Being only a few days away from hitting 4,000 iNaturalist submissions, I have been thinking too much about my options for cameras to use for iNaturalist submissions. Here I am putting what I have learned in one place so when I have more money I can remember what my best options are.
Superzoom Cameras
Superzooms are probably the best cameras for making iNaturalist submissions. Large zooms in a relatively small package lets them get pictures that you would otherwise miss. Even if a DSLR is your main camera, a pocket size superzoom to carry everywhere makes a lot of sense as a second camera. If they had GPS, a few of the 1" sensor superzoom cameras might make this list since they take nicer photos. Without GPS though they are too unwieldy to make sense for iNaturalist submissions with so many other good options out there. The following are the best superzoom cameras I could find for the application:
Tough Cameras:
Superzooms won't do much good if taking pictures in a rough environment. It is not even possible to buy a commercial underwater housing for one. If taking pictures in less than ideal conditions, these cameras should be considered:
Mirrorless Cameras:
While all are a step up from a cell phone, the previously mentioned cameras do not take particularly good photos. If trying to create better images, while still keeping a small package mirrorless cameras might make sense. Unfortunately, the lack of GPS in any of these cameras means none are particularly great choices for iNaturalist submissions. One of these cameras might make sense if you want a high end underwater camera in a smaller package than a DSLR:
DSLR Cameras:
If you want photos with top of the line image quality and don't mind the increased cost and size, a DSLR can't be beat. Unlike mirrorless cameras many have built in GPS, or easily purchased adapters making them a good choice for nature photography. Like mirrorless cameras, they may require lens changes if you are switching between telephoto and macro photos. This causes them to miss some opportunities which a superzoom could easily catch. If pricing one out, make sure to see what it will cost to get a telephoto and macro lens to go with it as the cost of lenses often exceeds the price of the camera:
Nikon 7200: Mid range DSLR with GPS modules readily available. Since it has a variety of options for
underwater housings it is likely a good choice for underwater
photography.
Sony A99V: Mid range DSLR with GPS. Lacks good options for underwater
photography but would likely be fine for any photography on land.
Pentax K-3II: Mid range DSLR with GPS. Lacks good options for underwater
photography but would likely be fine for any photography on land.
Comments
Thanks for the summary - very useful. I will certainly refer to it next year.
Btw, I think only the Canon 7D Mark II has GPS.
Now that you mention it, I linked the Canon 7D Mark II but neglected it here.
Looking at the Amazon page for the older 7D, it lists GPS as Optional. I think that means an external GPS can easily be made to work with it, but it might mean that you can order it with or without built in GPS.
This is a great list! Thank you for sharing. Exciting about your upcoming iNaturalist milestone :-)
I agree -- thank you so much for this great journal post! The past year or so, I've been using a Nikon coolpix p530, as it was the only camera I could really afford (about 400 bucks). But now that I've saved up a bit, I'm thinking of going to something a little better, although, I've become so comfortable with my current camera!
So, my question is this: when do you sacrifice 'comfort-ability' for your current camera to a risk of a 'updated' camera? :)
Whenever I can afford it? Really, once you learn one camera learning a second one will come much faster. This is particularly true if you stick with the same manufacturer.
Using a P530 isn't bad for iNaturalist submissions though. I doubt there are a lot of submissions you are missing because of your camera, it is more likely that you could end up with slightly better pictures with a better camera. Occasionally with hard to ID species that would mean the difference between getting an ID and not, but most the time it doesn't matter much.
To get an idea of what a new camera would mean, the Flickr camera's page is great: https://www.flickr.com/cameras/ I like to compare similar pictures such as of dragonflies on different cameras. For example, here are photos of dragonflies taken on a Nikon P530, to a P900 and a D7200:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=dragonfly&cm=nikon%2Fcoolpix_p530
https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=dragonfly&cm=nikon%2Fcoolpix_p900
https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=dragonfly&cm=nikon%2Fd7200
The more expensive cameras clearly are giving better images, but the quality out of the p530 is still quite a step up from the cell phones many people here are using and really isn't bad.
One thing that would be really nice upgrading from the p530 is GPS. I can't imagine going back to manually entering location data. I suppose a GPS logging app might make that relatively painless but built in GPS is just so easy.
I also use an HX400V and the 50x zoom is awesome for wildlife portraits from a safe distance. Macro is pretty awesome, too. GPS was one of my main must-have features and it works well. First time out for the day, it may take a few minutes to get GPS, but once it's primed, it typically has GPS available in under 10 sec.
With the Sony PlayMemories Mobile app on my iPhone, it's pretty easy and fast to get images from the camera to the phone for iNat upload. IIRC, you select images on the camera, use phone's WiFi setting to connect to the camera, start the upload on the camera, switch to the Sony app. Images appear in your Camera Roll, as well as a folder called PlayMemories Mobile. In the iNat app, when you go to select images to upload with your observations, you can select the PlayMemories folder (or Camera Roll).
In case it's not obvious to someone stumbling across this post - not necessarily a camera junkie (;-) - IMHO a camera like the HX400V will increase your shooting capabilities vs. your phone by orders of magnitude - instead of a little speck, you can get so much closer. (:-)
Add a Comment