Ruth, I bought my neighbors son's camera used last summer I took a how to buy a digital camera class in 2003 and decided that I wanted the digital slr canon rebel the old one 6 megapixel. I do love it but it's slow maybe because of the lens it's a basic 75-300 canon zoom not motorized or image stabilized. I really love it. But I would listen to what bobky would reccomend because he knows his cameras If I were to buy a camera today it would be either the new digital rebel it's 8 megapixel or the canon eos 20d. Sarah

I have a Canon EOS Elan 7e (35mm film) with a 75-300mm AF lens and I pick it up for close-ups. The Kodak EasyShare DX7630 (6 megapixel digital) I have works good for plant photos and lawn shots, but you really have to sneak up on the little ones to get a decent close-up of them.

The 300mm gets you up in their feathers from 5' away. Plenty o'room for the young'n's especially, they're fearless!

Whatever type of camera you decide on, film or digital, pay particular attention to its zoom features.

For film the bigger the zoom, the more $ and also the higher speed film or greater amount of light that will be needed for the camera to correctly expose the film.

With digital, go for optical zoom and forget whatever it says it has in digital zoom. I don't see any purpose in having the capability to blow up one single pixel 800x. It's still fuzzy.

The advantage that digital photos have are their instant downloadability. If it's 1:03AM you can take a pic, download it into your computer, resize it in your photo-editing software and upload it to the internet all by yourself without having to wait for the store to open.

However, 1-hour photo labs can provide you with picture CD's as well as your prints.

Once you have your camera, practice holding the camera up to your face for hours on in, remaining completely still, and slow stepping without creating any noise whatsoever. Kinda like walking on rice paper without tearing it!

Good luck Grasshopper! You have found the enlightened path. ;)

Thanks to an earlier thread on cameras that bobky had here, I bought a new Kodak Z740 which just released this year. It's a 5.0 megapixel with 10x optical zoom (effective range is 38mm - 380mm). I too needed a new camera and wanted a zoom to capture my little hummer visitor from a distance. I also wanted to be able to vary the shutter speed to capture something like a mid-flap (as opposed to a blur of beating wings) and this camera, as well as many of the equivalent digitals allow that (eg., I can set my shutter speed to 1/1000th of a second).

The 2 drawbacks that I've seen with this camera however are:

1.) the camera is a bit slow to start up (ie., it going through its "splash screen" when first turned on, IMHO wastes valuable time where I am unable to shoot) and

2.) the zoom is a bit slow to engage using the rocker - with the very furthest part of the zoom being digital it appears, which moves in increments as you press and hold the rocker, further slowing it down).

Of course for general picture-taking, the above is actually minor or even moot since the subjects are generally stationary and speed isn't necessarily of the essence. However for those like myself with only a solitary hummer who will only stay to nectar for perhaps 10 - 15 seconds at a time at most and they're gone - getting the camera up and ready quickly, let alone getting the hummer framed and in focus quickly, is a critical thing. Overall, the auto-focus is pretty good on the camera so once the hummer is framed, I can usually get a good focus lock - even at the 300 mm zoom and without the need for a special stabilizer (thanks in part to the ergonomics of the camera).

I am still playing around with the various settings (need to work on some of the exposure ones as it will often over-expose the sky in order to capture a normal exposure of my shaded balcony - but that might be a function of a setting that I need to use). But overall, I'm happy with it, particularly since it is easily half the weight of my previous digital - a Kodak 3400 2.0 megapixel 3x zoom.

I was able to capture my first clear shot of my little female from almost 25ft away. Ie., I managed to get this from the comfort of my sofa in my livingroom by zooming across my diningroom, through a window, then diagonally across my balcony to the rail where the feeder hangs:

{{gwi:2357}}

Because of the resolution, I could then use a graphics program to cut out a portion of the whole photo to get an even better look without much bluring:

From a much closer position from the window, looking about 6ft away, I could capture this:

{{gwi:504}}

Anyway... Good luck with your camera hunt! :-)

Thank you for the good info Sarah King and Jenny! I am leaning toward digital because I don't want to have to go and develop film and I like the instant gratification of the digital pics.

Your pictures are beautiful Jenny and Sarah. It is the most exciting thing in the world to see a hummingbird, let alone capture all that beauty in a photo and at this point, learning is a lot of fun and challenging.
Thanks,
Ruth

Hi Ruth,

Here are the latest and greatest megazoom cameras that you might consider:

Canon S2 IS
Sony H1
Kodak Z740
Panasonic FZ20
Panasonic FZ5
Fuji S5100
Konica Minolta Z5
Nikon 8800
Olympus C770
HP 945

And a bunch more I probably missed :)

Howdy,

First off, all the photos on my member page were taken with my old dinosaur...It's a Sony Mavica FD91 with a built in 14x zoom lens. I bought it from a friend for $100 several years ago...and she'd bought it from a pawn shop about two years before she sold it to me.

I recently purchased a 2x converted and a macro lens but really haven't made the time to experiment and really get to know the potential of those lenses.

I have been experimenting with a shutter setting of 1/1500 to capture the wing movement of the hummingbirds. I can set the shutter speed all the way to 1/4000 - but again haven't tried anything past 1/1500 out yet :o)

This camera uses a 3.5 floppy disk - so easy to use and swap out diskettes if I'm on photographing spree. Because it's a diskette there are no special needs for uploading to the computer or getting the photos developed.

I like it...but probably should upgrade...but don't like the idea of dishing out $$ when I have a perfectly good camera that takes excellent photos.

~ Cat

Cat, I was going to ask which camera you use. Your pics are awsome! I have a Sony Mavica FD100 with a floppy disc like yours, that has Macro which allows you to get REALLY SHARP pics if you are right up close to your subject (within inches).

However, my hummies don't allow me to get that close them! :(

BOBKY - Thanks for this list. I thought there might be one but could not find any previous threads.

Cat - I sure agree that your pics are really beautiful and sharp and you don't need to upgrade. I don't have anything close to that ability with my current camera.

Catwhiskas - I don't have hummers that let me get very close either, only if they decide to buzz us.

Ruth...maybe you can check your local pawn shops...or even eBay for a deal on a used camera??? Using the list Bob gave and the cameras we mentioned...you can do a bit of research and compare prices and features and find one that will fill your needs :o)

Catwhiskas...The hummies here are used to having me around the yard and their feeders. They pretty much associate me with fresh nectar :o)

I can set a ladder right next to the feeders and they don't mind...but heck, it's too hot or the mosquitoes are out for blood so I haven't been able to get very many up close and good photos lately.

I really need to experiment and practice with the 2x converter as well as the macro lens...just wish it were a tad cooler and no skeeters! I really want to try that on butterflies and spiders - but the butterflies don't stay put either...and well, am not too keen about being inches away from a spider :o)

~ Cat

Cat: I have been experimenting with a shutter setting of 1/1500 to capture the wing movement of the hummingbirds. I can set the shutter speed all the way to 1/4000 - but again haven't tried anything past 1/1500 out yet :o)

Might want to play around with the aperture setting for depth of field shots. The smaller the setting, the shorter the distance that's in focus. (Foreground in focus, background blurry.) Also, a fill flash will help a lot in freezing the hummingbird action, and most camera's have a certain range that the flash will sync up with the shutter speed.

Frank

Disclaimer: I do not agree with nor endorse the use of "Sponsored Links" possibly embedded in my posts by the owner of this or any other website.