Hello! I am looking to buy a real camera to try and take better photos of small insects like sweat bees and longhorn bees, as well as things that would need to be photographed from further away since they move when you get close to them (dragonflies, skippers, etc). However, my budget is pretty low …

[image] invertebratist: First of all, I need to clarify that the most important aspect of macro photography is lighting. If your light is too harsh, colours won’t appear nicely. 99% of time I use flash and a macro diffuser and I strongly recommend it. Going with natural light is insanely diffi…

I’m not accusing you of anything, but this somehow sounds AI generated.

Since you mentioned both close-in macro, and also things like dragonflies that are hard to approach, you should know that it can be rather difficult to do both of these with a single inexpensive camera. Given your criteria, I would suggest looking at one of the older (used) superzoom “bridge” camer…

I like photographing insects but I use my telephoto lens because 1. I don’t scare them off 2.I can get pretty good detail (but I do have a professional level camera and lens) 3. If you are only going to have one lens on your camera and you are also a birdnerd, then this works. I do have a macro lens…

TG6 /TG7 seems to be the go to, dosent seem there are big changes between the older and newer one. One thing to think about with buget is second hand gear, from a trusted photo store (P2P markets are possible, but have much higher risks, vs a expert reseller who looks the gear over and then are res…

Thanks for the extra information Tony. I love the spider shots you’ve taken with your setup. Indeed this can be very true depends on type of flash and setting etc. For me it’s not a problem, as I’ve found a few very efficient flashes, some lightweight setups and straps to help carrying. But withou…

[image] tiwane: I personally would rather have my camera lighter, smaller, ready to go quickly, and be less likely to scare away bugs with my diffuser. I use an Olympus TG-6 with a small flash diffuser that mounts directly to the camera. I can leave it on all the time and it barely takes up m…

i suppose it depends on what anyone really wants. with a setup, flash, good quality camera, one can take superb photos. it also fits into a large separate backpack, with tripod in your hand, takes time to set up. most of the bugs i captured with improved cell phone would be long gone by then.

[image] tiwane: less likely to scare away bugs I’ll admit that I find flash settings and how they work very confusing and I haven’t made sense of it enough to apply in the field – but mostly I’ve been avoiding flash because I’m afraid of scaring away my subjects (who tend to be active on sunn…

Beginner Camera for Insect Photos

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Beginner Camera for Insect Photos

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