Camera recommendations

Dez

Dez

Chamalot Chameleons
I been thinking of upgrading my camera to something a little nicer... Right now I have a Kodak easy share camera. It takes decent photos but I want something I can put a macro lens on. I am basically ready to upgrade.

Budget would be $500 or so. Anyone have any suggestions of a good camera to get?
 
I have a canon 5d and it's the best camera I've ever owned.

You should be able to find a nice used dlsr in your price range and a nice lens. There are some great macro lenses but I use a cheap canon 50mm with a macro extender for macro shots and a tamron lens the rest of the time.
 
Canon G12

I have the Canon G11, I got it for traveling around Europe.

Awesome Camera, lots of manual controls, but not as bulky as a DSLR.

The only difference between G11 and G12 is HD Video on the G12.
 
Hey- If you are going to learn to use your camera- and I mean actually use it with no automatic zoom/lighting etc- than buy a Canon Rebel or Nikon D40. I go to school for graphic design and these two cameras are what were recomended to me for my photography class. They are the basic step from those 2 companies for learning to use a dslr camera.

If you are just going to use it to point click, but still want to use a lens and record video- buy a Sony A Nex 3K. Its 535 and its high resolutions make it the perfect toy for any amature who doesnt want to have full functionality over the camera and lens.
 
Im a videographer / photographer by trade

I highly recommend the Panasonic GH1. You can find one for 399$ on B&H. On ebay you can get an extra chinese battery (be sure its panasonic brand just chinese writing) for about 20$ (each battery lasts for 3 hours straight of video shooting) and all of the GH1's are now hackable (legal and awesome) not just the old ones as of a week or two ago.

Then hit up ebay for a micro 4/3rds to canon FD mount adapter (20$) and you can use any old canon FD lens on the body (I recommend a canon FD 50mm 1.8 for a cheap lens and if you want to spend more the FD 50mm 1.4 is fine enough)

On a micro 4/3rds style camera that will give you a 100mm focal distance which should give you some beautiful shallow depth of field shots of your chameleon as well as perfect 1080 video (assuming you do the very very easy hack) at cinema style 24 frames...

(though with the hack you WILL REQUIRE a class 10 SDHC card...which the 16gig ones run about 30~$ and will let you shoot for 2 hours at stock camera settings and over an hour in hacked mode relative to what you are shooting)

I recommend Transcend card but never ebay them as they are often fakes from there.

The entire setup will cost you about 500$ but youll be producing professional videos and stills.

I prefer it highly to the 7D for many reasons...1 the video footage with the hack is better... the lenses are cheaper...the camera itself is about 1/4th the cost....the battery lasts longer...you can video for a longer period of time (7D is stuck on about 10-15 minutes something like that..and it also overheats all the time while the Panasonic GH1 will shoot as long as you want... ive recorded 3 hours at a go before and never had any problems)

If youre going to upgrade beyond a standard roughly 100$ consumer camera the GH1 is the next jump I would recommend. Anything less I wouldnt bother with and anything more is unnecessary and triple the expense at the least.

I just joined the forum today because I am going to be taking the plunge and buying a chameleon in the future but I want to make sure I know everything about it first and have everything setup. Yet I do video work for a living so....if you have questions about video stuff or photography I can help there ^_^;
 
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http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/ is a great place to checkout reviews on digital cameras. Though it is a $100 more than your budget, the Nikon D3100 is a good choice. DSLR with a very beginner-friendly guide mode. Choose a DSLR wisely. Upgrading in the future to a more expensive DSLR will almost be dependent on what accessories and lenses you have now that would be compatible. We all know how expensive those lenses are!
 
Dez we use a Nikon D80. It's complicated until you get use to it but it turns out some awesome photos. You could probably pick up a nice used one on eBay and some of the lens too.
 
Nikonian here ! D3100 is beginner friendly & professionally adequate.
Great shots & 1080 video.
 
grimlin18 said:
get a sony nex-3 its a really good camra but it is 600 but maybe you can find a good deal somewhere.
Click to expand...

Thats the camera my husband Jason was talking about, the NEX. I saw someone else mentioned it too as more of a point and shoot camera but with professional quality photos...
 
If you go the slr route its really about the lens you use. Any body is going to deliver great photos if you have a good lens. I would buy a used body and get a good lens. you may have to spend a little more but it would be worth it.

Are you looking for a camera specifically to take pictures of your cham?
 
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