Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a modest size collection of crested geckos and some other herps. I have no real knowledge of photography or digital cameras, but would like some help in picking out a camera that will allow me to take pics of my animals that can capture close details(such as veins in eyes, individual scales, etc). what i have figured out to the best of my knowledge through my current research is that i need / would like is...1 a camera w/ optical zoom of 10 x or so ? ....this should allow me to take close up pics and see more detail ? not sure... and a good lens? not sure about how to know a good lens from a bad lense? if anyone can give me any info on any of this i would greatly appreciate it.
also i saw someone post pics they took w/ a minola z1 that looked very nice and captured al the detail i would want froma m camera. i looked this camera up and found i t for around 200-300. are there any other cameras in this price range of this quiality/ better? what are you using and if i could ask how much are they going for.
basically i would like to spend no more than 300 and still be able to take pics like the ones i saw here ..ill post the link , not sure if that allowed but here goes.. http://www.crestedgeckosite.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=24

again any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks nick sorry for the lack of order or organization to my thoughts.

It sounds like a good point and shoot would sufficiently meet your needs. I have a Konica Minolta Dimage z1. It's 3.2MP, impressive zoom (10X), has great battery life and you don't have to be a pro to use it. I actually have at my disposal a thousand dollar DSLR and I still find myself using the Dimage z1 b'cos it just takes great pictures!

First rule of digital photography- don't sweat the megapixels!

What that means is unless you are printing very large prints you don't need the latest 12MP camera. My 3.2 prints razor sharp images. How you take the picture (lighting, composition, etc) is more important.

You can find this camera online really cheap and trust me you will love it.

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"Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only to what we know of it."

In order to take the extreme close-ups your talking about, you will need macro capability. The easiest and best way to do it is with expensive baffles and slr cameras.. but if you want to stay with the point and shoot camera's.. I would check around, I think all the major manufacturers have great point and shoot digital cameras that have macro settings.

There are also several sites out there that have alot of camera reviews and samples from each.. but in the long run.. which is better is about the same as the Toyota -vs- Honda or Chevy-vs-Ford argument.. it really comes done to personal preference as they will all get the job done.

You can check out www.dpreview.com.. there are a lot of reviews on that site as well as some forums there, I will warn you, some of the forums aren't real polite to new people.. so search and lurk.. also FredMiranda.com has a lot of great information. It tends to more geared towards the serious photo'g though.
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

tim and bryan, thanks for your help, as i read more on this forum i found and looked through the dpreview website. ill defenitly also check the other site for more info. i think my next step is to get a good book on photography and continue to try and climb the learning curve. thanks again for yur help and advice.
nick

Envy..
Reading is the best bet! I am often asked questions about photo'g.. and usually tell people to get a book.. If you interested, National Geographic has a great collection of small paperback "how to" books for photography. I would pick one of the field manuals up.. the good thing is they will fit in a camera bag too, so you can carry it and your camera's manual with you. I also recommend, after buying a camera, reading the manual.. then reading it again.. and guess what? read it again. Then go take pictures.. lots of em!.. then read that manual again. It is best bet for getting to know the camera and the photography.

I would get this book from here, Amazon or your local bookstore-
(amazon is more than likely the cheapest option.. but nothing is better in my opinion than going to the store and taking it home with you)

shop.nationalgeographic.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=60&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=114&iSubCat=210&iProductID=60

The other books in the series are pretty good too, but are specific to their titles, and photography as a whole.

Best of luck.. If you have any more questions.. feel free to email me..

tposborne@xtremecombatsports.com
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