Yet another "Which camera should I buy" thread, sorry.

[baltika_no_9]

We'd like to buy one of our boys a camera as a graduation present but my knowledge of the subject of photography and the relative merits of the products in the market place are inadequate. The research I have done is inconclusive, although Sony and Panasonics seem to be well regarded, so I'd be enormously grateful for a few pointers.

Here are the relevant facts as I see them:

A compact device would be the better option as the main purpose would be to use the camera on field trips he'll be undertaking during his research project. That said, he's a bit ham-fisted so anything that requires delicate manipulation is out of the question.

He'll need to photograph insects close up both in situ and in the lab so a macro feature is essential.

Given the above I assume that a camera with interchangeable lenses would be required.

He'll also be taking the normal range of snaps (am I allowed to use that term in here?).

Built in flash preferred

Budget is flexible but if we could get something suitable for £500-£600 with appropriate accessories that would be great.

Thank you

Chris

 

[rockmeister]

Your budget will be fine for a good compact. Many of them focus very close indeed, although not true macro, which is 'life size' or 1 to 1. If you need this, then a used DSLR with a macro lens is a must, but your budget will find that a pinch if you need an everyday lens too.

Rugged makers include Nikon and Canon. The canon interface is nicer to use IMO, so a good canon compact with close focus might do the trick. Look at the rugged Canon G12...amazon for around £400.

 

[soulman]

Sony A65 with a kit lens and 90mm macro from tamron may just sneak under £600, great electronic viewfinder, tilt and swivel screen (good for macro on a tripod) and 24mp images. Lot's of decent old Minolta lenses to expand the system with and Sony sell 3 good but cheap prime lenses for low light or creative depth of field shots (portraits etc).

Panasonic G5 is much smaller and currently comes with a kit lens (28-85mm in 35mm film terms) and a free 40-150 lens (80-300 in 35mm film terms) for £430, it has a decent viewfinder, swivel screen that is also touch sensitive and can be used to focus and shoot with anywhere on the screen. large selection of lenses but dedicated macros are expensive for this system (£400+) but it can take any old manual focus macro lens with an adapter (most macro is done on a tripod and manually focused anyway).

Hope this helps

Des

 

[AmDismal]

Nikon D3100 is £300 including a (very) basic 18-55 lens, and the 40mm micro lens is just over £200. If you want to spend more, upgrade the 18-55 to the VR one, or buy a ring flash, bag, memory cards and other paraphernalia.

 

[HoopsOnToast]

I would take him to a shop and see what HE wants, especially if looking at a DSLR, the grip/button layout is very personal.

 

[tkimages]

Your budget will be fine for a good compact. Many of them focus very close indeed, although not true macro, which is 'life size' or 1 to 1. If you need this, then a used DSLR with a macro lens is a must, but your budget will find that a pinch if you need an everyday lens too.Rugged makers include Nikon and Canon. The canon interface is nicer to use IMO, so a good canon compact with close focus might do the trick. Look at the rugged Canon G12...amazon for around £400.

Certainly worth serious consideration, easy to use for a novice, but has enough manual features for a pro, and you don't have to worry about carrying/changing lenses. Will do 'macro' of sorts, but you can add filters to get really close.

 

[baltika_no_9]

Well thanks for your useful comments everyone. The macro (of sorts) capabilities of some of the compacts sounds like it might do the trick.

I would take him to a shop and see what HE wants, especially if looking at a DSLR, the grip/button layout is very personal.

Yes that's good sense and is what we will be doing but I was hoping to have at least some background information to hand in the first instance so that I could help in the decision making process.

Thank you all

 

[mikehit]

Does he want true macro or a good close-up?

As a general kit I would consider a Panasonic G3 with 14-42 lens at £249 (http://www.camerapricebuster.com/Panasonic/Panasonic-G-System-Cameras) plus the decent 45-150 (£199). If macro is more important than telephoto then there is the highly acclaimed Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro (£369) and although that combination would not give you any image stabilisation, IS is less effective at macro distances anyway, and in the lab he could use a small cheap tripod anyway.

 

[baltika_no_9]

Well to close this off......

Armed with the wisdom I'd gleaned from your kind selves off we went. We looked at the Canon G12 and G15, he was quite taken by the Panasonic G5 and may well have settled on that before we mentioned the fact that ruggedness and some sort of macro capability were important (see original post). We were then guided to the Pentax WG-3 GPS which is completely different in looks but he took to it right away. It's built to taken a little bit of punishment, which it will surely get knowing him, and it has a close-up (microscope mode I think they call it) which really stole it for him.

So, it came in at half the budget and was something I didn't even know existed. Most importantly he's a very happy lad and I look forward to his first efforts with it.

Thank you again everyone, I do appreciate your advice.

 

[Bazzer]

Well to close this off......Armed with the wisdom I'd gleaned from your kind selves off we went. We looked at the Canon G12 and G15, he was quite taken by the Panasonic G5 and may well have settled on that before we mentioned the fact that ruggedness and some sort of macro capability were important (see original post). We were then guided to the Pentax WG-3 GPS which is completely different in looks but he took to it right away. It's built to taken a little bit of punishment, which it will surely get knowing him, and it has a close-up (microscope mode I think they call it) which really stole it for him.

So, it came in at half the budget and was something I didn't even know existed. Most importantly he's a very happy lad and I look forward to his first efforts with it.

Thank you again everyone, I do appreciate your advice.

I had to Google it, what a strange looking camera

 

[rockmeister]

I read that it has 'digital' image stabilisation. In practice, this means dodgy blurry shots are more likely in low light, so his lab macros (despite the LED illumination) might need a support.

Either show him how to hold a cam very steady, or, with the money saved, add one of these...http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joby-GP1-D1EN-Gorillapod-Original-Black/dp/B000EVSLRO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1372924971&sr=8-4&keywords=gorillapod

Camera looks great tho...freezeproof too!