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Nov 27 2016 08:16am
Topic. I'm looking to purchase a professional camera to take nature pictures with. What are some good cameras to buy that are cheap/still very good in terms of value? Lmk jsp

I will give 50fg for the best answer because I'm looking for good answers


This post was edited by Guo on Nov 27 2016 08:20am
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Nov 27 2016 08:05pm
Quote (Guo @ Nov 27 2016 07:16am)
Topic. I'm looking to purchase a professional camera to take nature pictures with. What are some good cameras to buy that are cheap/still very good in terms of value? Lmk jsp

I will give 50fg for the best answer because I'm looking for good answers


My advice is worth more than 50fg, but I tend to help people for free ;)

Some questions to get you started. Answering each question is very important, because there are lots of different options depending on your expectations and needs:

1) What is your highest possible budget? What is your preferred budget range?
2) How much weight are you willing to carry around?
3) Are you willing to learn how to edit RAW files, and utilize Lightroom (the answer should be yes, the value of editing RAW in Lightroom is immeasurably huge)
4) What kind of nature pictures are you looking to take?

Here are a few examples of different kinds of pictures you can take: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124630848@N07/
(My technical ability is much higher, I don't get out to take photos often, and a lot of my work isn't on Flickr)

There are three brands that I recommend you look at. Which brand you choose to go with really depends on your needs. They are:
1) Nikon
2) Canon
3) Sony

Each brand offers various cameras and lenses that may suit your needs. I'm a big fan of Sony's A7R-ii, however it has a lot of drawbacks as well. I own Nikon's D750, and it really has no drawbacks. Canon's 5D-iv is okay but it's fairly lacklustre, while their 5DSR is pretty cool (but has drawbacks).

Your budget is going to dictate which cameras you should look at, and which lenses you should look at.

A great example of a camera that isn't too expensive is the D7100, at about $500 USD. You would still need lenses though.

If your budget is lower, I can still provide input, all the way down to a very very low budget. That is no problem. There are good choices at any budget level. Do note though that if you are serious about photography, and you end up enjoying your photography gear, your budget may get MUCH larger as you get the itch to upgrade. When I got into photography, my budget was I think $1200. Then i spent $2000. Now I have $6000 or so worth of gear. If I could do it all over again, I'd probably have about $3000 worth of gear instead.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Nov 27 2016 08:08pm
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Nov 30 2016 01:32am
I take it, given your frequent activity on d2jsp, but apprehension towards addressing my points, that you are uncertain about what you want at the moment?

If a non-committal approach to photography is what you're looking for, on a budget, that is still something that I can provide advice for in whatever budget range. Shooting in RAW and editing in Lightroom is preferable, but not completely necessary (depending entirely on your desired results, of course).

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Nov 30 2016 01:33am
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