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photography suggestions
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by Langaha on June 6, 2003
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I'm about ready to purchase a simple auto focus zoom lens 35mm camera for an upcoming herp trip. I need someone elses opinion or expertise to tell me if a 35-80mm zoom lens will be sufficient for photographing close-ups of snakes and other reptiles. I'm not necessarily wanting up-close facial shots, just a clear full-body picture of whatever snake I might be photographing. Is 80mm zoom going to work? Or is it necessary to get a camera with 110mm zoom or more. I am really hoping 80 will cut it, however, I don't want to be extremely dissapointed when I get my first pictures developed. Thanks for any suggestions. I really need them! Anthony--MO
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RE: photography suggestions
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by Snakeman1982 on June 6, 2003
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Hello Anthony,
A 35-80mm lens is good to start out with along with an amateur autofocus camera. Make sure you are buying good brands like Canon or Nikon because if you ever want to do professional work you will need these systems as the others (even Minolta and Pentax) don't compare and you'll have to buy the prime companies eventually anyway. The 35-80mm lens will give you a relatively wide angle plus allow you to zoom in quite a bit. One thing you need to be concerned with is how close you can get to the subject. If you are taking pictures of salamanders or something you will want a lens that is good at macro (close up) photography. Most professional nature photographers use 105mm macro lenses or other lenses for really good close ups however the 35-80mm can still get you great shots that you need for the time being. The amateur cameras are also easier to carry around because they are smaller and a lot lighter. When you start buying all the professional gear you need eventually you end up packing more heavy camera equipment around than any thing else and it can be a big hassle sometimes. Even now that I have a lot of other equipment, some of my best photos were with my 35-80mm during the time that I just got started with autofocus cameras. A photographers skill, time, location, and film have more to do with getting a great photo than his equipment. Amateur cameras can do most things that a professional camera can they just don't have all the special options but can take just as good pictures during average photography situations.
One tip I'll give you. Read the entire instruction manual front to back and know what your camera can and can't do along with what every button does. This allows you to get full use out of your camera and also helps you from making so many mistakes which you are sure to do when first starting out with any new piece of equipment. Too many beginners let these new cameras do all the work and don't learn anything about the cameras capabilities. This makes your photography suffer drastically and keeps you from getting a lot of the shots you'll want to have.
Another is, don't rely too much on autofocus because amateur cameras are fast but they can mess up a lot during certain situations and even with professional cameras it is better to manually focus a really close up picture to make sure you get the shot.
Later on I would suggest to buy a 75-300mm or something close to it so that you can take photos of animals that are further away and that you can't get close enough to with a 35-80. After that you could get a macro lens but for now the 35-80 is an excellent starter.
Just my opinion but the best amateur camera out right now for under $350 is the Canon Rebel Ti, which should come with a 28-90mm lens. If you buy a photography magazine somewhere you can check out the prices of these items and you should be able to get a lot better deals than at Wal-Mart. The Rebel G-2 has also just come out and it has been improved.
Feel free to e-mail me if you have any other questions or reply to this post.
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