Hertfordshire and Middlesex Branch of Butterfly Conservation

What camera?

There is a lot of interest in digital cameras and lens and this website is often asked about the cameras contributors are using to take photos

This page is intended purely as a guide for those interested in taking photos of butterflies and moths from all different perspectives. The cost of each camera will be not included. All contributors are welcome to pass on their camera details which will only be credited by name if permission has been granted

and indicate which photograph or photographs you would like used

Disclaimer
This website does not endorse or promote the purchase of any brand of camera and/or lens discussed on this page

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Sony Ericsson 750i phone camera (2Mega pixel)

Wood White
Oxfordshire
© photo: Darin Stanley Large Blue
Somerset
© photo: Darin Stanley Green-veined White
Symondshyde Wood
© photo: Darin Stanley White Admiral
Symondshyde Wood
© photo: Darin Stanley

Nikon Coolpix 4500 on macro/auto

Small Copper mating pair
lycaena phlaeas
Fir & Pond Wood NR
© photo: David Gompertz

Second-hand Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom

Marbled White
© photo: Simon Crockford

Marbled White
© photo: Simon Crockford

Large Skipper
© photo: Simon Crockford

Additional notes from Simon Crockford. "I'd just like to say how helpful I found the "what camera" section of the website. It was on the strength of this that i invested in a second-hand Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom. All of the photos I have attached were taken with this camera. "

Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom 4-Megapixel 10 x Zoom

Orange Tip
© photo: Richard Bigg

Peacock
© photo: Richard Bigg

Red Admiral
© photo: Richard Bigg

Additional notes from Richard Bigg. "The camera has Macro and Super Macro facilities. As with most digital cameras, auto-focussing is a bit slow but this is faster in macro mode. Manual focussing is also available. With max zoom, focussing can be down to 4ft, or in wide angle, down to 3in. In super macro mode it will focus as close as 1.2in. Achieving all the various optional settings takes some time but there are four "My-mode" options which can be pre-set so you can quickly go to whichever suits a particular situation. The photos shown here were all taken in super-macro mode."

Olympus D535 Zoom with macro facility

Dark Green Fritillary
argynnis aglaja
Norfolk Coast
© photo: Rachel Goodyear

Additional notes from Liz Goodyear: "This is an amazing camera considering the price and brilliant for someone new to wildlife photography, especially teenagers!"

Fuji S2 Pro with Nikon 80-400 VR lens plus Canon D500 close-up filter

Large Skipper
ochlodes venata
Tring Park
© photo: Colin Sturges

Additional notes from Colin Sturges: "Usually set to JPEG fine but occasionally, if the subject is high contrast, then captured as RAW as that gives me more dynamic range. Depth of field with this filter is almost nil, so I have to use tiny F19 or F22 apertures which, in turn, means pushing the sensitivity up to 800 or 1600 ISO in many cases"

Nikon D2X and 60mm f2.8 Macro Lens

Blue-spot Hairstreak
strymonidia spini
Spain
© photo: Ian Hardy

Fujifilm S5500 (4MP resolution with macro capability)

Clouded Apollo
parnassius mnemosyne
Rila National Park, Bulgaria
© photo: Bob Hazra

Olympus E1 (5MP digital SLR)

Common Blue
using 50mm macro lens
© photo: Lee Browne

Speckled Wood
using 50mm macro lens
© photo: Lee Browne

Green-veined White
using 50-200mm zoom lens
© photo: Lee Browne

All recorded in 10mb RAW format.
Additional notes from Lee Browne. "Most my butterfly photos are taken using a 50mm macro lens (100mm on 35mm) and have to get pretty close to take most my photos (20-30cm), if I have to take a photo of something and can't get as close I have a 50-200mm zoom lens (100-400mm on 35mm) which I can take a pretty good butterfly shot from over a meter away."

Secondhand Nikon Coolpix 99

Additional notes from Andrew Middleton. "I bought this secondhand digital camera in May 2003 for £200. I've got two 124MB cards which each hold c 100 best quality images around 1.2MB each. The CCD is 3.34 megapixels. I like the swivel facility of the camera body, as you can take shots at awkward angles at arms length. The camera is also good to use through a telescope or microscope. The flash is fine but needs a tissue over it to dull it down when taking macro moth shots, otherwise the image can burn out. The macro is also pretty good, down to 1cm I think. It uses 4 A4 batteries, but you probably need two or three sets of batteries for a good day out taking pictures. It downloads 100 images onto the PC using firewire in a few minutes. Although this model is obsolete, it's Ok for me."

Canon A70

Olympus C770UZ digital camera (4 megapixels, 10X optical zoom and 3cm macro facility)

0391 Cocksfoot Moth
Glyphipterix simpliciella
Ware Park
© photo: Andrew Wood

0391 Cocksfoot Moth
Glyphipterix simpliciella
Ware Park
© photo: Andrew Wood

Panasonic Fz20

Additonal notes from Steve Lane. "Panasonic FZ20:- Digital compact, 5 megapixel, Leica 12x optical zoom f2.8 (36mm to 432mm old scale), 4 x digital zoom (48x total zoom), image stablizer, macro down to 5cm at 2x optical, video and sound recording, manual and auto focus. If anyone looking for a digital camera check this out before you buy, I can't recommend this highly enough."