Going to the Galapagos!

[Amalo]

My boyfriend and I are going to the Galapagos and we would like to purchase a camera that will take really nice pictures of wildlife. I have been trying to gather some information from the threads posted on here and from other sources. I was told that Canon is the way to go. I have no clue about cameras. I own Pentax Optio underwater digital camera which doesnt work as well as I'd hoped (either that or i dont know how to use it). We are also divers and I heard that If I get a dslr I can buy a case for it and use it underwater. Anyways, here are my details and hopefully I can narrow it down to something I can manage.

Budget

~$1000 everything included

Size

Something manageable. We will be backpacking in Ecuador so it cant take too much space. I also don't want to risk it being stolen, so something discrete would be best.

Features

Im not sure what certain features even do. I just want to be able to take really good pictures of wildlife, even if we are far away. Basically national geographic type pictures. Image quality is very important.

Do you care for manual controls? Well, if I new how to use them, I guess not.

General Usage

We would like an all purpose camera. I want it to take really awesome nature pictures. If I'm whale watching and a giant humpback whale pops out of the water I want to be able to capture that. I also would like to take still pictures and pictures of flowers and gardens. So yeah, an all around camera would be great.


Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? Like I said, I was told Canon was the way to go.

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Canon Rebel XTi?:confused: (I have no idea what that means though.)

I also mentioned that we are divers, so I need a camera that I would be able to buy a case for and take it underwater.

Also, suggestions on lenses, filters, and accessories would be great.


thanks in advance,
amanda

[TheWengler]

Im not sure what certain features even do. I just want to be able to take really good pictures of wildlife, even if we are far away. Basically national geographic type pictures. Image quality is very important.

Do you care for manual controls? Well, if I new how to use them, I guess not.

Here's the thing, people who take pictures for National Geographic know how their cameras work. They don't just buy an expensive camera and a plane ticket to a nice place and expect every shot to be a winner. It's going to take a lot of work and an understanding of what you're doing to achieve the desired results.

I suggest you go entry level. Either the Nikon D40 with the kit lens and the 55-200 VR or the Pentax K100D with the Tamron 18-250. A circular polarizing filter might be good if it's bright out but I have a feeling it's usually cloudy where you're going (I could be wrong...:confused:). I have no idea about the underwater cases available for these two cameras though.

Edit: Scratch the the cir. pol. idea if you go with the Nikon - rotating front element on the kit lens.

[coldrain]

If you want to make photos that look good, you will have to get your camera before the trip so you can practise, and get to know what ISO settings, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, metering modes and AF modes all will do.
Also figuring out whether you want to use JPEG or RAW, and what image settings (colour, contrast, sharpness) you prefer.

The only way to get really impressive photos is for you to buy a DSLR. It should be relatively compact and light in weight for you use.

A Canon XTi (10mp) is a very good camera in the compact DSLR class, and is capable of very good results and features.
The Olympus E-510 (10mp) is a little bit less in features that matter according to me, like the smaller noisier sensor, the AF system and dymanic range, but it is a compact, good and affordable choice too.
The Nikon D40/D40x (6mp/10mp) are at the bottom feature wise, but the image quality is about on par with the XTi.
The Pentax K100D (6mp) is also in this compact class, but it is clearly the most heavy of the group.

One thing you also will have to figure out is how you will want to store all the photos. Either a lot of memory cards, or some kind of portable photo hard disk to store them on when the cards get to be full?

On to the lenses... you will want to be able to make wide photos for landscape and city scape views... and you will want tele reach for wild life and details. The above mentioned Tamron 18-250mm can be an option on Nikon, Canon and Pentax, it is a convenient lens with a big focal range.
But it of course has some compromises to reach such a range, like barrel distortion at the wide end and some loss of image quality at the 250mm tele end. It costs around $500.

Another option can be to get an 18-55mm kit lens with the Pentax, Nikon, Canon, and get a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG Macro for affordable, yet still quite good tele reach, and an 1:2 macro setting thrown in as bonus. The Sigma costs around $220.

The Olympus comes with a 2 lens kit, but the reach of the tele kit lens is not as long as the above mentioned lenses.

For the Canon the best tele option would be the Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM, but it will bring you over budget as this lens costs a but over $500. It is a very good lens optically though. The Nikon equivalent is the 70-300 f4.5-5.6 VR, also quite good, but the lens is a bit heavier still. And a bit less than $500.

I do not know when you plan to go, but the Canon 55-250mm IS will be introduced quite soon, it will be a light lens and affordable (under $300).

IS and VR mean image stabilizing lenses. The Olympus and Pentax have image stabilizing sensors.