Noob question

[mendym]

looking to buy my first camera and ive been looking at the T6 bundle. I will be mainly using it to get pictures of wildlife, particularly deer. Roughly 200-300 yards away. My question is, will this be a good camera for this? And if so what lens should i be looking at to get a quality photo of deer at that distance. Thanks!

[ebiggs1]

Well there are some problems with your situation.  First and foremost 200 to 300 yards is way, I mean way way, too far away.

Second this scares me a lot, " ive been looking at the T6 bundle"?????  What T6 bundle?  Is it from a place like Amazon?  No matter never, I mean never ever, buy a camera 'bundle'.

Depending on what results you are after, you really do need to close that distance to the subject.  You need to buy specific gear to take the pictures you want.  No bundle will do that.

From a reputable retailer like B&H or Best Buy, Cosco, Adorama, etc you can get the Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm and 75-300mm Lenses Kit for around $500 bucks.  It is a first time buyer beginner kit.  A better choice and at higher cost might be the Canon EOS Rebel T7i DSLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens. Plus the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens.  Total around $1100.

The next level starts to get you more professonal feel and options at a highr price point. The 80D for instance and perhaps the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens.  This is a serious comob that can go anywhere and grow with you. You will need to select a telephoto lens for the deer and wildlifle. Perhaps the Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 for Canon. Breaking the two grand level here. It even goes up from here if you are interested let me know.

[kvbarkley]

Stay away from "bundles". They usually include the 75-300 zoom which is not a good option.

For a Rebel, the field of view for a 300 mm lens is 5.1 degree. At 900 ft, that turns out to be:

2 * tan(5.1/2)*900 or 80 ft across. A 6 foot deer is a very small portion (about 10%) of that.

I suggest you get the T6 with the kit - just like it comes from Canon with no extras. Then save your pennies for a $1000 150-600 Tamron or Sigma zoom.

At 600 mm, the field of view is 40 feet so your deer wil at least take up 20% of the frame.

[RobertTheFat]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

Stay away from "bundles". They usually include the 75-300 zoom which is not a good option.

For a Rebel, the field of view for a 300 mm lens is 5.1 degree. At 900 ft, that turns out to be:

2 * tan(5.1/2)*900 or 80 ft across. A 6 foot deer is a very small portion (about 10%) of that.

I suggest you get the T6 with the kit - just like it comes from Canon with no extras. Then save your pennies for a $1000 150-600 Tamron or Sigma zoom.

At 600 mm, the field of view is 40 feet so your deer wil at least take up 20% of the frame.

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Or move to almost any town in greater Boston, where deer habitually wander around in people's yards, eating the shrubbery. Our suburban governments are notoriously hostile to dogs. (People are so preoccupied with texting and surfing the Web that they can't be bothered to watch where they step.) So the deer have only the occasional coyote to chase them away.

[John_SD]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

I suggest you get the T6 with the kit - just like it comes from Canon with no extras.

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That's the kit I selected as well. I bought mine refurbished from Canon and have never regretted it. It's a great kit to start out with. Mine cost around $350 I believe, or thereabouts. 

My goals were different from the OPs. I wanted to first learn as much as I could about DSLR photography, as I felt that a good grounding in the basics there would serve me well later on. I didn't know what I needed or wanted, gear wise. I just wanted to learn about photography first. I was interested in the nuts and bolts of photography, such as when and why to use shutter or aperature priorty, program mode, manual exposure (which I use more now), etc. The more I got into photography and post processing, the more I realiized that quality glass alone won't make me a good photographer. So I suggest the same thing to the OP -- start with the kit for now and learn photography. Then before you invest heavily in a lens, learn how to get closer than 300 yards to a deer. 

[AllenP]

I too purchased the Rebel T6 Kit for many of the same reasons John_SD did.  While the other responders have much more experience and knowledge of photography, you have to start somewhere.  For me, the price of the higher grade glass was prohibitive in that I have no clue what I'm doing at the moment.  If you are positive you are going to be making photography a calling, then yes, I would invest the money.  I'm not at that point yet, so the T6 works for me.

[ebiggs1]

"...so the T6 works for me"

The best advice ever, use what works for you.