the perfect camera?

[Tom Reichner]

.

Quality image is a relative term Tom. This guy may have a very different idea of that from you.

 
Point well taken, Hornseeker.  Thanks for setting me straight.

Tom, Doug, Pope, Tony et al? Do you have some pics of critters, with good gear, that are 100-300 yards away??It would be fun to see them. My bet is that I and many others will thing they are "quality" images.

Here's an image of a buck taken at about 150 yards.  The image was taken with my Canon 5D, with the 400mm, and a 1.4 tele-extender on it, for a total focal length of 560mm.  I left the photo uncropped so that you can get a better idea of what you can expect at this distance.  

 
Tom I saw your pic on Montana Outdoor photo edition, back cover rams. AWSOME. How far away were they and with what lens option? just as example of the above discussion.

Quadrafire, those rams were shot with the same combination as the attached photo - 560mm total focal length.  But they were much, much closer - about 15 yards away!  Rams are so much more cooperative than Whitetails.

[Hornseeker]

There are "good photos" and there are "quality images" Tom, Doug, Tony, and the likes...take some quality images with many multi thousand dollar setups.... I can take "good photos" with my $365  camera!!!!!

I will scale back my yardage comment though... with my camera at 12X....on a tripod and good light, I can get a passable pic at 100-150 yards, but nothing beyond that. The SX30 with a 35 power zoom, on a tripod, great light, no wind and the animal dead still?? Not sure what it would do....

[Hornseeker]

See Tom, that is a good pic of that buck!!

Id like to see some good light pics of some critters say, 300 yards away with that outfit...jsut for kicks. Same with Bones cam ....

[swanny]

so for my budget. Could I get a camera and lens that zooms up to a buck for a good pick at lets say 2-300 yards? What kind of yardage would I be looking to get to still be able to zoom in for a good shot? What size lens would I want for distances like that?

to give you and idea, this was taken at with my 55-200mm lens at 200mm. Standard kit lens, around 100-125 yards if I remember correctly.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swannick/4910346590/#

[grandpawrichard]

Tom, Doug, Pope, Tony et al? Do you have some pics of critters, with good gear, that are 100-300 yards away??

I have a few photos that I took of a Bald Eagle this fall. The bird was about 100 yards away from us and near the top of the tree. I used a Canon 400 F/5.6 L series lens to grab the following photos. (Please remember that I had to crop the heck out of the Original image to bring the bird up to the size you see.)









Even tighter Crops of the original:






Dick

[grandpawrichard]

The following are not "Critter Photos" but they will give you a good feel for what different sizes of lenses will do for you:













As you can see, each time the focal length was multiplied the mountain was moved forward because the intermediate distance was compressed.

Dick

[Hornseeker]

Not seein that last set GPa... but the eagle testifies to what I'm saying. Yeah, its not a magazine pic, but for a guy like me or maybe Maverick...its a great pic... and its just an eagle at 100 yards... so a deer at 200 is doable...

[tlbradford]

If your using the digital zoom feature in a point and shoot or compact camera, put it on a tripod, and use the timer to snap the photo.  That will help eliminate additional camera shake from you pressing the shutter button to take the picture.

[Suncrest Sniper]

Take a look at the Canon Power Shot SX20is It's what I use and it takes great photo's and video as well. Not only that but it's in your price range.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS381US381&q=canon+powershot+sx20+is&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=8476958224290137787&ei=3_woTfbTEo_AsAONse2FBw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ8wIwAg#

For a little more you can get the newer SX30........


SS

[bak2huntn]

Wow for the prices I think I better take art lessons and learn to draw better how do I down load from my etch a sketch?