Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I need to buy a new camera for my wife's birthday (past 21 Dec) and Christmas present. We agreed to wait until after the holidays to buy in an attempt to save some money. Neither of us know much about cameras past snap shot types. I would like to buy a nice quality camera that can do vidio, take nice clear pictures of the fish in the pond, flowers, gardens, etc. Also what type of filters should we use if necessary to photo fish in the pond. Please load me up with information because I will soon be heading out shopping, most likely in Bangkok. I am asking on this forum because I think the people on this forum would be taking, for the most part, the same type of photos that we would. I am not too worried about costs. But, I am not rich either. LOL.

Thank you, John

To be able to photograph fish in a pond a simple polarised lens is needed. This cuts down the reflected glare. If you rotate the lens then you will be able to see the dark polarised section move and can angle it for the clearest shot.

As to Cameras, it really is a personal choice as to makes, modes and costs. I am rather partial to Canon cameras. If only for CHDK which allows you to customise the camera shots with scripts (time lapse, HDR, high speed shots etc.).

Decide on whether you want point and shoot, prosumer, or DSLR.
Decide on a price range.
Decide on a couple that you like.
Go to the shop and try out all the ones you are deciding between and decide which one feels nicer in your hand.
I was tossing up between the Nikon and Canon in my price range, and the Nikon just felt better for me, thats why I picked it.

But if you are going DSLR I would recommend going with Nikon on Canon, because if you upgrade later, you can keep your lenses.

Andrew

Well I seem to have a camera for every occasion, I usually carry two in my handbag. We use an Olympus underwater camera at the shop and when I am gardenning it is in my back pocket. You just have to be ready when there is a fast flying bug, bird or something. These ones are 10.1 megapixel which have a range of simple settings and not really technical, but deliver good results, certainly a great starter camera and does video. http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod7299.htm
I needed a DSLR to get photos of birds in trees, so I had to have a telephoto lens, but it comes with an everyday lens. I felt like my arms were cut off until I got the macro lens though. With time, patience and lots of clicking the detail that can be captured is to die for but it comes with a price.
The Nikon D90 does video, not sure how good.
Depending on the video quality I would go with another one for the purpose, as I said a camera for all occasions. When I go on holidays I have the SLR around my neck, the instant camera in my left coat pocket and the video camera in the right, I use them all, especially if I am in a garden. Oh, forgot the back on by back has the other lenses

I think we could be able to help a bit more with some more limiting factor. specifically point and shoot or DSLR and your price range.

Yep, it's all about the amount of money you want to spend, and whether you want point n shoot Vs SLR?

I don't understand photo or camera terms very well. I have never been much of a camera person until the last few years. I think I know some of them but not sure.

What does the following words or expressions mean: prosumer; DSLR; point n shoot Vs SLR. the camera shots with scripts (time lapse, HDR, high speed shots etc.

Amount of money: I say don't worry about it and just pay what ever it costs for what we pick out. My wife say $500 limit. I guess I should be happy that I married such a stingy wife, she controls all of the money and gets a monthly allowance of over $1000 to save, spend, thrown away, whatever, and she shops second hand clothing places and wears second hand clothes. She hates to eat out because it costs money. She should have been my first wife, I'd be a millionaire today. LOL.

Thank you for all of the replies. John

prosumer - A concatenation of "Pro" and "Consumer". Usually out of the range of the General Public and more targetted at professional photographers or camera enthusiasts.
DSLR - Digital Single Lens Reflex.
point n shoot Vs SLR - Small Digital cameras that automatically focus and generally composed the image for you, vs Single Lens Reflex where you have to manually focus, determine aperture, shutter speed etc.

time lapse - Take photos separated by time. ie. Take one photo every 30 seconds. You can later stream those photos into a movie to show something that takes a long time over a few minutes. http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/cu ... ng-nature/
HDR - High Dynamic Range. Colours can become washed out or faded when photographing into shadow or bright sunlight. Employing HDR means that you can take 3 or 5 photos at the same time with different aperture settings and combine them to produce an image showing a much greater colour balance. See http://www.easyhdr.com/examples.php for examples.
high speed shots - Try taking a photo graph of lightning. By the time you see the flash, you are too late to press the shutter. HS shots means that the camera will sit there watching the sky until it detects a lightning flash, then take the photo.

If you have a budget of $500 (for example), then a 'point & shoot' is probably your best bet. The "Olympus TOUGH TG-810" that Faye recommended is a great camera (waterproof + video = pics/video of the fish underwater ).

Most DSLR bodies (with video capability) would cost more than $500 alone, then you still need to purchase a lens. Most DSLR users tend to have more than one lens in their bag...

I have the D90 & it's a great camera, but if you are wanting full HD then I would recommend D7000 (in the Nikon range) or the 60D (in the Canon range). Other noteworthy DSLR's bodies (with full HD) are the Pentax K-5 & Sony SLT-A77.

I can not say for the point in shoot camera ranges but if you decide (and convince the wife) that you want a dslr which will cost a bit more than $500. I would recommend the canon rebel series as a starter. and since you will have to buy a lens you will have the choice of a kit lens which will come with the camera or a separate lens company. If you are looking for price over quality then I would recommend the kit lens. If you decided to buy just the body and buy a non canon lens I would recommend Tamron. they are a very good lens company and I have had great success with them. I wish you luck with your camera quest. One last thought... I would recommend that you go down to a camera shop and test out the camera. I found that the nikon cameras did not fit in my hand so I would say go and try them out and see which one you like.

I'll put a vote in for the Olympus waterproof cameras, we have had a couple of them and they have been great..

This underwater video was taken with one of them..

hey What about the Canon 7D their a great camera.. Just need to do a course to learn how to use it..

Juergen..

If you have the money..... $1200 minimum by the look of it...

I probably spent more than I should have on my camera considering how much I use it..

I had the money at the time and it replaced a camera that is over 5yeras old..

The new camera already has about 5000+ photo's on it..

It is a fun camera to use and yes I'm still learning it mod's..

I love the Movie function it has..

Juergen

In addition to underwater filming will this camera do all that a regular camera will do? I think it would be great to film a real mon sun rain here in Thailand. The viewer might think they were watching the end of the world.