Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Used DSLR Camera Recommendations For Firearms

I have a collection of firearms that I need to start selling. I'd like to buy a camera that will provide good close-up photos for prospective buyers. This camera would also be used for general family, vacation, hunting, wildlife photos.
I see plenty of used cameras in my visits to pawn shops while looking for firearms. Canons and Nikons are common.
Do any of you guys have a suggestion for what may be a good choice? For many years I used a Minolta SRT 101 that I liked and still have, but it is of course not digital and now not the right tool for the job.

Thanks for any help,
Fenton

price range?

I d give Doung at camerland a call.

BH photo sometimes sell used.

Id go mirrorless canon but I have all cannon lenses now

With regards to listing the guns, the key to making good pictures is to buy and use a tripod and use the time and macro feature on whatever camera you choose. I use a Fugi probably over 10 years old and have been told it produces nice results.

Price range wise, I'd be happy if I could get something in the $400-$500 range, but I don't know if that's realistic. I'm no pro, just looking for something affordable that will produce nice clear "up close" photos of firearms for sale. You know, the kind we all like to see but often don't get.

Good example here of what I'd consider a quality photo. Thank you OlRufus.
Fenton

Call Cameraland, but ask for Joel. Doug is the Sporting Optics guy while his brother does the Photography side.

Based on your criteria

wouldn't bother with a DSLR and get a camera like this. Takes great pics, good quality video much more portable

https://www.amazon.com/PANASONIC-DC-ZS70S-Megapixel-Flip-front-VARIO-ELMAR/dp/B06ZXRB449/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1RP2PZHKWEQSB&keywords=lumix&qid=1650473499&sprefix=lumix%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-4&th=1



again Cameraland great customer service and they will match prices. l is fun to chat with

So you're looking for a camera while you're at pawn shops looking for firearms so you can sell off your firearms?

Ha! Yeah I know that doesn't make much sense. For 29 years I worked as an outside salesman traveling to many towns regularly visiting my customers. Over those years I learned where every gun store and pawn shop was located in each town. I would stop in those shops regularly and bought guns that interested me. I've always been amazed at how many firearms I bought that are 30-70 years old and look like they've had little or no use. Many I've had for 12-15 years and I have not even had a chance to shoot them yet because I was always too busy with work and family. My plan was to wait until I retire and then shoot them and hunt some and decide which ones I truly like and want to keep and sell the others. Well, I retired on 1/1/2022 so now that process is beginning.
You guys helped turn me into a "rifle looney" and I just could not resist buying these guns when prices were affordable.

Fenton

The cameras on todays cell phones will do fine. What makes the difference is lighting, composition and editing.

Minimize shadows.

Use a contrasting background that doesn't steal attention.

Use an editing program to control shadows, contrast, highlights and lens errors.

If you could see what lightroom can do with a raw file you'd be uber surprised.

With all of that said, I have a k5 Pentax, D800 nikon and a Sony RX100-4.....all of which are waaaaay more than necessary but produce fantastic images.

The magic is after the correctly composed a d lighted shot goes to editing.

I've thought about using a cell phone. My iPhone 5s is old but still works fine. The cost to upgrade to a newer iPhone with a better camera might be the right way to go. That would get me a better updated phone and probably take care of much of my camera needs (maybe?). Thank you for your suggestions.

Fenton

Lighting and background are the two biggest picture mistakes I see.

Not direct light, but not in the shadows. Outside on an overcast day is good.

For background, don’t throw it on a white sheet. That jacks with the camera, it thinks everything is too bright, adjusts everything down, resulting in not being able to see the gun. This can all be overcome with manual manipulation, but why bother. Just use a background similar in color to the gun, or at least not white.

good point

With the exception of wildlife images, I'd be inclined to stick with a phone.

If one is truly considering wildlife images, he's getting into $megabucks$.

wanna borrow a fence post ?

Marlin 45 Colt......2007 round barrel

Oh dear..... may start another 30-06 vs. 270 discussion....

If you want a DSLR, then something like the Canon T6i or 77D is a good choice. It will be important to get a lens that will focus close in. Some do better than others. If you want to get really close, then you need a macro lens, but that is going to boost the price. I use a Laowa 100mm macro, and that will fill the frame with an area half the size of a dime. A cheap alternative is a close up lens attachment that you can pick up on Ebay for about $15. Image crispness is not as good, but it does the job if you stop down to f8 or so.

For vacation and family pictures, the little 18-55mm that comes with most Canon models is good enough. If you want to do some serious photography, you'll end up spending more on lenses than you did on the camera. Very useful additions to the kit are the Canon 50mm f1.8 "nifty fifty", which is great for low light and for mug shots, and the Canon 55-250mm which is an outstanding value in a telephoto lens. I've bought 50s for as little as $80, and 55-250s for around $125, used. Do be sure to get the most recent STM version if you go for either of those.

The current trend is away from DSLRs, and toward mirrorless cameras. I have a little Canon M6 Mark ii, and use it more than any other camera I have. It's little, and the image quality is fantastic. With an adapter, it can use all my DSLR lenses. With a small lens, it will fit in an overcoat pocket. It's a brilliant camera, fully the equal of my Canon 90D, which is top of the line for APS-C cameras.

The next solution down the ladder is a little pocket camera with built in zoom, but no ability to change lenses. If you aren't going to spring for additional DSLR lenses, the DSLR has little advantage over these. Image quality is better than phone cameras, and the zoom lens makes it much more useful than phone cameras. I recently picked up a Canon SX600 for my granddaughter who is going on a long trip. It's a neat little camera. It's small and won't be a burden to carry, and it has built-in wifi so you can upload directly to your phone or Canon's online image service.

Phone cameras tend toward wide angle lenses, which will distort close up images. And the resolution isn't as good as the pocket camera listed above. Still, they work fine, especially if you follow the counsel to use nice diffuse light, and keep the background simple, which is good advice with any camera.

Some people are megapixel crazy. More megapixels must be better. It's not necessarily so. Image sharpness will be limited by the lowest resolution item in the image chain. If your lens isn't sharp, more megapixels doesn't count. If your lens is brilliantly sharp, adding more lens sharpness will not compensate for a low megapixel sensor. If you are looking at images on a monitor, the resolution of the monitor is likely less than either the lens or the sensor, so the monitor will limit the sharpness. Anything from about 18 megapixels on up will serve you well. A 24 megapixel sensor limits out at around 30"x45" print size, just for an example.

I'm good on fence posts, it's a camera I need :-)
Nice pic (and rifle).

Canon Rebel T6 is what I use....

Lenses switch quick

Tikkanut posts some great photos here, and the T6 is a real workhorse. It's 18 megapixels, which is plenty if you are using decent optics. Search for his posts, and you'll get an idea what the camera can do, which is a lot. If you get serious about it, you'll spend more on lenses than you did on your camera.

Here's a quick picture using the Canon 77D and stock 18-55mm lens. It gets in close enough. The Image Gallery here seriously shrinks and compresses photos. I almost refuse to use the feature. The original is definitely sharper, but this is OK for a lot of purposes.



Depth of field is shallow. That would be improved by using a tripod, closing the aperture down a bit, and going for a longer shutter speed.