Cameras?! Help!

[Marcus Nappy]

Looking into buying a pretty deece digital camera. Unfortunately, I know pretty much nothing about them aside from the face mega pixels and a good zoom are important. I also don't want to spend an arm and a leg on one either...

[xtremefx]

I have two cameras, a Canon A530 which I got off best mate in May last year, for free, a christmas/birthday present, which I had while travelling Eastern Europe for 24 days. It was fine, a good, decent little digital camera.

The end of last year I bought myself a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Relflex) Camera, I have wanted the Canon EOS 400D for a while, and so I bought it. I took it with me on my 9 week trip away for Christmas and New Year, it's a nice am/pro camera. I bought no extras, had the camera, lens which comes with, 2GB memory, charger, and I bought a case (£20/£30), in the end I found using the case was a hassle as I would have the camera, in the case, in my messenger bag, which would be against my laptop. I ended up leaving the case at a friends house in Feldafing, Germany. I am happy with my end photo's from both camera's. Being back in the UK I have bought a few extra's for my DSLR and being playing with them over here when I have gone for walks and the such. I am proceeding to get a backpack for my camera stuff, the battery grip and a bigger lens, all this costs the extra money, if you want a damn good camera which will last quite awhile.

The A530 is good, compact, and copes, my friend that gave it to me ended up buying himself one off ebay, because he couldn't be arsed lugging around his DSLR everywhere. their is a new A model, which I would probably recommend if you want something small,cheap and good quality, otherwise go for the am/pro route and stick with that for a few years.

my A530 takes two AA batteries, which I have USBcell ones, so I can recharge them through USB slot on my laptop, or through an everyday recharger.

But then again, their are so many options out there now, it's a hard choice, you have to think about memory cards, what are the more common option, cheapest. If you don't take your own computer, what is the more common card which will get accepted at photo shops. and blah blah blah

other people might tell of their cameras and choices, and help out, I just hope I have

Over all, I recommend getting a DSLR, keep it, learn it, practice like fuck with it, within a year or two, you can be using that camera to take pictures you can sell, as post cards, calendars.

[space virgin]

This may sound a little bitchy but I don't mean it that way, this is just something that I feel quite strongly about. So:

If you don't already know anything about cameras and/or you're not prepare to spend a lot of time and money learning do NOT go the DSLR route. It would be a colossal waste of money otherwise. Even an entry-level SLR camera (like the aforementioned Canon 400D/XTi, a good one btw) is way more than you need and it takes a lot more work to get a good photo out of a DSLR than a regular point & shoot camera. You'll end up keeping the damn thing on "AUTO" all the time and end up with the exact same pictures you would have gotten with a point & shoot that costs significantly less. Also, they're bigger, heavier, more fragile and way more conspicuous-- something to keep in mind.

On the other hand, if you've already learned about manual functions such as ISO, aperture, shutter speed, depth of field and how these all come together to properly capture a sharp photo AND you know how to read a histogram to judge exposure, then you'll get great shots from a DSLR and it would be worth the investment. I love both of mine. But since you're posting this question I get the feeling that may not be the case.

Side note: most [not all] kit lenses SUCK which is how they reel you in with a "beginner" DSLR kit... hence the need to spend $$$$ on better glass which is why a point & shoot ninja camera is way better for most people.

I am a Canon fan, both of my DSLRs are Canons and the PowerShot A-line is awesome. I have the A630 and it's fantastic-- the flip & swivel screen is wonderful-- but I've had great luck with 3 or 4 others from the A-series too. Troll craigslist for a deal, or you can pick up the new IS (image stabilizer) body for around $350. There are plenty of manual functions to learn more about the technical aspects of how to get really great photos, but it's also small enough and relatively cheap enough that you won't have to worry (as much) about breaking or losing it. If you're looking for good zoom, the Canon S5 is a good choice but may cost a little bit more. It's basically the same camera as the A-series only without the swivel screen and with more zoom. Optical zoom is what you want, NOT digital zoom-- digital zoom is worthless.

Also: FYI, more megapixels does NOT automatically mean better image quality. It's almost always a gimmick in consumer cameras to get people to keep forking out more money for the newest version of the same camera with the exact same sensor. Stick to the under-10 MP range-- preferably around 7-8 or so for better pictures. If you want me to go into the technical reasons for this I will be happy to explain it but otherwise I'll just leave it at that.

But all of that said, if you're really in the market for a DSLR and you're ready to plunk down the cash for it, here are a few tips:

1. It's almost always better to spend money on glass (lenses) instead of a newer camera body.
2. However, if you have a beginner-level DSLR body and you've pretty much exhausted its capabilities-- in Canon this would be the bodies that have 3 numerals and a D, such as "400D (XTi)" or 450D (XSi)" and in Nikon would be the D40 or D40x-- I would upgrade the body one jump before dumping a load of money into lenses. For Canon the second-tier of bodies-- the "pro-sumer" class-- are the 2 numerals +D such as 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, etc. and in Nikon it's the D70, D80, D90... etc. Yes, this gets confusing.
3. You *can* get decent photos out of a lens that cost $200 or less but it's not terribly likely. There are one or two very specific exceptions to this but it's pretty much universal: lenses under 300 bucks (new) are almost always not that great. Really good lenses-- the kind you need in order to actually be able to sell your photos if that's your goal-- are going to run you somewhere in the ballpark of $700 to $2k. EACH. Online lens rental companies are a godsend for this reason. And a really good camera bag is obviously going to be important.
4. There's an awful lot of junk out there, so do your research. I cannot stress this enough for any kind of photography equipment but especially with camera bodies and lenses. Read reviews. Reviews are your friend.
5. Shoot in RAW format, either in Manual ("M") or Aperture Priority ("Av") once you figure that out. Learn how to work with RAW. There will be times when it saves your ass.
6. Learn about depth of field and how to get a photo properly in focus. With a DSLR it's a lot harder than a point & shoot.

Good luck and let us know what you end up getting.

[Marcus Nappy]

Thank you both for your responses. I've decided to get a point and shoot. It really wasn't that hard of a decision ha ha, money played a large factor. I didn't want to spend a $1000 or so on a DSLR for my 1st camera you know

Right now Im looking at these cameras:

Canon PowerShot A2000 IS Digital Camera - Express Review - The Imaging Resource!

Canon PowerShot SX110 IS Digital Camera - Review - The Imaging Resource!

Nikon Coolpix L100 Digital Camera - Preview - The Imaging Resource!

[raoulduke]

I'd probably go with the A2000, unless you really want the extra zoom you'll regret not going with the most compact option later on.

Stick with Canon and you can't go wrong.

[xtremefx]

SV thanks for del's and thanks for helpin out a bit more than me, only so much an am. can say :D

[space virgin]

Both of the Canons will serve you well. Nikon makes AMAZING cameras for the most part but it's generally accepted that their point & shoots suck donkey balls.

I'd probably go with the SX110 IS but either will be great.

[mish99]

Originally Posted by space virgin

You'll end up keeping the damn thing on "AUTO" all the time and end up with the exact same pictures you would have gotten with a point & shoot that costs significantly less.

Omg, thats totally me!! My excuse is I was supposed to go on a course, but since I work 7 days a week I couldnt be bothered. But it is at the top of my list!! I also happen to be totally in love with my camera. Haha

[Marcus Nappy]

I was kinda leaning towards the SX110 IS myself. It has all the standard preset modes plus the ability to go fully manual. I figure it would be a nice beginner camera, with room for my knowledge to grow due to its manual mode. All of this leading up to the day I get a SLR of course! :P

[Canadian Bacon]

Not a big camera guy, but I'd just say Olympus cameras have great colour capture on them. First and second trips I had one, and even though it was crappy in low light, the vividness of my pictures was much better than a more expensive and higher megapixelage Sony camera.