Astronomy, Photography and Weather

General Category => Photography => Topic started by: scott86 on July 18, 2009, 11:22:50 am



Title: New Camera
Post by: scott86 on July 18, 2009, 11:22:50 am
Hi Guys,, although its a good bit of time away im trying to make some preparations for my trip next year and one of the main things i need is a new camera,, unfortunately this is one area where i havnt really got a clue in regards to brand, reliability, quality etc. I want to get something decent that would withstand the weather and could take decent video and images but not cost a bomb, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Title: Re: New Camera
Post by: JohnC on July 18, 2009, 12:12:02 pm
First off Scott, you really need to  give a price range. . No point in  people pointing you in the direction of £600 cameras if you don't want to spend that much but I can tell you that  if you want a  decent video included with the camera then you're looking at a lot of money. The new Canon 5D mark 11 is at best around £2000-I don't think you'd want to spend that much. On many forums this question is asked and it's usually  too vague.  I assume you want a DSLR ?  and what about lenses ? Is this your first storm chase - it's with Paul Sherman's group I think isn't it. ?

For brands go with Canon, Nikon.  Olympus do the four thirds system which I'm not familiar with. Not even the name makes sense to me. I think canon are more expensive (unnecessarily, too). Both the Nikon cameras and lenses are excellent as are Canon. See what other contributions you get here and as it unravels you'll at least get an idea where to go. Also if you want lightning shots you'll need a tripod..The carbon fibre ones are strong but fairly light  weight and a remote cable release.

All my kit is Canon so that's where my knowledge lies after spending a lot of time researching cameras and lensed.   The Canon 450D is an excellent  -I think John (JGs) has one and John M. too  I think. I'm sure they'll shout up when they see your post but on the market now is the replacement the 500D so the 450 will have slipped a bit in price but it's a great camera.


Title: Re: New Camera
Post by: jgs001 on July 24, 2009, 12:17:14 am
Scott, I do have the 450d, and I think it's a great camera. For Video, I believe the canon 50d and the Nikon D90 both support it. They are both more expensive than the 450d/500d however. Equally, you could get the 450d and a reasonable hdd or SDcard based handheld camcorder for the same sort of money as either of those bodies. I'd imagine for storms you're going to want lenses with good lowlight capability, that's going to make for a lot more expensive glass, or you can go for a more expensive body with better ISO noise handling.

John, I think the name 4/3's is actually in reference to the aspect ratio (4:3) of the sensor, it fits at least looking at the sensor dimensions... The crop factor is 2x instead of the 1.6x of Canon and the 1.5x of Nikon. This makes the cameras a bit smaller. The new Micro 4/3's system actually removes the Mirror box completely making everything even smaller still. The lenses are still interchangeable as in a normal SLR though.


Title: Re: New Camera
Post by: brianb on July 24, 2009, 12:30:22 am
Quote
I think the name 4/3's is actually in reference to the aspect ratio (4:3) of the sensor,
Actually that's wrong, the sensor is the same size as the 1.33" diameter TV vidicon tube (that's the external diameter including the glass envelope). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Thirds_system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Thirds_system)


Title: Re: New Camera
Post by: jgs001 on July 24, 2009, 12:38:50 am
Thanks for the clarification Brian. The maths means that the aspect ratio also fits, which is how I got to that presumption...

"The Four Thirds system uses a 4:3 image aspect ratio, in common with compact digital cameras. This differs from other DSLRs which usually adhere to the 3:2 aspect ratio of the traditional 35 mm format"   from the Wiki page you posted.