2015 camera kit recommendations under $2000
Hello friends, my parents will be heading to Kenya later this year and would like to replace their aging Canon with a newer model. Soft budget of <$2000 for a body and telephoto lens, and whatever other things come with that price point (I'm way out of my league, hence this post). My mom's typical photo subjects are birds and other wildlife, relatively still photos of people and general nature photography (flowers, trees, landscapes). She's hoping to stick to Canon so there is less of a learning curve, but isn't married to the brand. I'll update this post with her current details when I get them later today and if there are any other good pieces of info, let me know what to ask her.
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One of the advantages of sticking with Canon is that (unless there's enough time difference that the mounts have actually changed) they'll be able to use any of their existing Canon lenses with the new camera body.
Not sure if she will be concerned about portability with traveling but..
I've sort of had a boner for the Sony Nex7 forever. Its not a Cannon but I've played with one and the interface is VERY intuitive and easy to pick up. With a lens adapter you can use any Alpha lenses. Really nice picture quality and features for the sizes. I think Sony just released a new line of compact SLRs (which I haven't checked out yet) at CES so the nex7 is on clearance at a lot of places for around $700 with a lens. Drawbacks are there is no built in flash and you need the adapter ($100) to use Alpha lenses.
I just like the idea of a good all around compact body that you can use as a casual point and shoot but still throw a 75-300 zoom lens on.
Just an option.
The 7D MkII is probably the best Canon body you could get at that price range for things like safari shooting; Canon has a combo with the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS lens for a smidge over $2k. Would that be an option? The body alone is somewhere around $1700, but maybe you can find a deal that reduces that. The older 7D would be the next step down, but be aware that the MkII is supposed to be a pretty significant improvement.
Current camera and lenses:
Canon Rebel XSi
70-300 mm w/ image stabilization
55-250
shorter "standard" lens
Yeah, that is a big advantage (re keeping Canon for lens compatibility) that I didn't initially think about for her. Good advice so far
and I'll let this thread go for a little longer to see if can shake anything else out of the tree.
I wonder what other zoom lenses she'd want - given that 55 to 300 is covered, what's the goal for the new lens?
If no lens is needed, the $1700 body-only 7D MkII is the best body in the price range. If you don't need the 'best' body, things get more flexible, and maybe you can fit in a better lens.
She might not know that she can reuse them. I'm going to mention the few things offered here and see what she says (7D mk II body, 7D body, or a different option like what @MAGIC pointed out).
She specifically mentions, "I want to get a lens to use with a 2x converter to add distance. The current lenses don't work with that"
I think this is what she is talking about:
"Note: This converter is only compatible with fixed focal length L-series lenses 135mm and over, as well as the EF 70-200/2.8L, EF 70-200/2.8L IS, EF 70-200/4L, and EF 100-400/4.5-5.6L. Additionally, please see the lens and/or camera body manual for full autofocus compatibility information with the Extender EF 2X III."
So maybe she's looking at something like this (new prices)?
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Lens - $650
Canon Extender EF 2X III - $430
Canon EOS 7D DSLR Camera (Body Only) - $750
Total - $1830 before potential discounts and/or buying used
While the xsi is a wee long in the tooth I think it can still perform fairly well if your parents are used to using it. I think money can be better spent on glass. The current kit lens can cover general walkabout where distance is not an issue. The 70-300mm f4-5.6 is not a bad lens an will cover larger critters out to about 100yds. A lot of animals will be at fairly good distance and a longer lens would be a better bet as well as for birds but a tripod will become a necessity. The only thing I could recommend would be the 400mm f5.6 and a 1.4x converter. This combined with an xsi, 7D or 7D Mk II (1.6 crop) would yield the equivalent of a 900mm lens. On the other hand the 7D Mk II has one of the best AF systems made regardless of make. I would recommend finding out from the outfitter what distances will be involved as well as what focal lengths they recommend.
Oh, my dad is "taking" the XSi from her
so sticking with Canon is good for that as well. She went with the 7D and I'll check if she got a lens already as well, and rec that one if she hasn't. Thanks all!
If you nerds are interested, I can re-post some of the pictures my mom took with this setup. Some really awesome shots on safari.
This nerd would like that.
2x converter plus f4 lens is equivalent to an f8
https://imgur.com/a/7jswX
BTW; What did they get? And what did they use?
Oh jeebus that poor zebra.
NBD, just carrying my favorite zeeba head around...
I loved that picture being followed by the pack of zebras going "oh, there goes Jim..."
Dat nature tho
I think she ended up with either the stuff in my post exactly or only the lens changed.
Nice pictures. Thank you for sharing. My favorite was the neat rainbow bird.
I can't stop chuckling about the photo of Jim. It's probably one of the most honest nature photos I've ever seen.
For lulz: go through the photo set as if it was an album about Jim's last seconds and then the news spreading, ending in a photo of the memorial tree over his grave.