Which Camera For Safari?

[goatfarmer]

I'm going to kenya to see the migration of the wildebeest. At present I use my sonyericsson phone for holiday snaps. But it might be worth splurging on a digital camera, given the wildlife photo opportunities. I would be grateful for suggestions bearing in mind the following priorities:

i. size: I don't want anything heavy or bulky. Pocket size is a must.

ii. video: i've read what you guys say about quality of still digital cams used for video, but I'm prepared to compromise on this.

Would you agree that the more pixels the better?

What is the standard focal length of digital cameras? What's the best compromise for wide-angle to telephoto?

Any great deals around in Thailand now?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[rafval]

I'm going to kenya to see the migration of the wildebeest. At present I use my sonyericsson phone for holiday snaps. But it might be worth splurging on a digital camera, given the wildlife photo opportunities. I would be grateful for suggestions bearing in mind the following priorities:

i. size: I don't want anything heavy or bulky. Pocket size is a must.

ii. video: i've read what you guys say about quality of still digital cams used for video, but I'm prepared to compromise on this.

Would you agree that the more pixels the better?

What is the standard focal length of digital cameras? What's the best compromise for wide-angle to telephoto?

Any great deals around in Thailand now?

Thanks for any suggestions.

as far as pixels go, it depends on how big you want to print enlargments, if you arent planning on printing bigger the 10x8 or so then 6mp should be plenty, more is just taking up hard drive space

[goatfarmer]

.

as far as pixels go, it depends on how big you want to print enlargments, if you arent planning on printing bigger the 10x8 or so then 6mp should be plenty, more is just taking up hard drive space

Thanks for your comment. I'm not planning to print at all. Just view on my 17 inch computer screen. But I note that 6 mega pixels is pretty much standard now.

[donna]

i recently purchased a pentax optio 7mp, 3 x optical zoom. its a great little compact camera. not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. i can fit it in my handbag all the time. has a touch screen, is very simple to use and i am very happy with it.

i paid AUD$399 for it which is around 12,000thb going on the current rate. not sure if they have them here or not, but its worth looking at.

enjoy the safari! im jealous!

[cheshiremusicman]

If you are going on safari, are you intending to take landscape or animal pics - or both. I assume that you will be trying to take both! Unfortunately, you need both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths to do these, which means that you will have to try and find a pocket camera with the biggest zoom lense that you can find. Wide angle equates to 28mm in 'old' 35 mm terms and about 6.2mm in digital format - telephoto would be 300mm or about 66mm in digital. The old standard 50mm lense on 35mm cameras would equate to about 12mm on digital.

I don't know of any 'pocket digitals' that cover this range, but I would say that 66mm would be the 'minimum' that you would require to get any kind of decent 'animal' shots, unless you are lucky enough to get within 20 feet or so with a guide.

If you decide to go for a non-pocket camera I can throughly recommend the Fuji finepix S9500 - 9 megapixel with a fixed zoom 6.2 - 66.2 i.,e, 10x zoom. This gives excellent results and has good video if you need/want it! Also, a very useful facility it has TWO memory cards that can take upto 2 Gigabits each and maybe some more- especially useful for the video shots, as they consume lots and lots of memory. It takes 4 AA batteries and is happy with rechargables or standard alkalines, so no problems there.

Only altenative that I can see, considering that you say that you don't intend to print out the pics, would be to buy one of the very small pocket video cameras that will do stills for you at good resolution. The video cameras usually have some very long zooms and you could always buy a front of lens telephoto adaptor for really long shots as these are quite cheap and don't degrade the image quality that much. Probably when it comes to 'wild animal' shots a poor video is better than a mediocre still. Movement does so much for it and you can find stock pics of every animal in creation on the net if you just want a 'picture', but your video would be personal if you see what I mean, plus+ you would also have the added advantage of the sound of the elephant charging towards you, just before you get trampled!! only joking.

Hope that this is some help and have a good trip.

[donna]

i also have an olympus N750 (i think thats what it is) which is 4.2mp with a 10x optical zoom. this camera was excellent and i would highly recommend it to anyone. mine is a few yrs old but they would have updated the models by now to fix any flaws (not that i noticed any personally). i got excellent shots out of this camera, but its not as compact as you may want.

[baahjun]

i. size: I don't want anything heavy or bulky. Pocket size is a must.

you want photographs, you have to carry a camera

Would you agree that the more pixels the better?

read this ( http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm ) and don't believe the salesperson that tries to sell you a billion mp camera

What is the standard focal length of digital cameras? What's the best compromise for wide-angle to telephoto?

most digital compact with a lot of zoom won't get you an wide angle, they start around 24mm (35mm equiv.), if you want wide angle and tele, buy a DSLR, and some lenses.

this might be something although I don't know about video

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms6000fd

also here you'll find good reviews for a lot of cameras

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

[UnknownPoster]

A friend of mine, that always researches every detail before making a purchase has been considering the Panasonic TZ3.

7.2 million px, 10 x zoom, Leica lens.

CNET Reviews;

http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/20...?tag=cnetfd.dir

Edited August 2, 2007 by UnknownPoster

[flupke]

my opinion ,

for safari you need a zoom of minimum 6x optical , but better go for a 12x

if you want pocket size you ar limited in zoom function : 6x optical

go for

canon powershot A710IS : 6 x optical , standard AA battery : best value for money

canon G7 : 6 x optical , stronger body , upgrade compared to powershot

a little bigger then pocket size , but a zoom of 12x optical , can shoot pictures and zoom while filming until 35 min(!) and in general the best functions overall

canon S5IS : http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons5is/

absolutely the best choice ,no doubt

Conclusion - Pros

Excellent resolution, good detail at lower ISOs (though output a little soft)

Good color, good exposure, generally accurate focus gives a high 'hit rate' even in auto mode

Huge photographic versatility with 36-432mm lens and super macro mode

Image stabilization works well (and can be used in movie mode)

Some welcome improvements over the S3 IS; better viewfinder, better screen, flash hot shoe

Packed with features

Very quiet

Solid construction and good handling

Fast and responsive

Superb movie quality with high quality stereo sound

Impressively little distortion for such a large lens

Enjoyable and easy to use

Superb screen, bright and clear with full tilt & swing articulation

Optional wide and tele adapters

PC controlled shooting (via USB)

Customizable shortcut button, ISO button

Superb battery life with NiMH cells

Flash hot shoe

Good macro

Conclusion - Cons

Noise and noise reduction effects visible at anything over ISO 100

ISO 800 and 1600 very noisy and of limited use

Wider wideangle would be nice

SD card slot now in battery compartment - battery cover awkward to open and close

Barely any image quality improvement over predecessor

Movie button in awkward position

Some features removed (such as intervalometer) or downgraded (continuous shooting speed)

Electronic viewfinder may be improved, but it's still not fantastic

Occasional focus hunting at the telephoto end of the zoom in low light

No rechargeable batteries supplied in the box

Some highlight clipping due to over exposure of contrasty scenes

Chromatic aberration and purple fringing

No RAW mode

Overall conclusion

Although it represents a more significant upgrade than the S3 IS was over the S2 IS, the S5 IS doesn't really see Canon breaking much new ground. Of course that isn't such a terrible thing; this has been a hugely successful series of cameras - for most part deservedly so.

That said, whilst much of this round of tinkering brings welcome improvements (the flash shoe and screen/viewfinder upgrades most significantly), the new sensor adds little to the image quality at anything much over ISO 80, and none at all at higher ISO settings (which, incidentally, are also marginally less sensitive). You also have to wonder how much longer Canon can resist the urge to go for an even wider zoom range, given that most of its competitors now offer a more useful wideangle in a 15x or 18x optic.

But let's get one thing straight; the S5 IS is a great camera, one we really enjoyed using, and one that produces decent output shot after shot thanks to a responsive focus system, accurate exposure, vibrant (but natural) color and a decent image stabilization system. Although the results don't bear close 'pixel level' scrutiny, for the typical user wanting to produce prints at standard sizes (say up to 5x7 inches) there's very little to complain about, and the more you use it the more you learn how to tailor the settings to get the best output. It also offers class-leading movie quality, if that's important to you.

Over the last few months we've spent a lot of time with the latest generation of super zoom cameras from all the major manufacturers, and the S5 IS comes closer than most to getting the right balance of features and image quality. Where the Sony H7 and H9 suffer from frustrating controls and over-aggressive noise reduction, the Canon has a friendly, intuitive interface and (relatively) light-handed noise reduction at lower ISO settings. And where the Olympus SP-550UZ misses too many shots due to focus problems, in all but the most challenging situations the S5 IS offers accurate, responsive focus. The only camera I'd consider next to the S5 IS is the Panasonic FZ8 (which also happens to be a lot cheaper) - though Panasonic's excessive noise reduction at ISO 400+ means you may have to shoot RAW to get acceptable results.

Ultimately there is no clear winner in this sector of the market, and all the models demand a certain level of compromise. As the manufacturers squeeze ever more pixels onto such tiny sensors it becomes increasingly difficult to recommend using any of these cameras at anything over the lowest ISO for anything 'serious' - unless you're happy with small prints or simply want to view the results scaled-down on-screen. The S5 IS offers what is to us a more appealing balance of noise vs noise reduction, but the DIGIC III process can't work miracles and the output at higher ISO settings leaves a lot to be desired.

So then, Canon took an already great camera and gave it a better screen, better viewfinder and a flash hot shoe, and made it a bit prettier to boot. They then put inside it a sensor that is noisier than its predecessor, meaning that - for the most part - the resolution increase simply isn't reflected in the output, thanks to the need for stronger noise reduction. It's certainly a better camera in most respects, but the improvements are about 'features' not 'picture quality', and we'd hoped for a little more from Canon this time around.

To conclude, the PowerShot S5 IS is probably, just, the pick of the super zoom bunch at this moment in time, because it offers reliable output, responsive performance and an impressive feature set in an attractive, easy to use package that makes photography fun; not because it offers better IQ.

It is crying out for a better sensor, wider lens and for Canon to move the SD card slot back out from the battery compartment, but I'd still rather take it out shooting than the Sony, Olympus or Fuji alternatives. The output (with fringing and noise issues) simply isn't good enough to earn the S5 IS an unqualified 'Highly Recommended' rating, but it's an easy 'Recommended'.

Edited August 2, 2007 by flupke

[Rionoir]

i. be willing to compromise a lot if you don't want to get a quality camera... you can't have it all.

ii. I'm sure you know what videos from a camera look like - if you're fine with that that's up to you

Megapixels - 5mp is enough for an 8x10 and any more than that you won't even notice the difference. Since you are viewing the images only on a computer, and 5mp is pretty much the minimum you'll find in a new camera... it's completely a non-issue.

Focal length... mmm... I'm not sure what point and shoot cameras are exactly, but usually a neutral kind of focal length, probably around 50mm? "Telephoto" with a camera that is going to fit in your pocket really doesn't exist unless you want digital zoom (which isn't zoom at all)

If you are concerned about good images, look at an entry level dSLR... the canon Rebel XT (which has just been replaced by the XTi) is probably really affordable, and you can get a good one on ebay for a good price I'm sure. That would be my suggestion if you truly want images that look better than ur camera phone.

[astral]

If you are going on safari, are you intending to take landscape or animal pics - or both. I assume that you will be trying to take both! Unfortunately, you need both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths to do these, which means that you will have to try and find a pocket camera with the biggest zoom lense that you can find. Wide angle equates to 28mm in 'old' 35 mm terms and about 6.2mm in digital format - telephoto would be 300mm or about 66mm in digital. The old standard 50mm lense on 35mm cameras would equate to about 12mm on digital.

I am not sure where you found these figures, but they are wrong........

The conversion factor for film/digital on an SLR is 1.6.

A 50mm lens is effectively an 80mm when used on a digital SLR

[cm das]

I went on my first safari in Botswana earlier this year & did lots of research on cameras before I settled on buying a Fuji Finepix 6500fd. It's a "SLR-tye" camera meaning it looks like an SLR but isn't. Still it has a great lens (10x optical zoom) 6 megapixels & lots of nice features. Also it's not too expensive - saw one in Chiang Mai recently for less than 14k Baht. To cut a long story, the pictures were fantastic. I couldn't be happier with the camera. My stepmother had a Canon pocket size digital & she was NOT happy with the limited zoom. She got some good shots but she was jealous of the rest of us with out bigger zoom lenses. My dad had a true SLR, Canon Rebel EOS with a 400mm zoom lens, & my pictures ended up better than his (though I think that was not due to the hardware).

[hughden]

If you are going on safari, are you intending to take landscape or animal pics - or both. I assume that you will be trying to take both! Unfortunately, you need both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths to do these, which means that you will have to try and find a pocket camera with the biggest zoom lense that you can find. Wide angle equates to 28mm in 'old' 35 mm terms and about 6.2mm in digital format - telephoto would be 300mm or about 66mm in digital. The old standard 50mm lense on 35mm cameras would equate to about 12mm on digital.

I am not sure where you found these figures, but they are wrong........

The conversion factor for film/digital on an SLR is 1.6.

A 50mm lens is effectively an 80mm when used on a digital SLR

Surely it depends on which camera you are using? Indeed many digital SLRs have a 1.6 ratio, but many of the smaller point and shoot cameras have much smaller sensors and therefore a higher ratio; or the more expensive models can have a 1.3 ratio or are even full-frame (1:1).

Sadly, the manufacturers of the smaller point and shoot models are careful not to publicise how small the sensor is, instead they push how many mega-pixels they have managed to cram onto the tiny sensor, with the resulting reduction in image quality.

[percy2]

If you are going on safari, are you intending to take landscape or animal pics - or both. I assume that you will be trying to take both! Unfortunately, you need both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths to do these, which means that you will have to try and find a pocket camera with the biggest zoom lense that you can find. Wide angle equates to 28mm in 'old' 35 mm terms and about 6.2mm in digital format - telephoto would be 300mm or about 66mm in digital. The old standard 50mm lense on 35mm cameras would equate to about 12mm on digital.

I am not sure where you found these figures, but they are wrong........

The conversion factor for film/digital on an SLR is 1.6.

A 50mm lens is effectively an 80mm when used on a digital SLR

Depends on the censor

Cheers

[percy2]

I'm going to kenya to see the migration of the wildebeest. At present I use my sonyericsson phone for holiday snaps. But it might be worth splurging on a digital camera, given the wildlife photo opportunities. I would be grateful for suggestions bearing in mind the following priorities:

i. size: I don't want anything heavy or bulky. Pocket size is a must.

ii. video: i've read what you guys say about quality of still digital cams used for video, but I'm prepared to compromise on this.

Would you agree that the more pixels the better?

What is the standard focal length of digital cameras? What's the best compromise for wide-angle to telephoto?

Any great deals around in Thailand now?

Thanks for any suggestions.

A bit bigger than you want , but ideal would be a D40x with the 18-200 lens. though the 18-55 thats part of the kit is not bad.

Cheers

[astral]

Surely it depends on which camera you are using? Indeed many digital SLRs have a 1.6 ratio, but many of the smaller point and shoot cameras have much smaller sensors and therefore a higher ratio; or the more expensive models can have a 1.3 ratio or are even full-frame (1:1).

Sadly, the manufacturers of the smaller point and shoot models are careful not to publicise how small the sensor is, instead they push how many mega-pixels they have managed to cram onto the tiny sensor, with the resulting reduction in image quality.

Are there any Point and Shoot SLRs?

Only the pro models retain the 1:1 ratio,

and they are heavy and way beyond most of our pockets.

[hughden]

I am not sure pf the definition of a point and shoot; but I suspect it would not cover SLRs.

I was just pointing out that "The conversion factor for film/digital on an SLR is 1.6" is not correct; especially in the area of the sort of camera that the OP was looking for (something he can put in this pocket).

[Nordlys]

Indeed there are different crop factors for different mount/flange standard or even different models within same brand. 4/3 system (Olympus, Panasonic, etc) has a crop factor of X 2 (3.6 times smaller in sensor area size than full frame) and X 1.5 crop factor for all of the Nikon dSLR lineups, Pentax, Sony and Fuji Finpiex Pro + X 1.7 for Sigma (SD14), then there's APS-H size sensor with X 1.3 crop factor (Canon EOS1D).

EOS 5D is one of the only two full-frame sensor cameras available today but considered to be a high amateur model rather than for pro (although many pros also use it). It's price at Fotofile has now come down to 88,000 Baht. making it one of the best value-for-money dSLR IMO and not far out of reach for serious photographer unlike when it has been sold for over 120,000 Baht. 5D is heavier than most other dSLRs but lighter than all of the film SLRs from Canon I have used.

Edited August 15, 2007 by Nordlys

[jukapot]

Goatfarmer wrote

"I'm going to kenya to see the migration of the wildebeest. At present I use my sonyericsson phone for holiday snaps. But it might be worth splurging on a digital camera, given the wildlife photo opportunities. I would be grateful for suggestions bearing in mind the following priorities:

i. size: I don't want anything heavy or bulky. Pocket size is a must.

ii. video: i've read what you guys say about quality of still digital cams used for video, but I'm prepared to compromise on this.

Would you agree that the more pixels the better?

What is the standard focal length of digital cameras? What's the best compromise for wide-angle to telephoto?

Any great deals around in Thailand now?

Thanks for any suggestions."

Boy do I envy you and your upcoming safari to Kenya. I lived in Africa for 15 years including 2 years in Tanzania and 6 months in Kenya. It will be an unforgetable site to see the wildebeest. Good luck with your safari.

If you were happy with pictures from your cell phone, almost any inexpensive point and shoot cameras will be a great improvement. I've had two of these cameras and find them exciting cameras with lots of bells and whistles. However the love of my life is a DSLR Nikon D 80.

The point and shoot camers usually have a collection of scenes with the camera settings predetermined for you Just tell the camera what kind of scene you will be shooting beach, night photo, landscape, sports etc etc and the camera does the rest. You point and shoot. My serious complaint is that I cannot compose the picture using the LED screen on the back. The sun lite washes out the picture. The larger the LED screen the better. Few cameras have a range finder on top and avoids the problem. You can review and even edit the picture right in the camera (sometimes).

Watch out for digital zooming, the picture quality suffers greatly and many find the pictures unacceptable. The optical zooms are quite small, often only 3X. My Coolpix camera has 5X optical lens and sells for less than $200.

Because I crop often do like lots of mega pixels, its like finding pictures within a picture. Cropping can often be done in the camera itself. Zooming in and cropping can compensate for the lack of a good telephoto lens, the monitor doesn't require as many pixels as the printer.

To compensate for lack of a good wide angle lens put the camera in panorama mode and join the pictures into one very wide shot . An inexpensive picture editing program can easily do this for you.

In movie mode, check for size of each frame and FPS, Some cheap camera have slow FPS rate and makes a jerky movie.

The features I described are on my coolpix L5 - Although I am happy with it, the reviews are not always so good. It is under $200, takes good pictures and fits in my jacket pocket (not my shirt pocket).

I hope this will help you in your decision and remember most people grow to like whatever camera they own. When your safari is over Kenya you'll be convinced that your camera is one of the best too.

Please please show us your photos when you return.

[goatfarmer]

Thank you all for your very helpful comments. I think I'm going for the Panasonic Lumix FZ8 on the basis of it being light weight and having a large screen. The weight and larger screen put the Panasonic above the Canon, which uses 4 rechargable batteries.

Thanks again.

[cheshiremusicman]

If you are going on safari, are you intending to take landscape or animal pics - or both. I assume that you will be trying to take both! Unfortunately, you need both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths to do these, which means that you will have to try and find a pocket camera with the biggest zoom lense that you can find. Wide angle equates to 28mm in 'old' 35 mm terms and about 6.2mm in digital format - telephoto would be 300mm or about 66mm in digital. The old standard 50mm lense on 35mm cameras would equate to about 12mm on digital.

I am not sure where you found these figures, but they are wrong........

The conversion factor for film/digital on an SLR is 1.6.

A 50mm lens is effectively an 80mm when used on a digital SLR

Yes, sorry! We are both correct, it depends on the size of the 'sensor' and I quoted the focal lengths as stated on the 10.7x zoom lense on the Fuji S9500, so it must have a smaller sensor fitted, but gives excellent pics. Like all technology, be it computers, cameras etc everything changes minute by minute, which usually means getting more in the pint pot ,but thanks for pointing out my error.

[tigerbeer]

depends on your budget. a superzoom camera such as:

Panasonic FZ50 with build in IS is fantastic.

Fuji S9600 with blur control, not very effective but superb pictures in low light conditions.

Canon S5IS - built in IS.

All of these three are between 15k to 20k. Image Stabilisation very important for tele pictures especially for a safari.

If you have a higher budget, then best to settle for a DSLR and some spare (lots) of cash for lenses. It never stops, the shopping for lenses. trust me!. of course better pictures with the DSLR for the simple fact of it having a bigger sensor and faster lens.

my recommendation: go with the panasonic if its going to be mostly day time pictures.

Edited September 4, 2007 by tigerbeer