Good cameras for nature shots

I take a lot of macro shots - insects, lichens, liverworts, etc. Last summer I picked up an Olympus Tough TG-5. Besides being ruggedized (waterproof, dustproof, etc ), it also does in-camera focus stacking. It will take 10 shots in about a second at different focal points and then merge them. The merging software works quite well even for hand held shots. Focus stacking is awesome! It is pocket size and under $500US. I take a lot of shots in microscope more, from under an inch away. It can also do HD video, slo-mo and high speed.

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Hi er1kksen,

Thanks for your thoughtful post/explanation. It could be that I’m guilty of “assumptions adding a hassle”…and believe me I have nothing against using an external logger. But the times I’ve actually tried, it was considerably more of a “hassle” than using my Nikon P600 or 900 with built-in GPS. But it seems that folks use very different techniques for external GPS logging, and it could certainly be that the specific ones I tried were not the most efficient. Would you mind summarizing the steps you follow? You’ve shared some possible apps/software already, but the specific start to finish steps would give me and others a good idea of exactly what you are doing. :) Thanks!

PS I should have mentioned that “add-on GPS” devices are available for some of the major camera lines, but I don’t have any experience using those, and the prices on some that I quickly eyeballed seemed like it would easily go beyond the original poster’s budget…

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@colincroft there’s a topic on geotagging here: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/geotagging-photos/66

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I’m quite happy with my Sony HX400V. GPS onboard, excellent zoom for really distant stuff, and a usable manual focus (that last is something where many bridge cameras fail utterly). Pretty useless for anything less than 0.5 cm long, does best with things at least ~2cm in scale.

Light enough to take almost anywhere, and cheap enough (I got it for ~$400 CAD) that I don’t feel like I need to completely baby it.

It’s not as good for getting “nice” shots as my last camera (Canon SX40), but I like it better for record shots.

I’m still waiting for the bridge camera with:

  • GPS onboard

  • Good (enough) at long range bird photos

  • Good (enough) for pictures of smallish insects

  • Decent manual focus

Any combination of these can be found on some bridge camera, but not all four together from what I’ve been able to find.

The existing topic tiwane posted has a lot of good info that includes some apps and programs I didn’t previously know about. iPhil’s post covers the process with Geosetter- you could do it identically with the smartphone app I use, GPXlogger, just plugging the phone into the computer and downloading the recorded GPX file (it puts the date in the filename conveniently) and going from there. Also some good discussion on the way default location services on most phones wander unpredictably.

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Sony HX400V has GPS, 50x optical zoom (100x digital), manual focus and good priority modes too… It struggles with the little stuff, but couple it with a diopter and extra lighting and you can get to a few cms away and frame 10mm comfortably. I used to just use a magnifying glass held in front of the lens, but you can buy single lens 10x diopters for about $10, which is what I am using now.

Cellphones can also benefit from a diopter… you can buy them cheaply, and they just clip on to the phone, so are convenient in the field.

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A statistic about the various camera models used on iNat would be cool ;)

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FYI…some of you might check out Steve Ingraham’s “point and shoot nature photography” blog/info He includes lots of examples (not much macro though) on what some of these cams are capable of. His main “go to” P&S/bridge camera was the Nikon P900; now it is the Sony RX10iv.

I have both, and the Sony is certainly an excellent cam. And for all my grumbling about no onboard GPS, getting the geotag via the Sony app isn’t horrible. Toggling the bluetooth off/on on the phone if the cam hasn’t been used in 20-30 minutes makes the connection and solves the problem. The autofocus and low-light performance of the Sony really distinguishes it from the rest of the pack…

@kiwifergus Oops, meant HX400V as that’s what I have! Changed above

I just want to plug clip-on macro lenses for smartphone cameras, they can be fantastic in the right situations (eg subjects which are not moving quickly) and they only cost a few dollars (although there are better, more expensive versions, @carrieseltzer has a really nice one that you’re much less likely to lose).

For example, here is the same Timema from Sunday, the first observation was taken with my wife’s iPhone 8 with a $2 clip-on lens: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21334119

And my photo, taken with several thousand dollars worth of equipment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21337572

EDIT: changed “much less likely to use” to “much less likely to lose”. Whoops!

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I was going to start a different thread on cell phone accessories, but since @tiwane mentioned it, I’ll chime in here instead. I really really love the Ztylus macro/supermacro lenses I have now for my iPhone XS. It magnets onto the special case (which is part of the $50 price tag) and then the macro/supermacro lenses just pop out and snap right into place. It’s less fiddly than a clip on.

They make different versions for different phones, so I do recommend checking it out. It (like every other cell phone lens kit) comes with wide angle and fish eye, which I find nearly useless, but it’s worth it for me for the macro alone. I took this photo of a tiny sawfly the other day, and this tiny hemipteran with the older Revolver macro lens on my iPhone 6s.

I think they should make a special naturalist revolver lens kit that ditches the fish eye and replaces it with another macro or a telephoto. I haven’t used the 2x telephoto much, but am trying to get in the habit.

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Has anyone found any clip on type iPhone camera add ons that work with, or as, a water resistant case? I spend a lot of time in wetlands and live in a wet area, and am also clumsy and drop things, so i rarely take my phone out of my otterbox case. It doesn’t have to be airtight, but clip ons or attachments that require the ‘bare’ phone to be exposed worry me.

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Clip-ons will work with thin cases, although you get a little more vignetting and distortion. I’m not sure there’s much that can be done with thicker cases, unless you have a lens built specifically for it. The physics are just tough to get around.

Not sure which phone you have, Charlie, but I’ll say I’ve washed my iPhone 8 multiple times with soap and water and it’s totally fine. Newer models are quite water resistant, although I certainly can’t guarantee yours won’t get damaged if you do the same thing.

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I’ve got a 6S. I also have an older ‘eater’ phone which i could potentially use though the battery is feeble. The phones are indeed pretty resilient, though it’s expensive to replace them as Apple seems to be moving away with cheap and functional in favor of expensive and fancy but I haven’t gotten the momentum to switch to android especially considering i like the iphone iNat app better.I wonder if the 6S is as water resistant as the 8. I’m not trying to take pictures or anything, just worry about rain or dropping a phone in a wetland. Once long ago i messed up a phone shoveling snow when snow went into my pocket and melted.

I guess my dream would be to have an otterbox type case that also has attachments, but that probably either doesn’t exist, or is super expensive.

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@carrieseltzer that badger phone magnet setup looks awesome but they don’t even have a 6S! Wish i could justify spending money on a nicer phone AND that case :) really that is neat, but maybe they do make something similar for 6S elsewhere.

@charlie they must have just recently stopped selling the kit for the 6s Revolver lens, because I think I saw it earlier this month. They still sell the Revolver lens itself, but you’ll need a case too. Here are some third party seller links for the case you’ll need with that lens.

When I take my phone on the water, I put it in a cheap waterproof phone pouch like this one. It fits fine in the pouch with a Zytlus case (minus the revolver lens, which I don’t have on all the time anyways).

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Being ‘compact’, waterproof, cameras they are ideal for photographing things in rockpools etc. because you can easily get them into small pools (whether you can see the view finder screen is another matter, but sometimes relying on autofocus and shooting-blind works). When I was looking to replace my TG-3 I looked at all the other waterproof cameras, but there was nothing that could beat its super-macro mode.

I am using it more and more for dry-land photography, and being water-proof saves worrying about ruining your camera when out and about when it rains (destroyed one other good camera that way). Not so good at photographing birds though (no super-zoom).

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Thank you…I’ll check this out!

Very interesting…I had no idea these even existed…thanks for sharing this info!

This is a great field camera (as are its predecessors). Worth it for the great macro in a compact size; ruggedized + waterproofing is icing on the cake.

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