A friend of mine is going to Africa this summer and is wanting to buy a new camera for the trip. They will be hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro and giong on a safari, and want a camera that will take high quality pictures of both landscape and of fast moving animals. He said he wants a Digital SLR, and would like it to be weather proof (if possible). I have seen some nice pics from the Nikon D series, but dont know about anythign else, so I told him I would post on here and see if you guys had any recommendations.

Thanks for the help.

6/14/2007 9:13:47 AM

Nikon D series, Canon 30D or rebel. You can get pelican cases for waterproofing. Most high end digital slr's arn't quite weatherproof but there's plenty of cases to choose from.

One of the important things is make sure they have wide angle lenses as well as a 400mm maybe for safari animals.

[Edited on June 14, 2007 at 9:22 AM. Reason : .]

6/14/2007 9:20:00 AM

there's been a million threads on this. basics say cannon digital rebel or nikon d50. you'll get a few ppl to tell you to jump up to d70. there might be a few other suggestions, but those are the standards. that's all you really need to know.

6/14/2007 9:20:37 AM

i just got a fujifilm finepix s6000fd dslr last week and i love it. the quality of pics is quite amazing; i have used both the auto and manual methods and so far so good. a very important site to check out is http://www.dpreview.com

6/14/2007 9:22:25 AM

http://pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=1400
Get a pelican case for all the camera stuff. They come with foam all cut-up, so you can take out the pieces so your equipment will fit perfectly.

6/14/2007 9:34:50 AM

http://www.tomshardware.com/site/flash_videos/the_homemade_taser.html
Keep the animals away.

6/14/2007 9:47:12 AM

http://www.woot.com/

Quote :

"Vivitar 8.1MP Digital Camera with 6X Optical Zoom and 2.8" LCD $139.99"

6/14/2007 9:54:53 AM

My camera thread here that's a few threads under this one....

http://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=459617


What is your friend's budget in getting a digital camera? The only weather proofing I know of is with the 1D's. The 30D and such are weather resistant, but I wouldn't want water raining on it. For canon gear, I would suggest looking at a Rebel XT, XTi or a 30D. Look at a wide angle lens such as the 16-35mm or the 17-40mm. The 100-400mm zoom telephoto would be a great choice for you (I'm also looking to get). This will probably run a couple grand, which might be out of his price range. Even going with a Nikon D series, the price for good quality glass would be about the same. Maybe a bit cheaper with the Nikon.

6/14/2007 1:42:47 PM

if your friend is looking into DSLRs then he needs to go to a store and find one that fits the best in his hands

i have been a Canon guy for years but the Nikon D50 felt better in my hand so thats what i have.
one of the most important issues is how the camera feels.

I have my 28-90 kit lens, a 50mm for low light shooting and a 70-300 zoom. I am a noob and learning so i went with low end Sigma Glass except for my 50mm [Nikkor] cheap ~100.00

You can get a Quantaray 70-300 for less than $200.00.
if the elements are a concern then def. go for the Pelican Cases...we use them at work and they are fantastic cases.

you can also search over the DSLR thread in chitchat.
i would also send Randy [chocolvrt] or Ronny questions as they both have helped me with camera questions

6/14/2007 1:55:15 PM

If they are doing some serious hiking, I don't recomment an SLR. They're big and heavy compaired to a nice point-and-shoot. I wouldn't carry a SLR on a 50+ miles hike unless it was for a job or I was going specifically to get photos. When hiking, space and weight are a real issue. I traveled around Europe for 6 weeks with my SLR and 3 lenses and carrying that much gear plus all your other stuff can get annoying when lugging it around for extended periods. Don't get me wrong, I love SLRs and the picture quality is unparelled, but you don't want to over-encumber yourself when you're in the middle of nowhere. If he thinks he'll have the room for an SLR, I'll say go for it, but a nice point-and-shoot will take 90% of the shots an SLR can for 10% of the size and weight.

6/14/2007 3:33:24 PM

^ Agreed.

Also, you might want to try out a DSLR before just jumping in. I bought a D40 (thank heavens from Amazon) about 3 weeks ago to replace my megazoom Panny FZ5 and basically hated it. From snap one there was dust all over the sensor and it just pissed me off. Sure, I had a bad experience, but it's too much money to not play with before buying. Thankfully Amazon was great about a refund.

6/14/2007 3:42:18 PM

thanks for the input guys, and keep the suggestions comming. I think the budget over $1000, but I will ask tomorrow at work. Sorry I couldnt search, I just had a few minutes to type it up at work.

6/14/2007 4:59:09 PM

listen to what darkone said

my d50 w/ the 300mm telephoto is a kind of heavy lens but not too to bad....also, the bigger the zoom the more shakey it can be on the long end so he might need a tripod depending what kind of pictures he is looking to take.

my 300mm gets a little shakey when zoomed all the way out to 300



[Edited on June 14, 2007 at 5:01 PM. Reason : sdf]

6/14/2007 4:59:30 PM

^true, but IS helps with that. I was hand holding the 100-400 all the way out to 400 and It was hard to keep it steady at 400. Thankfully IS counter-acts pretty good and most of the time gets sharp picture. IS is expensive though, at least double on the canon side.

The camera will do him no good if he doesn't know how to use it. While it's fairly easy to learn and have fun with, he would be much happier with a simple point and shoot with 12x optical zoom. Weight savings aside, they are 1/4 of the price of entry level DSLR's. Besides, by the time he gets used to the camera, the trip will be over and it would have been in vain to buy such an expensive and bulky camera. Simple point and shoots now days are quite impressive.

6/14/2007 10:50:59 PM

If you're not budgeted below ~$1000, go for the Canon EOS 30D. Dad's got one and it is really nice, but it has many features that an amateur will have to read up on. I have the Rebel XTi and it is great for the beginner whose just getting into DSLR's. I also have a 30-200 mm US IS telescopic lens and a Speedlite 420 EX flash that was handed down to me. Ultra Sonic lenses are very fast and quiet. Image Stabilizing lenses are good when you want to change shutter speed.

[Edited on June 15, 2007 at 3:22 PM. Reason : ]

6/15/2007 3:21:51 PM