my phone. Like Sam, I have no experience with SLR's. I'm not a fancy pants photographer, and I take photos of things to document them, post them on iNat, and create educational materials for outreach purposes.

One "downside" to the P900 is that it shoots in JPG. No RAW. This may be an upside for you, if you're going on a long trip and you take a ton of photos, you don't need to worry as much about running out of memory! But, if you're going to buy a nicer camera anyway, why not get one that can shoot in RAW if you might also want to submit your photos to magazines or whatever real photographers do with real photos these days.

@glmory is right about it really depending on what you focus on. Both Sam and I are weirdos who basically go after everything, which is why the P900 is such a good camera. It's not the best at distance, and it's not the best at macro, but for a camera where you don't have to deal with changing lenses, it's the best at being able to do both. If they could make a camera exactly like the P900, except it ALSO did low light, oh boy. I'd be all over it. That's my biggest complaint about my camera. (if you do get the P900: get a headlamp... and invest in rechargeable batteries...)

Αναρτήθηκε από nanofishology πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

Hi All, thanks a lot for your opinions
I own 80D, I own 100/2.8 macro, I own EF400/5.6L, I own Canon SX40HS, which is 24-840 equivalent, I have access to TG5 (great camera, especially for macro and I use it for underwater). As for what I focus on, I am getting into a real Inaturalist - everything - depends on occassions and season - birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, plants, fungi, insects, lichens, really everything. I used to focus more on birds, amphibians and flowers in past but now I equally enjoy other genera. For the former, I used to have 400/5.6 alway attached, ehen I saw something interesting I reached for 100 mm macro but with all the later you need to pohotograph constantly and changing lenses is impractical. I think Tamron 18-400 (equivalent of 29-640mm) on my EOS80D could be an ultimate lens, I believe much better than any hyperzoom, but still not as good as the latest 100-400 from Canon ..... but than convenience of small size and GPS and reach makes P900 also a great choice - tough decissions. I think i will have to go out with what I have and try to take pictures of the same stuff and see ...

Αναρτήθηκε από fero πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

Just ordered Nikon P900. I know there is also Nikon P1000 but it lacks GPS, otherwise specs nearly the same, except, of course higher reach of P1000. Will post some observations as soon as it arrives.

Αναρτήθηκε από fero πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

Keep all of us updated on what you like/don’t like about it! :)

Αναρτήθηκε από sambiology πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

Received my Nikon P900. Aslo ordered Canon EF 100-400 which I should receive in about a week/two. Could not resist great deals at eglobalcentral.eu. I will definitelly make some comparisons of all mentioned setups, pitty it is now -5 and cloudy .... but I will try to do some test tomorrow.

Αναρτήθηκε από fero πάνω από 5 χρόνια πριν

Update - after some time and nearly 100,000 pictures I still enjoy Sony RX10MIV and it is my preferred camera over DSLR. I use EOS80D in my home studio but in the field I nearly always use Sony.

Αναρτήθηκε από fero πάνω από 1 χρόνo πριν

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