Help with choice of field camera

Hey guys, so I've read a few of the beginner posts on what to get for a field camera and figured I would post my questions.

My situation is I am a field Herpetologist. I usually go to really remote areas. So I am not concerned as much with doing in studio shots of snakes. But I would love to get some great shots while out in the middle of nowhere. I was wondering what any of you thought of the camera brands keeping that in mind. I currently am looking at either the Canon 5 or 7D or the Nikon D300 or 700. Any preferences?

What other gear would you consider must have? I am assuming I should get a good Macro lense but what other lense would you choose if only allowed 2? Also what brands? What about types of flashes? What would anyone recomend?

Thanks a lot for any help. When I'm a little less busy I'll throw up some of my field photos from my crappy point and shoot.

Chip

The Caon 5DII is a great gear, but I am not so sure about the 7D ... some friends of mine had it and gave it away for some reasons.
The Nikons You mentioned are both great as far as I know.

For the lenses:
Macro is surely a good hint when doing snakes. It depends on how near You can get but I suggest a 150mm Macro e.g. from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Canon or Nikon - all of those lenses are absolutely sharp and good lenses. Take care to get one with a ultrasonic focusing - much faster (USM in Canon, HSM in Sigma e.g.)

As a second lens I would suggest a superzoom. As You cannot take more than two lenses as You wrote, think of a 28-300 from Tamron, Canon, Sigma, ... not the "best" lenses but in You special situation (just two lenses) definitely the choice I'd made.

Guenter thanks for the response. I've admired your photos for awhile. As far as the second lens I can definitely get close. So distance is not a big issue. What focal length would you suggest if I could bring more than 2 lenses?

Any suggestions on flashes I should purchase?

Once again thanks for the response.

Chip,

I recently got a Canon 7D and reckon it's a great camera. I would love to hear from Guenter why his friends didn't like it... have I overlooked something?

If weight is a major issue, you might also consider looking at things like the Canon 500d or 550D - they do many of the same things as the 7D, but are significantly more compact and lighter - maybe allowing you a 3rd lens

Thanks Wolfgang, the limit to 2 lens right now is strictly do to cost. That's all. Haha so I was wondering what would be the two people would go with if only given 2.

I have a Nikon D40. Money was no object when I was going to purchase the camera. Its takes just as good of pictures as my friends with the D90. I was told by a perfessional to buy this camera and spend the money on the lense. I still have a stock lense and I'm happy so far. I do need a zoom lense because I have to get really close to the snakes for the shots I want and it can be a bit sketchy!

Wolfgang, they told me that the AF does not work as precise as in the 5DII and that the noise at higher ISOs is really bad. But it was just "Hörensagen" so if You have other experience, I'll believe You.

More lenses Chip?
What is Your budget?
What else (except snakes) do You want to photograph?

For the macros: the 150 is a good choice. I own also the Sigma 105 and it is great too but the AF is much slower. I'd never again buy a macro lens without a HSM/USM AF motor.

Chip Cochran wrote:

Thanks Wolfgang, the limit to 2 lens right now is strictly do to cost. That's all. Haha so I was wondering what would be the two people would go with if only given 2.

OK, I wasn't sure what the limiting factor was.

Obviously, lenses depend on what you want to photograph. Personally, I'd always take a 100 mm macro for beasties... after that, I guess a superzoom would be good advice, although I don't have one myself. I would shop around for the best possible quality though, as there certainly can be an element of "Jack of all trades, master of none" in there. http://www.dpreview.com/ is a great review website for photographic kit. I'll have to try out a 150 or 200 mm macro one of these days - they would certainly be good for close-up head shots of large venomous snakes, where keeping your distance is essential. I suspect they might be a bit limiting for other types of shots, as they would force you to work from a long distance away, which might make it difficult to control the animal at the same time. Even with my 100 mm, I find that if I want to change from taking head shots of a larger snake to whole body shots, I need to move back quite a long way, which complicates animal control and flash positioning if I am on my own.

For flash, I use two set-ups depending on situation: a Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX Flash twin flash with detachable flash heads works very well especially for anything sitting in the branches of a tree, where you want some fill-in flash from underneath the animal, or for very small critters. For things sitting on the ground, I use a Canon ZX580 EX with a softbox diffuser, often in conjunction with the built-in flash of the camera for fill-in. Built-in wireless flash control is definitely worth having.

Another thing worth having on a DSLR is a "live view" viewfinder, so that you can hold the camera at arms length and still compose your piccie. One feature I like about the 7D is that it is chunky enough to be used while I am wearing Hexarmor gloves, so
"live view" + Hexarmor gloves + working at arms length = no need for a 200 mm macro

My gears I have used for snake photography - as an example:

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Canon 5D II
Canon 1D III

Canon EF 70-200/2.8 L IS USM (often with extension tubes to get "more Macro")
Sigma 105/2.8 Macro
Sigma 150/2.8 Macro (my favourite lens for snakes)
Canon 24-105/4 L IS USM (the "standard" lens for full body shots, etc.)
Sigma 12-24/3.5-5.6 wide angle - when You've got to get near
Sigma 8/3.5 fisheye (to get REAL near - not yet tried for hot snakes ;-)

Canon 580 EX, often besides the camera (connected with a cable)
Canon 420 EX (as a slave flash on a tripod)

Studio flashes for indoor shots.

A Remote control with a little monitor - great thing to put it onto the cam and trigger it from some distance. So one hand is always free for snake handling, but the cam has to be on a tripod.

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Wolfgangs hint for the twin flashes is of course very good, but those flashes are not cheap.

Wow guys thanks for the awesome responses. Very helpful. As far as budget I do not have an exact one as I will be getting in Credit card debt for this as if I'm gonna do it I will do it right. having said that I figure i will start with 2 lenses and then buy from there. Kinda waiting on some money to come in first. What else would I be shooting? Any other cool animals from my travels. This exact trip I am leaving on soon is in India so anything else I could find there. Frogs, bugs, Tigers, leopards. Whatever. Also I would like to get landscape shots as I come across some gorgeous views while out and about.

Chip, I currently keep and breed 1.1 True Indian Local Spectacled cobras. Any pictures of these that you bring back would be of interest to me! Be sure to take lots of pictures of Indian Russelli as well! Good luck on your trip, take lots of photos!!!

Canon EF 70-200/2.8 L IS USM 1402.00 euro
Sigma 150/2.8 Macro 629.00 euro
Canon 5D II 1849.00 euro
Canon 1D III 2809.00 euro

Prices in Finland .... hmmm ... I think that if I don´t eat nothing abt 3 months I can buy Canon EF 70 - 200 /2.8 L IS USM - but poor man cannot buy sheap - it would cost more money later. Very good choices every one, if you have a big fat wallet

Though Guenter and I have had words here a few times, I respect his photographic genius, and he has influenced me greatly. I just picked up some more camera equipment. I now have:

Nikon D70s with 18-70 f/3.5-4.5 lens came with D70s as a gift
Nikon D300s

I first purchased the following cheaper Nikkor glass
55-200 f/4-5.6 VR - Purchased new
70-300 f/4-5.6 - Purchased new
50mm f/1.8 - Purchased new
300mm f/4.5 - got for $94US on ebay works great
TC-200 2x Teleconverter which makes the 300mm a 600mm lens. - $42US on ebay

Then after learning more, I have purchased some better Nikkor glass
12-24 f/4 - $500US like new - purchased on ebay
24-70 f/2.8 - Purchased new
70-200 f/2.8 VR - Purchased new
50mm f/1.4 - Purchased new
105mm f/2.8 VR Micro - Purchased new

Randy

If You pull the trigger about 70.000 times a year Ari, You need some stuff. Other people drive expensive cars or go to the casino, I don't care who's spending his money for what

Good equipment, Randy!

Thanks Guenter I'm loving the new equipment

Randy

Guenter Leitenbauer wrote:

If You pull the trigger about 70.000 times a year Ari, You need some stuff. Other people drive expensive cars or go to the casino, I don't care who's spending his money for what Good equipment, Randy!

Yes Guenter, that was what I ment : " "poor" man cannot buy sheap - it would cost more money later" - meaning that if you do something seriously, you have to spend some
money to that ... Kalle Kultala , Finnish nature fotographer, said that if he tooks 10 000 pics, he accept only 2 -10 of them as good pics so I understand very well that 70000 shots.
I don´t care either, I put my money to family and snakes ... and sometimes I bought something new photostuffs ... last was Tamron SP AF Di 90 mm / 1:2.8 macro.
Randy, nice equipments you`ve got - happy hours with photographing to you ...

Yo Chip, you know I do a lot of the same photo'ing that you'll be doing. I have three lenses currently:

Canon 28-135mm USM
Sigma 105mm macro
Canon 100-300mm

When I go herping I only take the 28-135mm and the macro lens because I found that I just don't use the long lens. Now, you might use the long lens if you were shooting leopards and tigers off in the distance, but you're always going to use one of the other lenses for your reptiles and inverts. Therefore, if I were you I'd probably put a good chunk of change into a good standard zoom lens that can be your most commonly used lens. Like Guenter said, if you get a big super zoom that does everything, you're going to sacrifice some quality.

Ari, Anselm Adams (maybe the most famous photographer ever) said:
"If You get 12 good shots a year, this was a good year!"

I usually delete maybe 20% of the shots immediately at the camera, if there is enough time and I know, those shots are bad - e.g. at my basketball shoots when the other team is attacking, there is some time.

At home after loading the shots into the computer, about 10-90% go to the wastebasket. It depends where I was. Studio leads to a lower number of shots and to a lower number of deletes and as the other extreme a rock concert shooting to at least 90% outtakes, sometimes 100%.

From the rest only about 10-30% get the four stars which indicate for me "Think about postprocessing it". All over the year maybe 20 shots get five stars. Those are tho shots I love at first sight not necessarily the shots that are the best after viewing them more often.

In summary I postprocess about 500-700 photos a year - about 1% of all the shots that have been taken.

Hi there,

If you want to have the camera for the field and to go to really remote places you should not forget weight. Though I am a professional photographer I doubt I would take my big SLR equipment into the mountains again. Carrying all this stuff is a pain in the ......
So for montane rainforest and other rough places in the mountains I would recommend a good compact camera (Canon G11, or the Nikon pendant if you are into off-camera flashes).
Or if you want a SLR go for a little plastic body like the Nikon D40/60/80/90 or Canon 350d/400d/450d/500d etc.
They are all rather cheap but not as tough for the field. THe campacts above are tougher with a metal body and they won't get no dirt into them etc
If you go somewhere where weight is no problem you can co for the metal body SLRs like Nikon D300/D700 or Canon 5D but those are expensive. The same with the lenses - there are good plastic lenses that are light but still good. Like the 18-55mm VR from Nikon or the 70-300mm VR Telezoom. Macros are expensive and you might want to check for Sigma.
If you go for a full format camera like the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D the selection of light lenses becomes comparatively small.

To summarize: If you don't have much experience with photography get a Canon G11 or Nikon P6000. Those are very versatile little light weight cameras with almost professional handling and great image quality. Using them in the field you will notice what it is you miss - if you miss anything at all. Maybe you notice that you like to take pictures of birds - so you'd need a good Tele (heavy). Or you notice that you like wide angle landscapes so you need a good wide angle (though the 24mm of the G11 are quite wide). Maybe you notice that you like ambient light shots and your high-ISO shots are too noisy so that you need a SLR-body which can deal with it.
You may want to try and but an extra brick into your backpack while you carry the campact camera to see what it means to take SLR with you into the field only that you can through away the brick when ever you want

Good luck!

Good arguments Maik, but despite the weight I usually prefer to be tired from carrying to be restricted when photographing.
Guess everybody has to go for his own thing here ...

exactly. It is just something that you should take into consideration. Especially if you go into remote areas and mountains.
I took my D200 with a couple of lenses, 3 flashes, batteries etc with me when I had to get from 1700m to 3600m asl in one day through montane forest and bamboo thicket. You may be that tired from carrying the equipment that it actually restricts you when photographing...
In the end the photographer takes the images not the gear.