The older I get and the less I feel compelled to kill everything that's legal, I'm getting interested in investing in a camera rig that will let me capture all the awesome stuff I see from the blind. In the last few years I have witnessed deer and hogs, turkey and quail, bobcat, owls, hawks, foxes ... I am kicking myself thinking about the pictures I could have had.

Anyway - my budget is pretty limited. Was looking at a used 10 MP DSLR for $400 (Pentax K10D) and a used Pentax 55-300mm f/4-5.8 for $260 - that would pretty much max out my budget. Any of you know if that rig would give me the ability to "reach out and touch" animals at up to 75 yards, given a decent amount of light of course? Or, given a max budget of $750 is there another combo you'd recommend?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

been looking at getting me one too, you see so much out there that you wont shoot with a gun so why not shoot with a camera. I would think one of the most important is how quiet the shutter is, depending on how close you get to the animals. But on the technical stuff im not an expert by any means.

Ive been carrying one this season, its pretty fun taking pictures of the stuff you dont want to shoot, or not sure if you should in my case lol. Its helped me learn how to age the deer on my lease too.

Steve....I've been in the market for a good camera too for much of the same reasons. The two I've narrowed it down to are the Nikon D5000 and Canon T1i. They're in the $700-$800 range and the top end of my budget, and both are rated very highly by Consumer Reports....and both of them also have HD video capability, an added bonus.

I found taking a camera to my blind as well as in my boat jinxes me.

I do. Most all of my life I've hunted & fished alone. If I wanted those photographic memories, it was up to me. I also carry a small Sony DVD camcorder along with a collapsible tripod. It all fits in or on my backpack and since I hike into my blind any way it's no big deal to bring them along.

One thing I would suggest is to set anything up anything you are thinking of using as soon as you get into your blind. I don't like rustling around for such items once I settle in to hunt. Then if I decide to photograph something instead of shooting it, it's easy to do.

The mule dear in my sig line is a good example. I have no pics of that hunt because I did not take a camera.

always, never know what shows up

I take a camera at times and own a Flip video camera. I've become pretty good at shooting video with it through my binoculars. The clarity is pretty good.

I hunt mostly out of tripods, but if I used blinds I might take more gear. I don't pull the trigger often anymore, but taking pictures and checking my game cameras is what really gets me going anymore. Of course, only until a big boy pops out, but that doesn't seem to happen often enough.

I wish I'd have had my Flip tonight. Had two great young deer at a feeder for over an hour. It was alot of fun watching them play and made me feel pretty optimistic about the next couple of years.

I will take a camera out with me but rarely use it

I take a camera and have gotten to the point where I have just about as much fun "shooting" them with a camera as with a gun....and you don't have to clean them

I use a digital camera with with a 300mm lens...nothing special. But you can bring them up pretty close when you download the pics to a laptop and zoom in on them.

I have a camera, but usually it stays in the truck. Normally if I have one in the blind it is because I stuck it in the backpack I carry to the stand when we loaded up to leave town and It hadn't crossed my mind to take it out. I went several seasons taking a camcorder to the stand, but last time I did I broke it trying to get it off my hand in a hurry. Broke the camera, then my bow experienced operator error, and I have not taken a camcorder back since.

I always have a camera with a telephoto lens.

iPhone and swRo binocs unless wife is with me she doesn't trust me with camera.

Yes sir I do... I have also been using a camcorder. Lots of memories besides the kill.

I have a Canon Rebel XT with various lenses, an older Canon S2 Superzoom, and a new Canon SX20 Superzoom.

The Rebel XT takes great photos, but I found even a 50-500mm Sigma lens lacking. Expensive and a heavy camera bag to carry once you get a few necessary lenses. I rarely take this camera to the blind.

The Canon S2 (or S3 or S5) also takes great photos and video! Plus it really zooms out there, especially with a 1.5x teleconverter.

The new SX20 takes great photos too, plus High Definition videos. It also zooms as much as the S2 without the added teleconverter. I like this camera for the video quality, but since it's a 12 megapixel (compared to 5mp for the other cameras) it's not as rapid when taking a series of photos. The HD videos of the SX20, while better quality, also produce huge file sizes that are harder to edit and upload.

Bottom line, I would try to find a new or slightly used Canon S5 Superzoom (8MP) on ebay and get a quality Raynox DCR-1540 Pro 1.5x teleconverter (plus adapter) to go with it. The S5 is already considered a classic as it has the best compromise of image quality, rapid burst photos, superzoom, and surprisingly good video. And video really is nice to have without having to lug around a camcorder too. This setup is good out to 150 yards or so in both photos and video before quality really degrades.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Great info Dave.....as I said in my earlier post, I've been in the market for an SLR in the $700-$800 range, but having read your informative post combined with my relative inexperience, now I'm reconsidering.

What does the SLR at about twice the price give you over, say, the SX20 or the S5, etc.?

A DSLR gives you the ability to make professional quality photos, but the learning curve is very steep. It's much easier to get very good quality photos out of a Superzoom, though even then there is a bit of a curve.

BTW... $700 - $800 just gets you the dslr camera, a very basic short range lens, extra batteries, and a bag. You will need to spend a minimum of another $500 for a lens that will have any sort of reach. If you want reach and low light capability, you will need to spend $1500 and up, way up for a lens.

A superzoom is still lacking in low light capability, but with manual settings or in video mode, you can do fairly well. Here's a video I shot in Oct with the new SX20. It was about 10 minutes after legal morning shooting time (20 minutes before sunrise) at 100 yards...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg02-ieDfQw

Here's another video shot with the SX20 in better light in a couple of the scenes. Most of the deer were out to about 150 yards...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPD_AH8COMg
http://buggytexas.com/images/hunting/buck09a.JPG

This was shot last year with the Canon S2, also at about 150 yards...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrBeVPMAak
http://buggytexas.com/images/hunting/08buck.jpg

Plus if you decide to get into macros with a dslr, which is very cool, you will need to spend another $300 - $500 for a macro lens. The superzooms also make very good macros without an extra lens, though not quite professional quality like a dslr does.

Canon S2 macro...
http://buggytexas.com/images/bee2.jpg

Canon Rebel XT macro...
http://buggytexas.com/images/jumper3.jpg

I'm glad I started with a superzoom. I'm glad I later bought a dslr for the experience. I'm also glad I kept the superzoom when I moved up since I use the dslr less and less all the time now. In fact, I'm probably going to sell it soon.

Hope this helps.

My dad only carries a camera and some heat when he's in the blind. The heat is only for wandering loggers/hunters that like to nose around down in the bottoms. He's been within 15 yards of 3 pigs and let them walk after he took some pics of them.

He carries a Panasonic DMC-TZ1. Its a great camera for the $.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06021405panasonictz1.asp

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&...ved=0CCkQrQQwAw

PM me if you would like to see some of the pictures this camera has taken.

I just bought a Soney Handy Cam, it has a 60x zoom and 60 GB hard drive I have found that a tripod is important in the long shots. I have taken some great pics this year and even have footage of deer that my friend and I see on each others feeders. We watch the videos and discuss the culls from the keepers and how old they are. Two opinions are always better...So far the camera has been fun and I have enjoyed taking the pictures almost as much as shooting them with the 270.

What great info Dave.......cool videos and photos too!! I think now I'm leaning toward the SX20 or something similar at about half the price of what I was looking at. This is my first foray into anything more than a simple compact $150 digital camera. Some of the outdoor shots you posted are what I'm aspiring to try, and want to wade in with as much ease as possible.

If you ever wander up this way, shoot me a PM and I'll buy you a beer or ten....after all, I'll have a few hundred extra...

Thanks for the info!!

You're welcome!

If you do decide to go with the SX20 there's something else you need to know. The videos are shot in the .mov extension, as opposed to the usual .avi. Not all video editors handle .mov (it's an Apple application) so you will probably want to convert the vids to .avi with a free program like Convert Mov to Avi. It's no big deal, just a pain to have to take the extra step.

On the plus side, you can plug the camera into your TV with the included RCA cable, or get a HDMI cable to plug into your HD TV, and view photos and videos directly. You can also print directly to some of the cheap Canon Photo Printers (PictBridge Enabled) without needing a computer. That comes in handy for printing out photos of the big buck right in deer camp.

Here's a good Canon forum for more info...
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

And here's the absolute best place to buy photo/video equipment online...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

I allways carry a video camera with me.Since i started i think i would rather shoot them with it than a gun.I have tons of deer, pigs,yoties,cows,crows,bobcats,coons,neighbors,and just about anything else out there.

Ebay - got a Canon 30D and a Tamron 28-200 lens - as long as I have decent light I get pretty good pics - both for about $500. Will upgrade to a better lens in the future.