What camera do you RVer's use?

bobkatmsu - For $1,000 you can get a Nikon D5500 with the 18-55 kit lense + 55-200mm medium telephoto. You can stop there or if you want a really nice low light lens you can get the 35mm f1.8. I have this exact same set up. Plus I have 4 other older SLR high quality cameras. And I have the latest iPhone.

You said you will be heading to Alaska. For that you should have a good landscape camera and the ability to take shots from wide angle to get all the mountains in, to telephoto to catch a shot of Eagles or bears. You need to be able to do that with optics and not an iPhone or similar smart phone. I have an iPhone. It is great for people shots, video, and some landscape shots. But to get great pictures you need an interchangeable lens DSLR. Nikon and Canon are the most common ones. I know Nikon but do not know Canon. I personally think the Nikon D5500 is a stelar light DSLR. Maybe Canon has one as good. I don't know.

Pocket cameras have similar limitations to iPhones. Tiny sensor.

I have looked at all the latest cameras and could afford to spend 3 times what I spent on the D5500. I am not trading it in until Nikon comes up with a successor that is a lot better.

bobkatmsu wrote:
Not exactly a RV question, but we will be retiring next year and heading out in our RV for 6-8 months at a time. Heading to Alaska in 2018. RVer's know equipment. I want to buy my wife a nice camera for our trips. Budget, about $1000. What suggestions do you have?

when I want to take real photos (not iphone snaps) I use a Nikon D-3000. the upgrade models to the D-3000 now take full motion HD video as well.

I have a Pentax DSLR (K-5). I chose Pentax because, at the time I was first buying, there were some lenses available in that mount that were not available in other mounts.

Many cameras, not just DSLRs, are available that take very good pictures in good light. In low light situations, DSLRs and other cameras with large sensors will invariably outperform cameras with tiny sensors (cell phones and point-and-shoot cameras) simply because the larger sensor and lens collects more of the limited light available. It's a simple question of physics; collecting more photons gives more fidelity to the image. The larger sensor cameras also generally have better dynamic range--that is, they can capture both bright and dark areas without the bright areas being washed out/clipped and the dark areas completely black.

If interested in a DSLR or similar interchangeable lens camera, I would suggest spending the money on good lenses and a more basic body rather than the other way around.

Unless your wife is a professional photographer, a $1000 camera is probably a waste. On top of that, it will be much harder to use if she is an amateur (and it will be more likely to be stolen).

I used to use a good quality 35 mm, SLR camera, but my $200 Nikon takes as good of pictures and fits in my pocket. Do get a large memory chip (the chip I bought holds over 500 pictures).

"bobkatmsu"....You really need to find out how involved in photography your wife will want to be. When I was younger, I had a 35mm Canon AE1 with several lenses and thought I would be quite the photographer. It was good for camping and taking pictures as the kids grew up.

Now you can get a nice digital camera that will fit in your shirt pocket that will take higher quality pictures than some of the older 35's.

We still take a lot of photos, but prefer to just carry around a nice pocket size digital that can zoom, do close ups, panorama shots, video and has a timer, all for about $200.00. I just don't want to carry all the gear anymore, something you need to see how your wife wants to do.

I have 7 Pentax SLRs and 14 lenses from fish-eye to 800mm telephoto so I went with a Pentax DSLR so all my lenses could still be used. It has been more thab 2 years now and I still feel good about it. I do have 150 film cameras from 1893 Cycle Poco (4X5), to eberything down to Minox. If ou can use any of the old stuff keep that in your choices.

DutchmanSport sounds like the old me,trudging around with a big Nikon or Canon with an assortment of lenses,filters,extensions,meters ad nauseum. I think my camera bag weighed slightly more than my first-born when he was twelve.Now,in addition to my Samsung 7 phone,my go-to cameras are a Lieca D-Lux5 and a D-Lux6. These are small,light,easy to use,incredibly fast and have the best lenses and electronics made. They are not cheap,but you will never be sorry that you bought one. You can also stick it in your pocket.They are great for taking candid pictures without getting punched in the nose. The light gathering ability is astounding. I rarely use a flash. Night shots of stars and constellations are a piece of cake,without a tripod. I believe that these are the best,non-professional cameras you can buy.

Apple I-Phone 6 plus, the camera is outstanding!

I am into nature photography and use both a dslr and a point and shoot. For folks that want to take great photos of scenery and wildlife I really recommend the Canon SX60 superzoom. A relatively light-weight camera, compared to a dslr, with an incredible 1350mm zoom lens. You will get some amazing close ups of wildlife. Be sure to also get either a monopod or tripod. Check out some of the photos in my Flickr albums:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/121951825@N07/albums

I went from a Minolta X-700 that had inter changeable lenses from wide angle to super telescoping, with filters and flash and tripods and the entire works, that used 35mm film, to a Canon digital eventually.

Then came the advent of the I-phone. This old school, die hard, gotta control every photo with F-stop, shutter speed, and speed of film, rolled over and now it's simply point and shoot with digital on my I-phone. Much cheaper, always have my phone with me, and everything gets digitized anyway. Long gone are the days of paper photos.

I have volumes of old photo albums taking up space with paper photos. Paper takes a LOT of space. I've digitized almost every photo I've ever taken, have them on this lap top I'm typing from right now and 2 back up on 2 different external hard drives from my computer.

Space is a big factor in your camper. So if using photo equipment, digital is the way to go. Besides with digital, you can post photos on the internet and send with Email to family and friends. No one seems to use paper any more.

So if you have an Iphone with a camera, ... well... there ya go!

Now, if you want get into more professional photography, then you can get a digital camera with all the bells and whistles. But if on a budget, use your phone!

The photo in my signature block was taken with a Samsung Galaxy 4, edited on my computer with "Paint", and uploaded to RV.net for the signature block.

I use PhotoBucket.com for uploading photos to post in places like ... this!