First camera

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Dougy147
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First camera

Hi guys. I'm looking to purchase my first camera for bird photography and I'm a getting a little bit overwhelmed with all the info online. Haven't seen a recent thread in here on entry level cameras. .

My budget would probably be around the $500 mark but I'm flexible. Basically just want something relatively simple that will allow me to get some sharp images for social media and potentially some small prints for my home. 

If anyone can point me towards some specific models it'd be much appreciated. I'm struggling with the volume of options out there. Thanks!  

Alex Rogers
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Hi Dougy - welcome to the site :-) 

Thats a pretty tight budget for a notoriously expensive end of the photography market. Probably the key thing for birds is a longer lens, as they are small and we can't get close. But long lenses are expensive, and long fast good lenses and the camera bodies that drive them well are really expensive. 

Would you consider a all-in-one compact zoom camera? Perhaps look for a used Nikon Coolpix P900 or similar. This model is now discontinued (P1000 is current model) but got a bit of a cult amongst bird photographers following for its enormous zoom and ease of use. I reckon they are a great beginner bird photography camera, and many people find them entirely satisfactory and never move on. You can find used examples for around $5-600 on eBay (or I have one which I no longer use if you'd like to drop me a PM ;-) 

Dougy147
Dougy147's picture

Hi Alex, thanks for the reply. Given my budget I had been looking mostly at all in one fixed zoom cameras, but hadn't come across the P900. It does have excellent reviews! .

I will indeed hit you up with a PM about yours, assuming I can figure out how to do that. 

whitewingedchough
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I have a new Panasonic Lumix FZ 80.  Not sure yet whether it's the camera or the user, but the photos are not as good as the ten year old Panasonic Lumix that I had to replace.  On a different note, how do you compress photos?  Do I need to download a program? If so, which program is the best one for ease of use given that Im not an IT geek. 

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Hi Dougy, to send a PM, click the link top right side of the page "Messages", follow the prompts hopefully you can figure it out.

Welcome and best of luck finding a camera.

Just remember we are not in a competition here, it is all about members putting forward there photos for others to enjoy.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

whitewingedchough
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Just remember we are not in a competition here, it is all about members putting forward there photos for others to enjoy.

what an encouraging comment dwatsonbb. 

Now if I just  knew how to compress my inferior photos I could post some :)

dwatsonbb
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Dale Huonville, Tasmania

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