Camera Call

[luevelvet]

For some great camera advice, head over to http://kenrockwell.com/ .

I still use an older Nikon D50 with the built in flash. I did just get the SB600 Flash with remote IR focusing so I can focus in complete darkness. And don't be fooled by megapixels....

Luis

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy OP,

Lots of megapixels is a "double-edged sword" . When you set (yes, you can set the pixel count to some extent) the camera to capture with the maximum amount of pixels, you've captured the image with that camera's finest resolution. Now what do you do with all of them ?. Often times you end-up tossing out the vast majority of them when all you end-up doing is posting the shot on the Chameleon Forums . However, there are times when the "tossing out" action isn't just to end-up with the same exact photo with fewer pixels but where you may have found something interesting in the photo taken that you want to zoom-in on and crop down to just that area of the photo while retaining a reasonable amount of resolution. My avatar photo was cropped from a shot that originally encompassed half of a 2x2x4 screen enclosure to capture my chameleon shooting the superworm off of the screen. The image was sharp enough (good focus, exposure, and depth of field) and was shot with a 6.3MP (the original Digital Rebel from 2004) DSLR such that there was still fine detail of the tongue.

Another series of shots that I took of that same chameleon over the years turned out to be helpful. When he was 5-6 years old, a biopsy of a lump showed that it was cancer (he died a year later). My vet and I were able to look back over years of my photos of that chameleon, zoom-in on that same location on his body and see where the very tiniest spot later turned into the cancer all of those years later. My vet used those photos as part of a paper that he presented at one of big veterinarian conferences.

It's always nice to have the choice to save or toss all of those "extra" pixels . Just get a good camera and lenses to protect those pixels. You never know when you'll need them .

 

[SSimsswiSS]

I have/use a Canon power shot SD1100 IS. 8.0 mega pixels But find myself wanting more macro. Think I paid around 250.00

 

[nhayes1]

Your right, mr Dave.....you did mention using the new rebel. I guess I didnt realize it was a rebel by the model numbers till I saw it at the store. It felt better to hold than the nikon I was thinking about. I like the fact that it has the video also. I find I use the one on my point-and-shoot alot for quick clips. Question for you....Is the lens that is part of the kit worth getting or should I just buy the body and put the extra $ towards a better quality lens?

 

[morpheon]

Is the lens that is part of the kit worth getting or should I just buy the body and put the extra $ towards a better quality lens?

I'll try to answer that, even if i'm not Dave! He could then correct me later if he disagree!

Basically, it depends what you want to do with your camera. If you plan on taking exclusively chameleon pictures, i'd say go for a macro lens. If you plan on taking both chameleons AND people pictures, you could use only a macro lens or the original lens, it's up to you. However, i have heard by some people that a macro lens would do better for chameleons and portraits. Lastly, if you are willing to take some landscape pictures, along with some chameleons and people shots, then the original lens is definately the best for you.

Hope that helps.

 

[nhayes1]

I was wanting a macro but also a prime lens ....for everyday pics of the kids or landscape.......I had read that the kit lenses where not very good qaulity and to put the money towards a better qaulity one......so I guess what I was asking was if he thought it was an ok lens or a piece of junk.

 

[Dave Weldon]

I was wanting a macro but also a prime lens ....for everyday pics of the kids or landscape.......I had read that the kit lenses where not very good qaulity and to put the money towards a better qaulity one......so I guess what I was asking was if he thought it was an ok lens or a piece of junk.

Howdy nhayes and Marc,

Often times you'll find that the 18-55mm kit lens with the Canon Rebel T2i (550D) is a decent enough lens (far out-shoots a point-n-shoot) and it will hold you over until your funds are available for upgrades. If you can get a good price on the T2i with that kit lens, not much of that price will be for the lens itself. Although I bought the 100mm "L" lens (and really like it ), you'll find that the non-"L" 100mm Macro will be great and half the price. Like Marc says, if you don't think you'll ever get any use out of it then saving the steeply discounted kit lens still puts a few more bucks back in your pocket .