Camera Type opinions!
 

We will be going with OAT on Safari to Kenya and Tanzania in July. We have two Nikon point and shoot cameras. Mine is 12 mega w/18X optical zoom and the other is Nikon 14 mega w/10X optical zoom. We have gotten great pictures on trips to other areas.. Do you think these should suffice for game drives in Africa. Our Canon video camera goes to 28X zoom.

Are you going to tell us that we are nuts to take these point and shoot and to get digital single lens reflex with telephoto, etc?

Thoughts/opinions !!

Thanks

JH

What are you going to do with the photos you take? You say you are satisfied with the technical quality, image quality, of photos from your cameras, great.

Other than (perhaps) some improved image quality with a DSLR, there are many dis-advantages starting with size and weight. And continuing on to "post processing" where you "adjust" (perhaps with Photoshop) what comes out of the camera for the best looking photos.

Short answer is, use what you have. You know how to use it, you are satisfied with it, and the zoom ranges are good for game drives. And take them all so that you have a backup. And plenty of camera cards, and spare batteries, chargers, and the list goes on :)

regards - tom

Those cameras should suffice, since one has an 18x zoom. Use the other one as backup. Take multiple batteries and make sure they work in the camera. One of my friends took generic batteries for her Nikon camera and neither worked. I'd suggest having one person shoot stills and the other, videos. Use "The Pod" for stabilization of the video camera and even one for the still camera. It really worked well for me this year when shooting videos with the camera zoomed all the way out. It's basically a beanbag that bolts to your camera at the tripod connection. www.thepod.ca

However, if you wanted upgrade, there are some good deals right now on the Canon SX-40 "superzoom" camera because Canon has just released the SX-50. The SX-40 is what I used on my latest safari... 35x zoom and it shoots HD video. You can buy a new one for $316 on Amazon.

I see Tom and I were posting at the same time. I agree with him about the weight. With the increased quality of the "superzooms", I decided I was tired of carrying all the weight of the DSLRs (used the Canon Rebel XT), lenses, etc. It really hit home when I saw photos from someone using a camera with only a 12x zoom and realizing she got closer shots than I did with my 300mm lens. Unless you're a professional or near professional, I think you'll be happy with what you have or with an upgraded superzoom.

I agree that having a lot of weight to carry is a pain - DSLR, multiple lenses. I have a Canon Powershot SX 10 IS, 10 megapixel and 20X optical zoom. At its maximum zoom the photos are pretty grainy - less than ideal resolution. But close up or at medium zoom, I've been very happy with the photos. Taken it on 2 trips to Africa. You can look at some of my photos using it at

cateyes.smugmug.com

We also use a super-zoom cameras, an old Canon S3 and S5. Older models to the Canon SX10, SX30, SX40. A problem with these cameras grainy photos (resulting from their small sensor) is when they shoot at ISO 400 or higher (e.g. 800, 1600). I set ISO on ours to max of 200. While, FWIW, DSLRs make incredibly "clean" photos at ISO 1600 (and higher).

regards - tom

The Canon SX40 uses a different sensor than the earlier models, which makes for better photos at a higher ISO. I also used the SX-10 before and can see a difference. Still, a grainy shot is better than no shot. I think I like my videos better with my Sony Handicam, but trying to juggle two cameras is a pain and I missed a lot of shots that way. Doing everything with one camera is a plus, overall, on safari, unless you've got two people.

Hey All,

Thanks a lot for your thoughts/opinions. I think we will stick with our two Nikons which are Coolpix S9100 w/12.1 MP and 18X optical and other is Nikon Coolpix S8000 with 14.2MP and 10X optical zoom. They both have HD movie capability. The video camera is a Canon ZR950 miniDV with 48X zoom optical and 2000X digital zoom. So....there you go. i think we will be fine!

Thanks again.

JH

You will be fine. I took photos with a point and shoot Panasonic Lumix 16X opticall zoom (and enlarged some of the p hotos using the digital zoom when printing).
Not only were all who saw them impressed...I was impressed!! But expect to see some others with lenses that weigh more than the owners !

Sounds good, JH. Batteries, plug adapters, lens cleaning gear, The Pod, lots of memory cards... don't forget the small stuff!

Stick with what you've got. They're both good for the purpose and likely to get better pics than if you spent the $$$ for a DSLR, plus the learning curve (many simply keep these set at Auto), the accessories, etc. Besides, you're often so close to game, close enought to be tempted to reach out and touch (but don't) that you don't need that much overkill.

I've gotten some really great photos from my first digital P&S, 5mg, 10X Optical (still works perfectly well), and then an upgrade about 3/yrs later, again a P&S, 8mg, 18X Optical (this latter optical is in the range of 400mm) also works just fine. Regardless the very attractive for current P&S, I'm not tempted enough to be upgrading camera every 3-4 years just to have another toy.

Right On Sandi,

That was just my thinking. Our good friends who did a Safari about 15 years ago took, what was then, the very best in SLR cameras and lenses and, i must say, they took some wonderful pictures which they blew up to picture frame size and are hanging, to this day, on the walls of their living room. Very life-like and impressive photos. At any rate, he was pushing me to go SLR with lenses, as well. I, however, don't think so.

P.S. We paid the entire amount of the OAT trip today so we could capture a 5% rebate. We go next July and hope that we are lucky enough to catch some aspect of the Wildabeast migration. It will be Tanzanea with a 4 night extension to Kenya.

JH

Please correct me if I am wrong but I think the difference between even the best point and shoots is lag time. With the DSLR you shoot multile photos in succession and not having to wait for the information to be read by the camera

Hi,

With my new Nikon S9100 P&S I can set it to shoot multiple frames, like 5-6 or more with one click. P&S have come a long way, haven't they.

JH

Exactly, JH! That's another reason I upgraded from the Canon SX-10 to the SX-40. It even has a "burst" mode.

Jaydh, congratulations on making that payment!!!

Hey CaliNurse,

There was nothing to it. Just a few clicks on the keyboard and it was done. Ha! Ha!

Jaydh, yeah, it's too easy... that's why i can't go anywhere major in 2013 (or so i say now!)

Re your original question--as written above i am quite happy with the Panasonic Lumix and the great photos it too of wildlife and scenery.

I just noticed the updated version, Panasonic ZS20 20X optical zoo, equally compact, and just over $200. It gets even better reviews that the earlier model that i love.

Ah..."just a few clicks on the keyboard" and it could be mine!!

Even with the cameras you have, you might get some shots worth putting on your walls. Be sure you are familiar with your cameras and their features. You might want to do some practice shots at the zoo. Looking at other people's photos can give you an idea of the kind of shots you want to take.

Atravelynn, your comment is well taken. There are sooooo many features with these newest P&S cameras. OUR Nikon S9100 is still new and we are getting acquainted with it. Took it to the beach yesterday and saw a sail boat way in the distance . I had it on the Beach setting and shot the boat way off, zooming in as far as I could go. With this picture taken I was then able to zoom it in much further on the camera and fix it, so I had the distance shot of sail boat and the fixed-close- in shot which was surprisingly sharp and clear....could read letters/words printed on the sail. Wow! What a feature that is.

JH

Most of the "point and shoot" or "superzoom" cameras have both an optical and digital zoom. The first is via lens glass and should give you the same number of pixels for a photo. Once you move into the digital zoom, you're just cropping an optical shot, resulting in less pixels. I usually turn off my digital zoom unless I REALLY need the extra zoom (a leopard on a distant cliff, for example.)

Agree with ShayTay, don't use digital zoom.
If you want to "zoom", or "crop" an image do so in a PC/Mac program made to do such things. And if you're not using such a program for cropping, color, contrast, brightness, saturation, etc, for image optimization, then you are missing over half the capabilities/advantages of digital photography.

regards - tom

OK Shay and Tom , thanks for the quick lesson.....optical....digital!

JH

I agree with most everyone about the advantages of Point and Shoot cameras (light weight, large zoom), but I still prefer DSLR for two reasons. Having gone on many group tours, while everyone else is holding their little camera at arms length trying to frame the picture in the bright sun with the LCD viewfinder, missing some shots because of shutter lag and delay between pictures, I have taken several pictures with the optical viewfinder up against my eye with no shutter lag/delay. For me, that leads to better pictures and is worth the extra hassle, but I recognize those advantages may not be worth it to everyone. Pray that no one in your group takes photos with an iPad - really annoying when they hold that giant tablet up, moving it all over the place to frame their picture while blocking everyone else's view.

My Canon SX-10 and SX-40 cameras all had eye-level viewfinders. I agree that using the LCD screen outdoors doesn't work very well. The SX-40 has very little shutter lag, one of the reasons I upgraded from the SX-10. I actually saw a lady taking all her photos with an iPad... didn't work very well! She was traveling alone, however, and didn't block anyone else's view. She had thrown the trip together at the last minute and hadn't really prepared for a safari.

I agree, I can not use a camera by holding it out arms length. Too many years shooting film SLR I guess. Also, problem if you are shooting video and someone has a DSLR firing like a machine gun. (I shoot all three types, P&S, DSLR, video).

regards - tom

Tom, that "pow, pow, pow" is definitely noticeable in my videos. Even the photographer was surprised at how loud her camera was when I posted one of the videos. I consider it just one of the experiences of safari. If and when I ever get around to editing my videos, I'll see if I can eliminate that. You've done some editing... any luck with that?

Yes ShayTay, I have audio edited a lot of my safari videos. With the occasional click-pow you can often cut it out or lower its volume. Many times it is easier to take out most/all of the original audio and replace it. For instance, if the scene shows no faces talking (no mouth-words), just background nature/environmental sounds BUT with pow-pow-pow intruding, strip it off the original sound and replace it with other pow free sound. Or, replace it with other audio, like, if the guide has made comments in a previous clip, copy those audio comments as replacement audio. Every safari I take a few minutes of environmental audio only for such use.

Some like to replace the natural sound, or lack of it, with music. I don't, music is too personal and too emotional. And besides it was not there at the safari scene. (Well, not at least on my safaris. I've heard that at Singita camps a four piece string ensemble is with every game drive :) ).

Anyway, how do you re-work such audio? I use PC program, "ProShow Producer". Because I found it years ago, it is very versatile and I'm comfortable with it. Of course Apple has great video editing capabilities. Also, to "fool around" with editing audio and video you have to at least enjoy the hours it can take. Being a bit of a "media geek" helps also.

A few years ago Carolyn was shooting with a Canon P&S S3. She had the shutter sound option set for a barking dog!!! How would you like that on your video - woof-woof-woof!!! I "convinced" her to go to no sound shutter :) .

regards - tom

Thanks, Tom... great info! And I'm glad Carolyn cooperated on that last issue... whew!