catch and release deer hunting

[Reel life]

I got into the woods at 4 pm
jumped a doe on the way in. I was watching an old overgrown
farm house place and at 15 untill 6 a nice 8 point comes out of the woods into the grown up field. I decide not to shoot him
and just take some pictures. well he I am exited about the pictures that I am going to post and when I get back home they are all to fuzy to see
the buck was about an inch wider than his ears with real light colerd antlers nice main frame 8 I thought about shooting him but his brow tines were only about 2 inchs and he was a small bodied deer
I saw 2 does and a tall racked 6 that was about 12-13 inchs wide
it was a great evening to be in the woods with deer 10-40 yards from me


does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of camera we could buy that will take decent pictures of deer at 50 yards?
and also do short video?

[Dave Sikorski]

Good for you to let him grow.

Still cameras are for taking pictures and video cameras are for video.

In other words get both. Yes, they have combo units, but they are only good at their primary feature.

I have a canon rebel xti and a few lenses for it. Digital SLR's are the only way to go to get high quality pictures in the outdoors. Especially moving objects. They aren't cheap, but they have a ton of different lenses that can do some amazing things.

-D

[Reel life]

Dave I was taking pictures in good light at 30-35 yards and they all came out to bad to see
I know it is a cheap camera (kodak easy share but it has worked great in the past
although I have never tried to take pictures will hunting
all of my pictures have been at the dock or on the boat close ups
I was real exited about posting these deer pictures
we are going to get a new camera soon
i cant stand this
all of you on this board have gotten me inspired

[Dave Sikorski]

Point and shoots are great for the standard dock shot and close up stuff. When you want to reach out and touch something an SLR is the only way to go.

I have a Kodak easy share too and while it's nice it's not nearly as capable as a Canon or Nikon.

Here's pic from the guy who's pics got me to take the next step and get a Canon.



It's amazing what you can do if you practice with the right toys.

-D

[DropinBack]

What size shot is that?

[weekender]

Kay has Cannon Power Shot S2IS does pretty darn good, has a great zoom. Does some video too.

these are 60 yds shots




this from 35 yrds


this from 250 yds through a dirty window and screen

[Dave Sikorski]

What size shot is that?

I'm guessing BB's based on the number of them and the size.

-D

[RWW]

Dave, that is an awesome shot right there. Sold me I want one of them.
My wife wanted a 35mm and I got her a rebel but I had the digital in my hands, sorta wish I would have bit the bullet and got it for her. I just showed her the pic and she is wishing it too. Guess Santa better start saving

[Dave Sikorski]

The stuff Jeff is using is better then the Xti.

If I recall correctly the Xsi is the newest entry level Canon DSLR and is pretty darn capable.

What's most important is the lens. You can always get a better body down the road if need be.

Most of the pics from my reports over the last year are from my Xti with a EF 28-135 IS F/ 3.5-5.6 and I occasionally use my EF 100-400 L IS f/4.5-5.6

L series glass from Canon is arguably the best you can buy for still photography. Next time you watch a football game, watch for all of the white lenses on the sidelines.

-D

[Bird Dog]

I've got a Canon DSLR. the 100-400L is a bad ass lens and is huge, but so is the price tag. When you get to over 200-250 mm, IS (image stabilizer) is a huge + if you're like me and have the shakes. The point and shoot cameras have unreal zoom capabilities but when you get to that kind of zoom levels, you've gotta have a real steady hand.

Like Dave said, cameras and camcordors both have their place. I'd get one for each. A camera's video capability is no where near what a decent camcorder can do, and vice versa.