Relatively inexpensive camera to start with?

~StrayState Jan 5, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

So I'm totally new to photography, minus just messing around, and honestly my iPhone takes better pictures than my current point and shoot...

I'm looking for something I can get those really detailed images, such as some of the high def animal pictures where you can see virtually every hair! I don't however have thousands to spend on a camera. Preferably something with interchangeable lenses, but not incredibly expensive.

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times before O.o...

(I'm hoping to start school/work at a zoo soon and would love to get into animal photography as well. Also, considering many will be in enclosures, a good zoom is a must)

If you have examples of pictures taken with that camera that would be awesome too.

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~rcooper102 Jan 5, 2013

The Panasonic Lumix GH2 is a FANTASTIC camera for the price point. If you can afford it I definitely suggest going that route. Was I completely restarting my photo career now it is the camera I would be starting with. Unlike a higher end point of shoot it has the capability to grow with you. Also because of the 2x crop factor of the micro four thirds sensor you will effectively be able to zoom farther with it than on a DSLR with the same focal length lens. (Which for zoo photographer is very helpful)

It also doesn't lock you into any particular camera brand as there are many companies who support the Micro Four Thirds Standard so in the future you could switch to Sony, or Olympus, or Pentax, etc etc without having to completely repurchase all your lenses. Unlike say with a DSLR which generally have proprietary lens mounts.

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~StrayState Jan 6, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Thanks I'll definitely take it into consideration when finally choosing one. It looks pretty nice!

~mad-shrewd Jan 5, 2013

The Canon PowerShot sx40hs can be had for $299 right now. It has manual controls over pretty much everything. (Technically that includes focus, but I haven't gotten that to work properly)

But, it does permit the selection of aperture and shutter speed. With the Canon Hack Development Kit, it even permits things like saving RAW files.

~StrayState Jan 6, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

The lower price point is nice, I'll have to look into that one.

~LacieMelhart Jan 5, 2013 Professional Photographer

Well what is your price range? That will help us help you far more than "oh I don't have thousands to spend".

~StrayState Jan 6, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Just depends really. Ideally it would be around $300-$400, but if I find something I really like I could scrape together a bit more than that. So $500-$700ish isn't totally out of the question.

~LacieMelhart Jan 6, 2013 Professional Photographer

Well the Nikon D3200, Canon T3i and maybe even the Canon T4i might be options for you.

~LacieMelhart Jan 5, 2013 Professional Photographer

But to help you out you can get a used Canon EOS Rebel XTi for under $300. It's an older camera, I still use it to this day (see my gallery)and when I upgrade I'm still going to keep it. It's not the best but for less than $300, you can't beat it especially when a decent point and shoot is about the same price.

~shobonimaster Jan 5, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

I goofed, here's the second picture:

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~shobonimaster Jan 5, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

I did these with a Cannon Powershot SX100 IS([link])

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