Cafeoutdoors.com: Camera suggestions

Haus---- this gonna be a LONG one

One of the great things about today's entry level cameras.....regardless of manufacturer,is they are going to do a pretty good job. The camera Kurt mentioned is a very good entry level camera.....nothing wrong with it....even if it is a 'darkside' camera LOL.

So, you say it will be primarily used for landscape photos. Ok,that type of photography has certain characteristics.

As a rule, you don't need a lot of frames per second since landscapes don't run around a lot....like birds, animals and kid sports.

If you take a great landscape of say a mountain in Montana and decide you want to have the image enlarged and printed to hang on the wall.....you probably want a good number of megapixels (resolution) so it will have a good amount of detail visible at normal viewing distance.

Since the best light to photograph that Montana Mountain will be a bit before sunrise and maybe an hour or so after, you want a camera that doesn't generate digital "noise" and has good ergonomics/menu system so you can set up with a flashlight or headlight and not have too much trouble doing it.

The T7i will do all these things. You might get a bit more "noise" due to its crop sensor but there are ways to work around it.

The 24 mps will let you print big if you need to. Molly shoots a 10mps Canon 40D and it will easily enlarge even bigger than the 20x30 inch covered bridge image I am looking at right now.

I don't know if your 'homework' led you to the Patron Saint of Landscape Photographers, Ansel Adams, but he packed a rig that had to weigh a ton up some of the larger mountains---- he might have wanted more resolution.....but I an sure he would have loved a lot lighter rig to tote into the wilderness.

That brings us back to the beginning--what camera.

I like Canon.....I like its menu system and its ergonomics.

Nikon isn't bad but I found its menus a bit more complicated and it didn't feel as good to me in the hand.

Sony? Lord help you. I realize that today's cameras are probably smarter than me but I would have to have an owner's manual and the number for the help line until I could figure it out.

All things considered....whatever you buy, you learn to work the camera as you go along. Some of the newer photogs look at me strange when I tell them stop down 2/3's of a stop. Todays, cameras do a lot of that stuff for you regardless of brand name, so don't sweat it.

When you buy your camera of choice, carry it every where for the first 3 to 6 months and shoot anything that catches your eye. It is digital.....the delete button doesn't cost you anything so fire away and learn from your mistakes.

Extra gear

Card reader--- lets you transfer your photos to your computer. Most common memory cards will be CF and SD. Most card readers will have slots for each. Some cameras will only take SD and others CF.

Post processing programs-- yep, you will need to have some program to crop and do other things to your images. Most photogs use Lightroom by Adobe---plenty of books on it--I would suggest a class if you can find one where you are at. YouTube has a ton of tutorials.

Photoshop Elements-- has a lot presets that you just click and go....not bad to learn on and you can probably find it on sale-- it comes with a rudimentary video editor as well...or at least I thihk it does.

Phot0shop---steep learning curve and for most photographers it might be overkill.....but I learned on it and prefer it to anything else out there......but I hate Adobe LOL

Adobe has a monthly fee program that lets you 'rent' both Lightroom and Photoshop for $19.99

Lots of free programs as well---Google free photo processing programs. Irfanview is a pretty good one

remote trigger cable--- eventually you will probably buy one. What it does is let you take a picture without touching the camera---- yeah, I know you think you are steady handed but you might be shooting at slow shutter speeds and find out that you aren't.
You can wait to buy this until you are sure you are going to stay with the hobby. Most cameras have a delay setting that lets you set up and then press the shutter button and get away from the camera and then it goes off after a pre-determined time.(Usually 2 or 10 seconds)

Tripod-- you will eventually need to buy one Aluminum is less expensive but heavier than Carbon Fiber. Depends on how much and how far you are going to lug it. I prefer Carbon Fiber and twist locks rather than clip locks-- you will see what I'm talking about when you do your research when it is time to buy.

Ball head-- you will find out everything you need to know when you research it

Arca/Swiss locking plate will go on the ball head.

Remember---cheap is ok but there is a reason why the best costs what it does in ease of use and fit/finish

I think everything is over priced but there is nothing more frustrating than a ballhead or plate or whatever that won't stay locked and almost drops your camera and lens on the ground etc.

Last---

Shoot your beginners rig for a year before you go buy really good glass. That will give you time to learn how to set up the camera and how it shoots etc before you decide if you want better glass.

Settings-- old saying for landscape photogs--F8 and be there
make sure your landscapes are in focus from foreground to back ground (F8 -F16 will see to part of that) and it is always nice to have something in the foreground---and having people at a distance sometimes help establish scale.....otherwise wait until everyone has left or get there before anyone can mess you up.

Like I said--YouTube and your library are your friend----and if I can help ya-- let me know

I like Canon and Canon lens but Sigma makes some very fine lens and they are cheaper (to answer your unasked question....no I don't have an Sigma lens but I have shot with them.)

Mirrorless makes a lot of things easier ....exposure for one and the new autofocus is fantastic--- however, you may get on a manual focus kick like a lot of landscape guys do and once you learn manual exposure..... well, take your time and shoot in Aperture until you do.

My favorite Canon landscape dslr--- 5DsR 50mps-- used it in South Dakota on bison and other things--almost bought one but it only shot 5 frames a second and 50mp files requires some serious thought about computer power or upgrade

Molly's favorite lens is a 10-22 which on a camera like the T7i equals 16-35 in full frame-- super wide and very sharp for a crop sensor lens
Also crop sensor camera wedding photogs use it quite a lot and Molly could make a living doing weddings with it but sooner or later she would punch some Bridezilla or Bridezilla's momma and that would the end of that LOL

If you make it this far--- then I guess you have been bit by the bug enough to hang in there LOL