Hello everybody! Just wondering if anybody has any plane spotting camera suggestions? I currently own the Canon Powershot SX530 but I think I’m ready to move on to a DSLR of some sort. My budget is $700usd excluding lenses. Some cameras on my list currently are:
Canon T6i
Canon T7
Nikon D5600
Canon SL3
I was just wondering if any other suggestions were out there.
Here are some photos from my SX530
I use the Sony A6000, finding it online for $648. I can highly recommend it!
There is an option to get the 210mm zoom lense as well and its like $120 more.
I have thought of that one but, the view finder is on the left side of the screen so I may have trouble with that.
I don’t find it that difficult, but whatever you think is best for you :)
Hey!
I have a Canon SL3 and it’s been amazing, i just needed to buy a lens for zooming in sometimes, but i find a great camera with a lot of cool functions, i’d highly recommend it and the quality it’s amazing:)
That one is high up on my list because its not only good at photos, but it shoots 4k. A nice telephoto lens for the SL3 is the canon 55-250mm. The 70-300 is not very good at 300mm, it gets a lot of chromatic aberration.
The SL3 is a great user friendly camera. It’s touchscreen and has a bunch of presets (although I’d prefer manual). I’ve also heard about the T7 which is a commonly used camera by a bunch of spotters.
@Henry_Holland1 the pictures from your SX530 are pretty damn impressive, I’d be eager to see what you can do with an upgrade…
With spotting, whilst having a good body is important, you should spend more time and money on a lens. A good camera will perform poorly with a bad lens, but an average camera can perform fantastically with a good lens.
A few people on the forum use different cameras, Moritz uses a Canon 80D with some pretty beefy lenses, Alex_E uses a 700D with a 75-250mm, I personally use a 550D but I don’t have a lens yet, ItsBlitz uses a 450D, and there are also some people on the forum using various Nikon and Sony cameras. Canon seems to be the safe bet for a lot of people, especially with the number of compatible EF/ EF-S lenses available.
I think it is unnecessary to buy a new one. I think your current camera is ok for spotting
Thank you for providing a budget without being asked, that’s rare. SL3 would be my choice out of those and it wouldn’t be close.
From personal experience and owning an SL3. I would definitely go with the SL3. It’s very easy to use and it’s a very lightweight camera. Would definitely recommend.
I currently use the T7 and I recommend it for sure. It’s not difficult to setup & use, although my only problem with the camera is I haven’t figured out how to export videos since it can’t be done over wifi and needs a physical connection (USB or something).
But for pictures, it’s pretty good.
Having good glass is good.
For what it’s worth realize that the SX530 maxes out at a full frame equivalent of 1,200 mm. Since all the cameras you listed are APS-C you can multiply the focal length by 1.6 or 1.4 for the D5600, buy you will still need 750 mm lens for the T6i/7/SL3, and 857 mm for the D5600 to get that same zoom. A lens like that will cost you the big bucks to say the least. The Cannon EF 800 mm will set you back 8 grand. That said the 100-400 mm offerings from Tameron and Sigma sit in the like $400ish range and should be more than enough zoom. If you really need that zoom then Sigmas 150-600 contemporary around $700 may be your closest bet. If that doesn’t do it for you zoom wise, or is too expensive then perhaps you are best upgrading to a better superzoom bridge camera and not jumping to DSLRs. Look back at some efix data and see how much zoom you use (remember to convert) or pay attention next time you go spotting to see what lens will work best for you. Obviously there are cheaper, shorter lenses available if you don’t need 400, or 600 mm, but I just want to make sure you take the cost of high zoom lenses into consideration.
I never use the 1200mm and never would need to. At my airport, all 8 of the spots only need up to 300mm.
Ah, ok. Then ya, your good. If you end up with one of the Cannon ones then I’d highly recommend the Cannon 55-250, never used it myself, but I’ve really never heard a bad thing about it. Good AF, good sharpness, and it should be a good zoom range for you it would seem. It’s pretty cheap as far as telephoto lenses go as well, about as cheap as they come. (Remember 250 on the crop sensor camera will be 400 on your current camera)
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