SLR for my 2010 chase.

[Steve Smithson]

Hi All,

I just want to get a few idea's for a good, shall we say modest price Digital SLR camera for taking lightning, tornado and general structure shots next Spring. I'm a bit rusty on knowledge as I've been out of the chase arena for 3 years being recession hit so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve Smithson.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Not sure what you consider modest, but both Canon and Nikon have some pretty good starter SLR's for pretty cheap. Here are a few examples:

CANON EOS REBEL XS 499.00


NIKON D3000 550.00

Both come with a kit lens which may suffice for a season, but make sure you save for a good quality wide angle lens. I have the 17-85mm on my Canon Xti and it's a great all around storm chasing lens.

Canon EF-S17-85mm lens 450.00

Other may chime in with better examples, but this will work for starters.

 

[Wes Carter]

Adorama has a good buy on the D40 package with an 18-55mm lens. Yes, this camera is a bit dated but it still performs fairly well. But for less than $400, it's a steal.

 

[Steve Smithson]

Brilliant! thanks very much guys, $400 which equates to around £250 is what I was aiming at.

Shame this year we were a bit storm staved over here in the East of England, so did'nt really venture into the photography arena.

Steve S.

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

My advice would be to skip the Rebel XS (I know canon best) and go to the XSi, you will get a little more use out of it before you decide you want an upgrade. As for lens options, to save some money I would look for a sigma 17-70mm 2.8 (non HSM). The camera can be had w/ the standard 18-55mm kit lens for around $450-500 online and the lens from sigma will run you $360 new or you can often find them used on ebay and such @ around $250 which is a great deal for this lens. Eventually you will want an ultra wide angle lens if you plan on shooting alot of storm structure and personally I went with the sigma 10-20mm but canon makes a wonderful lens in the 10-22mm but then you're talking another $500+ for that lens as well. If you want to stick with just a kit camera/lens get the XSi with the 18-55mm IS lens, you won't regret the purchase and it makes a great first DSLR (I am a Canon guy so I can't speak for Nikon cameras unfortunately).

 

[James Langford]

If you don't mind buying refurbished equipment from Canon, check this site:

http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/subCategory_10051_10051_-1_29252

Canon also has a loyalty program where you can turn in an old broken camera (including powershot, etc), and get 20% off the prices listed! This can save you a ton of money. The cameras are warrantied for 90 days.

 

[Steve Smithson]

Thanks guys will be looking into these between now and May

Steve S.

 

[Allan Jeffers]

I'm going to take a bit different route here and say t1i or even a t2i simply due to cheap HD video and better low light performance. Cost is going to be a bit higher however. If you are doing structure shots a 10-22 or tokina 11-16mm would be nice and perhaps even a fisheye

 

[James Wilson]

The Nikon D40 works great for basic shots and I have got a few but it lacks the ability to change that many settings. Plus it does not do HDR if that is something you'd like to do. But for basic on the fly shooting it's a great little camera.

 

[Steve Smithson]

Certainly getting some great idea here, thanks guys and lets hope 2011 matches 2010

Steve S.