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Thinking out loud here. I've got a Panasonic TZ60 compact that I'm pretty happy with and have taken some reasonable pics with it. I like taking shots of birds and wildlife when we are up at our caravan in the Lakes. I've reached the stage now where I'd like something with better than 30x zoom. I'm certainly no camera buff and I don't have loads of money to burn on it but I'm wondering about maybe getting a second hand dslr with a long lens on it.
What do I need to know?
What do I need to know?
The cost of second hand long lenses for DSLR's ?
You might get a bit of a fright
Or buy a spotting scope and one of those mobile phone adaptors for taking photos. Quality won't be all that, but if it is just for your own interest and social meejer ...
You probably won't get the same sort of magnification with a DSLR. That TZ60 is 24-720mm equivalent. To get that sort of length with a DSLR would require a rather large lens. Which would be rather expensive and heavy.
Or you could try digiscoping, ie get an adapter to attach the camera to a telescope. Though a decent scope is not cheap, and it means you have to manually focus etc.
Ah, ok. That's interesting. Cheers all.
Generally for wildlife you are looking at shorter lenses and cropping - but you are really looking at BIG, fast zooms and primes... which are by and large terrifyingly expensive (which is why I have never really ventured into that side of photography as yet!).
That said, I recently bought a Nikon 200-500 f5.6 zoom which is absolutely fantastic and will let me have a go at it all! They aren't cheap... but compared to the other quality options they are an absolute bargain at <£1,000. There are a few offering from Sigma/Tamaron etc at that kind of money, but that big Nikon lens is a storming bargain. Do a search for examples from the big Nikon on t'interwebs - there are some stunning photographs out there taken with it.
So... my suggestion would be to go and take a look at some second hand Nikon bodies with decent resolutions (to give as much latitude for cropping as possible). The D7xxx series are probably about where you want to be looking, then keep an eye peeled for 200-500 bargain, or just accept the cost 😉
I got a 2nd hand Nikon P900 for about £325 after most experts on here said don't bother.
I have a Swarovski ATS65 scope which I've tried a phone mount with & there's no comparison, the camera is much better in all respects. To buy a decent scope, camera & adapter your'e talking ££'ss!
Ok so the sensor is small so not great in low light but unless your'e taking photo's of Owls at dusk It's not a major issue. The lens quality ain't bad but obviously nowhere near as good as a lens costing 3-4K & upwards.
Got Barney here the 2nd time out...
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I'm very impressed with the image stabilising on the P900.
Nikon have just released the P1000 which is a staggering 100 x optical zoom but It's £1K