Anderson
I have absolutely no experience with cameras or photograph one bit! Though as I get older I want to become more occupied with nice hobbies, and thought photography would be nice. There are just so many images to capture and keep. I have no interest in some point and shoot camera to take pictures of parties and that stupid nonsense. I want a camera to capture vacations, locations, buildings, nature, animals, and so on. My main question is whether it would be impulsive to go out and buy a cheap, maybe $100-200 dollar dslr digital camera and begin from there. Is that impulsive? Should I take classes and learn more before simply buying a cheap dslr camera?
Answer
Yes and No
Buy a camera lens package if you can affford it.
Search for an inexpensive certified and inspected used DSLR from a dealer.
My first 35mm canon eos auto focus camera body was ordered from a magazine for $150
If you can afford the lenses and flash you may consider a camera body that costs $500
Yes and No
Buy a camera lens package if you can affford it.
Search for an inexpensive certified and inspected used DSLR from a dealer.
My first 35mm canon eos auto focus camera body was ordered from a magazine for $150
If you can afford the lenses and flash you may consider a camera body that costs $500
What camera features are most important to get good quality photos?
Adrianne
I'm hoping not to spend a lot, maybe something in the $300-or-less range, but I want a new camera for family and around-the-house photos. I have my little Olympus that's compact/waterproof/shockproof/etc. which is great for photos on-the-go when I'm out, but we're expecting a baby and I want better quality photos that what my current camera can do to capture the early years.
I'm hoping for something pretty well dummy-proof - I'm no pro photographer. :) I just need to know which features to look for (and if you have a specific model recommendation, that's great too) so that when I go to comparison-shop, I understand which features are most important and translate to the best quality photos. Like, you see pictures from multiple people from a wedding, for example, and even though they're all basically the same shot of the same event, someone's camera just takes WAY better pictures. I want to own THAT camera. LOL! Now how do I find it?
Any help is much-appreciated!!
$300 is what I can sell my husband on. If a good quality camera is going to be more, then I just have to have a really good argument. :)
The reason I have it in my head that the camera makes such a big difference is when my sister brings her big old Olympus over (it's 4.0 megapixels - top of the line about a decade ago, LOL) I can take fantastic photos with it, especially in natural light. She paid $400 for it back when digital cameras were first available. My camera (a P & S Olympus that I paid around $250 for) doesn't come anywhere close to the quality, even with more than double the megapixels, and doesn't handle sunshine that well either. I want what she has - but she doesn't know anything about cameras either, she just lucked out that it takes such great shots!
Just figured someone else would know more about what I should be shopping for. :) Thanks for the input - and any more suggestions are definitely welcome!!
Answer
You could get a used DSLR for $300:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_PRICE_2%7C0&ci=15488&N=4294182649
I would stick with a condition rating of 8 or better but the Canon Rebel at a 7 might not be bad. I would just call them and ask about what the condition is specifically. And keep in mind that a 6MP DSLR is better in every way than a 12MP compact.
But the big question is, do you want a DSLR? They are bigger and heavier. You either need more than one lens to cover the same range you can get with a compact, or you need a bigger, heavier and more expensive lens that still only delivers about 18mm to 250mm. That is an impressive range, but you can get 24-560mm or so in a compact. I love my DSLR and don't see myself using a compact, but DSLRs aren't for everyone. It is definitely something to think about.
I would suggest you skip the simple compacts if you really want a quality camera for photographing your new baby. Besides, you already have one in the Olympus. My suggestion would be a bridge camera which has the funtionality of a DSLR but in a smaller package. These cameras can get pretty expenseve too, so you might want to adjust your budget, like fhotoace suggested to about $400. That really gives you a lot of options for a nice camera.
As to what is important, manual and semi-manual controls are very important. Manual, shutter priority and aperture priority allow you to take control. There are scene modes, like portrait mode, but these are completely automatic and use a set standard of settings that you can't change. So you have no control over depth of field. With aperture priority you can change the aperture and alter the depth of field. With shutter priority, you can choose a long shutter speed to blur motion or water and it is difficult to do that with only automatic controls. And manual focus is a must for options. Auto-focus has its advantages but I like having the option of manual focus too.
I would want a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8 which gives you better low-light capabilities and more options on restricting depth of field. You will actually have a range for this and you want the higher of the two numbers to be as low as possible as well. So with a long zoom range like most bridge cameras have, a max aperture range of f/2.8-f/5.6 would be very good.
Those are the deal-breakers for me. Without those options I wouldn't be interested. The following features are just extra:
-Image stabilization-gives you more hand-held shooting ability.
-Zoom range of at least 28mm-200mm-gives you the ability to shoot just about everything.
-Minimum shutter speed of at least 15 seconds, but 30 seconds would be better and allow shooting light trails. The bulb setting is also nice to have.
-Maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 which you may need when using a very large aperture on a very bright day.
-An uncompressed format like TIFF or RAW which gives you higher quality files
-External flash capable
A few things that don't really matter:
-Digital zoom-it is completely useless, just forget that its there
-How many MP-8MP, 10MP, 12MP, it doesn't really make a huge difference, the big tradeoff is that you might get more resolution with more MP but you also get more noise so how many MP is something that I wouldn't worry about-choose the camera based on the other features.
Try this features search:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
One other thing I will say, it isn't the camera that makes a great photo. Obviously the camera is important. If it weren't we wouldn't be spending thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses. But no matter how nice a camera is, if the photographer doesn't know how to use it, they won't get any better results than if they used a disposable camera.
I can guarantee the photos you mention where they are taken of the same event but some are just so much better than others, those were taken by people who know how to use their cameras and who have at least a fundamental knowledge of the technical side of photography.
Photography isn't just an art, it is also a science and you have to spend some time learning the science no matter how talented you are artistically. Study exposure and depth of field. Also learn how to use the meter in your camera. If you put in the time to learn you will see an improvement no matter which camera you are using.
You could get a used DSLR for $300:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_PRICE_2%7C0&ci=15488&N=4294182649
I would stick with a condition rating of 8 or better but the Canon Rebel at a 7 might not be bad. I would just call them and ask about what the condition is specifically. And keep in mind that a 6MP DSLR is better in every way than a 12MP compact.
But the big question is, do you want a DSLR? They are bigger and heavier. You either need more than one lens to cover the same range you can get with a compact, or you need a bigger, heavier and more expensive lens that still only delivers about 18mm to 250mm. That is an impressive range, but you can get 24-560mm or so in a compact. I love my DSLR and don't see myself using a compact, but DSLRs aren't for everyone. It is definitely something to think about.
I would suggest you skip the simple compacts if you really want a quality camera for photographing your new baby. Besides, you already have one in the Olympus. My suggestion would be a bridge camera which has the funtionality of a DSLR but in a smaller package. These cameras can get pretty expenseve too, so you might want to adjust your budget, like fhotoace suggested to about $400. That really gives you a lot of options for a nice camera.
As to what is important, manual and semi-manual controls are very important. Manual, shutter priority and aperture priority allow you to take control. There are scene modes, like portrait mode, but these are completely automatic and use a set standard of settings that you can't change. So you have no control over depth of field. With aperture priority you can change the aperture and alter the depth of field. With shutter priority, you can choose a long shutter speed to blur motion or water and it is difficult to do that with only automatic controls. And manual focus is a must for options. Auto-focus has its advantages but I like having the option of manual focus too.
I would want a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8 which gives you better low-light capabilities and more options on restricting depth of field. You will actually have a range for this and you want the higher of the two numbers to be as low as possible as well. So with a long zoom range like most bridge cameras have, a max aperture range of f/2.8-f/5.6 would be very good.
Those are the deal-breakers for me. Without those options I wouldn't be interested. The following features are just extra:
-Image stabilization-gives you more hand-held shooting ability.
-Zoom range of at least 28mm-200mm-gives you the ability to shoot just about everything.
-Minimum shutter speed of at least 15 seconds, but 30 seconds would be better and allow shooting light trails. The bulb setting is also nice to have.
-Maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 which you may need when using a very large aperture on a very bright day.
-An uncompressed format like TIFF or RAW which gives you higher quality files
-External flash capable
A few things that don't really matter:
-Digital zoom-it is completely useless, just forget that its there
-How many MP-8MP, 10MP, 12MP, it doesn't really make a huge difference, the big tradeoff is that you might get more resolution with more MP but you also get more noise so how many MP is something that I wouldn't worry about-choose the camera based on the other features.
Try this features search:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
One other thing I will say, it isn't the camera that makes a great photo. Obviously the camera is important. If it weren't we wouldn't be spending thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses. But no matter how nice a camera is, if the photographer doesn't know how to use it, they won't get any better results than if they used a disposable camera.
I can guarantee the photos you mention where they are taken of the same event but some are just so much better than others, those were taken by people who know how to use their cameras and who have at least a fundamental knowledge of the technical side of photography.
Photography isn't just an art, it is also a science and you have to spend some time learning the science no matter how talented you are artistically. Study exposure and depth of field. Also learn how to use the meter in your camera. If you put in the time to learn you will see an improvement no matter which camera you are using.
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