Birding On a tight budget - should I buy less now or wait to buy right?

[kneale]

Hi all. I love nature and am tired of using only my iphone. I've had cameras in the past but it has been years. So long in fact, when I tried to hook my old Pentax DSLR up to my Macbook, it was incompatible, so no way to download my photos. So, now I am looking at Canon Rebels including the SL2, T7i and also the D77.

My goal, other than being able to take photos of my kids, is to shoot nature. I love to garden and we have many birds, bees and butterflies that come into the garden on a regular basis. I also have lots of flowers and want to capture them as well. My husband would like to use the camera for video capture of his Tankganyikan Cichlids (fish). 

My dilemma is I've watched so many Youtube videos and it seems I "need" at least the Canon T7i or D77 to be able to even get a mediocre shot (according to all of the "experts"), and I honestly can't afford the price point of either of these with all the lenses. I can afford the D77 body only, which obviously does me no good. The T7i is slightly better but only with the 18-55 lens. I can just afford the SL2 with the kit 18-55 and the 55-250. 

I'm at a loss. To hear most of the Youtubers anything less than at least one of these is a waste of money. No camera means no pictures but I am wondering if I should just hold off and save up for the better camera, the D77 or maybe even the D80. What are your thoughts and experiences?

Thank you!

[ebiggs1]

It is a 4 shot HDR.  It is from the Queen of New York out on the Hudson River.  I hope Karen doesn't mind it isn't a bird photo !

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

It is a 4 shot HDR.  It is from the Queen of New York out on the Hudson River.  I hope Karen doesn't mind it isn't a bird photo !

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Ahh, there are probably birds in there if one looks hard enough. These days many tall buildings have a family of hawks or falcons that live on the roof or in some nook or cranny. A large city has enough mice and pigeons to keep them well fed.

[ebiggs1]

Good probability!    The shot from a bouncing boat didn't make it any easier.

[ebiggs1]

Here is a bird from the job.   70mm isn't exactly a good or choice lens but you use what you have.

[John_SD]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Here is a bird from the job.   70mm isn't exactly a good or choice lens but you use what you have.

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Nice. Did you darken the top part of the sky in post or was that a CP of some kind?

And I agree, I think there is much to be said for "using what you have." Among other things, you have to learn something about photography -- composition, light, manual mode, Av/Tv priorities, zooming with your feet when need be, the importance of post, etc. My belief is that too many people jump into high-end gear too soon, believing it will instantly transform their shots into something miraculous. Then when they discover that it merely magnifies their mistakes and lack of photographic ability, and that the gear itself isn't a magic wand, the stuff starts to collect dust on a shelf. 

[John_SD]

"When you get some budget for a new editor get Lightroom.  At this point is is only available with a rental mode from Adobe.  It is $9.99 per month and it includes Photoshop."

Well, there are two versions at that price point -- the Lightroom CC Plan, which gives you 1TB of storage but no Photoshop, and the Lightroom Classic version, which gives you a measely 20GB of storage along with Photoshop access. I assume from your statement above you are advising the rental of the Lightroom Classic plan? 

Of course, Adobe generously allows you to rent additional cloud storage for an extra $9.99 per month, per TB. When one does the math, it is clear why so many photographers have decided to abandon Adobe and its monthly money-grab. Great products, though, no doubt. And a very lucrative business model. I tip my hat to the corporation for being as clever as it is in designing a confusing but successful rental business.

[ebiggs1]

"When one does the math, it is clear why so many photographers have decided to abandon Adobe and its monthly money-grab."

I stopped lamb blasting Adobe a while ago since there is nothing I can do about it but I doubt any serious photographer has abandoned LR and PS.  None of my colleges that are still in the business has.  And, to be honest that is the group that Adobe has always courted anyway.  None-the-less LR and PS are the best. No two ways about it.

[John_SD]

"I stopped lamb blasting Adobe a while ago..."

Lamb blasting? I'm going to make a note of that and file it away so that I might use it myself sometime LOL. 

[ebiggs1]

"Lamb blasting? I'm going to make a note of that and file it away so that I might use it myself sometime LOL."

It is an emphatic colloquial interrogative. An informal, slang in English that should be reserved primarily for speech, but can and is used in written texts.  I.E. writing the way one would speak.

My mother was an English professor at Alabama State!

[John_SD]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"Lamb blasting? I'm going to make a note of that and file it away so that I might use it myself sometime LOL."

It is an emphatic colloquial interrogative. An informal, slang in English that should be reserved primarily for speech, but can and is used in written texts.  I.E. writing the way one would speak.

My mother was an English professor at Alabama State!

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LOL Great stuff 🙂