Could you recommend a camera please - for a safari!

[hornetrider]

Hello oh knowledgeable chaps and chapesses. I've not posted in this forum before, please be gentle

We currently have an old Sony DSC-P73 which has seen better days. I'm getting married next week and for part of our honeymoon we are going on a safari, I really want a new camera that will take some great shots of the wildlife.

I had a brief play with a Nikon D40 in Currys at lunchtime but to be honest it looks a little complicated (I know, I know!) - as I've never used an SLR before.

I guess what I want is a camera that will take some decent close-ups at a distance of, I'm guessing, up to 50 metres if possible. Ease of use would be high on the priority list - can any of you peeps suggest a camera that will fulfil my needs?

Budget is ideally up to 250 or so, as I've seen the D40 packages on Ebay at 270 with case, spare battery and 4 gig memory card.

Cheers

[rustyspit]

The D40 is a nice camera, but bear in mind that if you do get a DSLR you'll want to get a telephoto lens too (I guess you'd need at least a 200mm lens, preferably more). Lenses can be expensive - you'd probably need to budget at least £150-ish in addition to the camera, or more for something with image stabilisation built in. Hiring a nice telephoto lens for the safari might be a good option, but I don't know what that would cost.

If you can't stretch to that expense, you could look at one of the 'prosumer' all-in-one cameras that has a built-in lens and image stabilisation. I don't know anything about them, but you could have a look at the reviews here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

Ultimately all of these cameras will be complicated, but also will have an Auto function where you just have to point and click. A DSLR isn't really much more complicated than anything else - you'll be fine once you have a play with it.

The killer advantage that a DSLR has in comparison to everything else is that is has a bigger sensor, that means it can collect lots of light and produce decent pictures when pictures from other cameras would look grainy and need flash.

The disadvantage of a DSLR is that it has a big sensor, so everything else needs to be bigger, heavier (and more expensive) to match.

ETA: In comparison to other cameras, you'll find the battery in a DSLR lasts forever unless you're using the flash a lot, or looking at pictures on the screen all the time. I doubt you're likely to need more than 1 battery provided you can charge it somewhere at night? Memory cards are cheap as chips - I'd suggest getting a couple of cards from a well-known brand, eg:
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/-/267/...


For camera prices have a look at:
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod267.html

Edited by rustyspit on Monday 8th September 16:58

[CVP]

If you want decent size in the frame at that disatnce you'll really be needing 400mm on the cropped sensor. You could try hiring the Nikon 80-400 from somewhere like Fixation in London as even second hand I think they will be in the region of 500 to 600.

Chris

[hornetrider]

Well... having had a play with the D40 and a Lumix TZ5... I've gone for the Lumix. It just seemed a whole lot easier to use! I'll post up some pics of Lions when I get back

[profstoff]

CVP said:

If you want decent size in the frame at that disatnce you'll really be needing 400mm on the cropped sensor. You could try hiring the Nikon 80-400 from somewhere like Fixation in London as even second hand I think they will be in the region of 500 to 600.

Chris

It's not just the camera but the lens that is important. I've just got back from SA and I bought a Sigma 150-500 zoom for the trip. Not cheap and a lot of glass but the length was vital (and sometimes it was too short). Image stabilisation on a long lens like that is also essential. Your budget probably won't run to that sort of lens but get the longest you can afford.
A lot of safari drives are morning and evening when light levels are low so look at a camera with good performance at high ISO levels.
Also look for good autofocus performance and learn how to use the autofocus. Animals can be partly hidden in the bush and you want to know how to focus on the antelope, not the bit of grass that is waving in front of it. The camera will have different focus modes and on my Canon I can select from a number of focus points. The focus should be on the animals eyes.
Look also for reasonable burst performance.

You'll need more memory than you think. I took about 1700 shots (plus the ones I deleted straight away) in three weeks.

These sites are good for camera reviews.

http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/

Hope this helps and enjoy the honeymoon.