I wanted to start a blog and discussion group on digital photography to share the joys and adventures of nature photography. I thought I’d start by reviewing what camera I bought and how I learned to use it. I’m an amateur and mostly take photos for the fun of being outside and sharing those images with my friends and family. Up until June of 2006 I had been using a Nikon FG SLR that I bought around 1980. I knew I wanted a digital SLR camera to replace it and was waiting for the prices to come down (they weren’t really coming down too fast). The Nikon D200 was the best amateur model for my needs at the time. Actually, I felt it was way more camera than I needed, but at this price point I wanted something I could grow into. And my first camera had served me well for 26 years – I was hoping for the same or better from this camera. A hope that my cutting edge technical friends thinks is hysterical – they keep pointing out that the camera will be outdated in two years or less and I will HAVE to replace it.
I already was a fan of Nikon, so I really focused on their cameras. I liked the rugged build to this camera. I’m careful with my equipment, but I take it everywhere and sometimes my camera ends up in the bottom of a backpack. I wanted something solid that could take some gentle abuse.
At the time I bought my camera it came bundled with a Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IF AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens. This is a great all purpose lens. I am interested in nature photography and animals so I wanted something where I could get a little closer. I also bought a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S NIKKOR Zoom Lens and a doubler. I love this lens! I can use it to get close up shots of animals a little distance away (so I stand a better chance of not scaring them off). I can use it for some close-up shots of flowers. I’ve been really happy with the results with and without the doubler.
I do almost all of my preliminary shopping and research online. I read reviews on Amazon, www.dpreview.com and few other places that Google suggests. For some purchases I want to get a hold of the item before I buy it. So I asked around to see what camera store in the area might be a good place to check out my new camera. Several people recommended Georges in downtown San Diego. Steve was the perfect salesman for me – he provided lots of information and no pressure. He showed me how the camera worked, what was different about how a digital camera worked, what was better (everything), and let me take a few shots in the store. I pretty much had decided this was the camera for me before I got there, so this was an easy sale. I was happy that they had the camera in the store. I had been trying to get this camera for a few months and it was on back order at every online store. Steve later walked me through the zoom lenses, and suggested that I rent the zoom lenses I was interested in, to be sure that I got what I wanted.
At the time I was considering the a 400mm and the 70-200 zoom. In order to decide which zoom to get, I rented both the 200, 400, and the doubler – and ran some tests. The 200 has such great glass, that the images taken with that lens, and the doubler, were sharper on my tests, than those taken with the 400 lens (a total surprise to me since I was sure that shooting through that many layers of glass would degrade the quality quit a bit). And the combination of the 200 and double gave me more options! I checked out reviews on both lenses on the digital photography review website: www.dpreview.com. The 70-200 lens had some great reviews and the sharpness of the lens was consistently commented on.
Now I had my new gear and it was time to practice. We were going to go on our first safari and I had wanted this camera specifically for this trip. I wasn’t able to get one until just two or three weeks before we left.
Dear Reader: I’m interested in how you do things, please share!
How did you decide what to buy and how long do you think you’ll be using it?