Camera for animal photography?

[Spinelli]

Hi all.

I hope you can help me - i'm a complete novice, and I am looking for a camera suitable for taking photos of moving animals (particuarly whales and dolphins, from a boat) - so the shutter speed has to be good.

It also needs to have a decent zoom.

I've used high quality canon/nikon cameras with telephoto lenses before and taken some great shots, but my budget (and travelling luggage allowance!) won't stretch that far!

My budget is ideally less than £400 (although the cheaper the better!). I don't have a preference between DSLR and compact - if you can advise me on a compact with a good zoom and a fast shutter speed i'd happily consider that. If you advise a DSLR, should I keep the lense that comes with a new camera body, or try and find the camera body second hand and buy a different lense?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Chris Cool]

Hi and welcome.

I suggest you look at the Panasonic FZ150 Clicky (http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_lumix_dmc_fz150_review/)

Understanding Panning Clicky (http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/photography-panning-technique-motion/) and pre-focus Clicky (http://digital-photography-school.com/pre-focus-to-combat-shutter-lag) With those two mastered. You can shoot with anything!

Also helpful on the FZ150
Continuous Shooting Mode Full- Resolution Image: 12 frames/sec Max. 12 images (Standard / Fine Mode), / with AF Tracking: 5.5 frames/sec, 2 frames/sec / High- speed Burst: approx. 40 frames/sec / (recorded in 5M for 4:3, 4.5M for 3:2, 3.5M for 16:9, 3.5M for 1:1) / approx. 60 frames/sec / (recorded in 2.5M for 4:3, 3M for 3:2, 3.5M for 16:9, 2M for 1:1)

Also, get yourself one of these Easy Cam digital DSLR Camera Stabiliser (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Easy-Cam-digital-DSLR-Camera-Stabiliser-Camcorder-Stabilizer-Steady-cam-UK-/180874381461?pt=UK_Tripods_Heads_Stablisers&hash=item2a1cf40895)

Cheers!


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