reply to post by jasonjnelson
Hi Jason, May i say that i admire your enthusiasm for the task that you have set yourself. That said, i am a photographer and i spend quite a lot of
time outdoors with my gear. I have 3 digital cameras, all Canon and one of them is an SLR.
The most useful lens for nature photography that i use is a 70 -200 mm f2.8 lens. Stick that on your shoulder for half a day and you know about it.
the larger the lens from here on up, the more weight that you will have to burden yourself with.
Now the reason i have told you this is because you are talking about being prepared at all times. Yes, great having the gear but not very practical
for your purpose. One of the main problems that you will face is having a good enough shutter speed when using telephoto lenses. more than likely, you
will not have the best conditions whenever you do see anything. ( its called sods law )
the object may be moving and it may be dusk or even worst, night. That is a whole different ballgame then and you will more than likely end up with a
fuzzy ball of light that we are all used to.
Anyway, i also have a canon camcorder with a 20x optical zoom, now that is a different matter. its small, light, easy to use and it can be available
to you 24/7 without being a burden.
I feel that this is the way for you to go, not because of image quality, faking the shot problems or anything along those lines but because a moving
shot is far more interesting than a still shot, you don't end up with half the questions that you do with a photo.
I have taken over 110,000 shots with my Digital S.L.R now so i have a little experience with some of the problems that you will encounter. There are
many believe me.
As we have a few whizz kids on ATS who could spot a fake movie from 50 yds with one eye closed, i wouldn't worry about the authenticity of your
images. just do your best to capture one.
P.S, Handy tip, Please get a tripod and look for manual focus as well.
All the best
John.
One last thought. Lights at night are just that, lights at night. I think a daytime shot is a must to lend any credability to the U.F.O. problem.
[edit on 4-1-2008 by jon1]
[edit on 4-1-2008 by jon1]