I get asked regularly by people wanting to know what camera I would recommend. I am not going to recommend anything specific, Instead I am going to ask a few questions that you as the prospective purchaser should be asking yourself. I see the local Game store sells people DSLR cameras when they ask about shooting in the Kruger National Park and I am horrified.

Yes a DSLR with the right lenses is the best tool for the job but I have a problem with salespeople recommending a Canon EOS1000D with a kit lense to a beginner who is on holiday. You cannot take decent pics in the Kruger National Park with a 17 – 55 lense. I think the recommendation is based on commission and not on the clients needs.  I mean Game does not stock any lenses that would make sense to own. The client gets this whizz bang camera, gets to the park and then finds that the lense is less capable than their 3x optical zoom mik and druk.

So after spending about R7 k they now need to go and get themselves another lense that will allow them to actually see the animals on the other side of the road. They may then visit a camera shop and find that they need to spend another 7 – 15k to get a lense that may allow them to take photos of birds and buck.

So lets start with the questions

1. Are you planning on going Professional or not?

Yes

Look at a decent DSLR, taking more care of the glass you buy than the body. An EOS350D with L lenses will take better images that a EOS40D with cheap glass. Trust me on this one. I am not going to go into detail about lenses and stuff in this article. I will spend more time on this subject in another article. This one is about amateur choices.

No

2. Do you have an unlimited budget, as in do you have the bucks to splash out and let stuff gather dust while you are playing with other toys?

Yes

See my answer to the person going pro.

No

3. Will your subject matter include birds? animals and wildlife?

Yes

You will need a camera with a long reach, anything from 300 – 500mm will assist you in achieving the photos you desire. The closer to 500mm or bigger you get the better you are able focus on the little creatures. Even with a 500 mm lense you will need to get to within 3m of the small birds to get a reasonably framed shot. I used a 300mm lense and was able to successfully shoot most wildlife but the birds eluded me.

My daughter has a 10x optical zoom mik and druk and we achieved similar results as with a 300mm lense. The major difference between the 6megapixel mik and druk and the 10mp DSLR is obviously print quality. The facts are that if you are shooting fo the home album and a rarely going to print more than jumbo sized images, there is very little difference that is discernable to the eye. Only when enlargements larger than A3 are printed can differences be seen and then not obviously.

No

Will your subjects include people and pets?

Yes

Mostly pets and people are posable and any 3x optical zoom camera can be used. I rarely need anything higher than 200mm including shots across a room and even wedding pictures. In fact my general lense is a 28 – 200mm zoom and I would suggest that a 5x optical zoom would be pretty similar.

Once again the difference is in the print quality and only in enlargements over A3

Get yourself the best mik and druk prosumer camera you can afford and very rarely will you regret not owning a DSLR. Factually the tools I have make it easier for me to get good results but having said that I have seen absolutely great photographs shot with cheap cameras and awful images produced with great gear. It is not the camera it is the photographer that determines how good an image is.

More on this subject

• Wedding Venue, Bundu Lodge chapel Nelspruit
• I appreciate you thinking of me but….
• Working for exposure / improving portfolio
• Photography for exposure – it’s a bum deal

Tags: Camera, DSLR, Lense, Mik and Druk, photograph, Photography

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