What type of camera should i get?

sunshine

I want a camera to take pictures of myself and scenery.
But i don't know which one i should get on my birthday.
I either want a Nikon or a Canon.
I don't want anything over $2,000. My mom wont buy that lol.
And if you do know me can you tell me what type of Nikon or Canon.
thank you for all the advice :}

Answer
Hey there! From the type of camera you're wanting, and a 2000$ price range ( lucky!) you should get a dSLR. The great thing about dSLR's is that they can change lenses, and that they have a sensor size that is 6x bigger than a regular compact camera.

Some basics that you should know before buying a lens:
->It isn't the camera that always makes the best picture, it depends way more on the lens.

-> Megapixels don't really mean much. It will only make a difference depending on how big of pictures you're printing. 6 MP is perfect up until 8.5x11" (standard paper size)

-> Some cameras are better than others in different regions of photography. For example, some are better at sports, others at macro, and others at portraits.

You have so many choices that you can make! Here i'll put the best BEGINNER cameras. After, i'll try and show your options like, getting which lenses, and matching which camera, with reviews from various sites. OK, here we go:P

You have...
-> Canon XSi (640)
->The Canon Rebel XS. ($500)
->Canon Rebel XTi ($600)
->Nikon D40 ($450)
->Nikon D60 ($550)
All of these prices come from Amazon.com.
--------------------------------------...
I'm going to briefly describe each of these cameras

Canon XSi: 12.2 MP. Live View, Self Cleaning sensor, 3.5 FPS, low noise at high ISO.

Canon Rebel XS : 10 MP, Live View, Self Cleaning Sensor, 3 FPS.

Canon Rebel XTi: 10 MP, Sensor Cleaning, 3FPS, No live view.

Nikon D40: 6 MP, 2.5 FPS, HELP menu system (great for beginners!), Lightest out of the ones listed here.

Nikon D60: 10 MP, 3 FPS, Sensor Cleaning.

Note, all of these cameras here come bundled with a lens.

My recommendations: Don't look at megapixels. All they mean is how big you can print your photo while keeping the quality the same. 6 MP will be enough to print amazing full page photos, so do not think that 6mp isn't enough.

Also, make sure you go to a nearby electronic store, and try out these cameras! Get a feel for them, go through the menus...see how it would feel for you.
...The best camera, is a camera that matches you...
Would you want to buy a camera with amazing features, but is confusing, uncomfortable, and frustrating?

As you can see here, the cameras listed are BEGINNER ones. They are really cheap, but still take great pictures. If you were to get one of these cameras (I recommend the XSi, from canon). It costs 640$ on amazon. THEN, i would totally recommend some kind of better lens. You could also just get the camera by itself (590) and buy lenses separately.

So now, i'll show the 4 main options for more professional cameras. I'm only doing this because you have a a good amount of money to spend.

Nikon D90 vs Nikon D300 vs Canon EOS 50D vs Canon EOS 40D.

Nikon D90(1150$, with lens) -> 12 MP, 4.5 FPS, Records Video, 3" LCD, Live View.
Nikon D300(1750$ with lens) -> 12 MP, 6 FPS, 3" LCD, Live View.
Canon EOS 50D (1400$ with lens)-> 15 MP, 6.3 FPS, 3" LCD, Live view
Canon Eos 40D (1050$ with lens)-> 10 MP, 6.5 FPS, 3" LCD, Live view.

The lenses included with these cameras are around 18-135mm. This means you can shoot landscapes and a pretty good range of zoom for portraits etc. The camera i would personally recommend for you would be the D90 (Because it is the cheapest), and it has video. The other cameras here are more for...professionals.

A site that reviews all of these cameras, is here: http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/50D_vs_40D_vs_D300_vs_D90.html

Having said all of this, you don't need one of the more expensive cameras i put here. I would recommend either the Canon XSi or the Nikon D90, as they both have amazing reviews from many people around, but they are great for beginners. The Nikon D90 would be good for you, because you have the money to get it.

Why the Nikon d90? Well, it has video, and is still amazing at photography. For the price i listed (1150$) It comes with an 18-105mm lens. 18 is great for landscapes, while 50 is mainly for portraits. The good thing about this lens is that it has a wide range, so you can shoot landscape-portraits-sports. However, this lens wouldnt be considered a sports lens.

If all you're planning to just shoot portraits and scenery, i would recommend these lenses:

-> The Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF. This one has a low aperture (1.8) meaning that it captures light faster. This is IDEAL for shooting in low light conditions, because it will reduce the chance of blur. This lens costs $130 dollars on Amazon.com, which is a STEAL, because it takes such sharp pictures. http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LEN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1237121119&sr=8-1

-> If you just want to get a complete, all around lens that you can take anywhere, get the Nikon 18-200mm. This thing does EVERYTHING, and it has VR (vibration reduction, so your images wont be as blurred if you shake the camera). However, it costs $699. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000BY52NU/ref=pd_luc_mri?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

->If you want something like the 18-200 nikon lens, you can go for the 18-200 Sigma lens. It only costs $400 dollars, but performs nearly as good as that one. If you want more bang for the buck, get this lens. This one also has an image stabilizer (OS which stands for Optical Stabilization) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000NOSCGW/ref=pd_luc_mri?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

My recommendations for you would be...get the Nikon D90 (body only) for 900$. Then, get the Nikon 50mm(130$), and the Sigma 18-200 (400$). This will total up to $1430, and you get a great all around lens, and an amazing portrait lens, for shooting in low light.

If you dont need the 18-200, stay with the kit lens (the 18-105) and get the 50mm. This will make your total $1300.

Here is the Nikon D90 (body only) http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D90-12-3MP-Digital-Body/dp/B001ET5U92/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1237122317&sr=1-1

Here it is with the lens included http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D90-Digital-18-105mm-3-5-5-6G/dp/B001ENOZY4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1237122317&sr=1-2

If all of this was too much, then just get the Nikon D90 with the kit lens. It'll still get the job done well.

Good Luck, and even though my answer was really long, i hope it helps.

What would be the best type of camera (under $1000 please) and lens for taking portraits?

audralynn

I plan on minoring in photography and I want to get a head start on taking pictures of people but I have no idea on what kind of lenses and camera I would need to do that...Help would be appreciated!

Answer
If you have a serious professional interest and about $1000, you can start out with either a Canon or Nikon DSLR - you really should check dpreview.com, cameralabs.com and other serious reviews of recent models. The "kit lens" that comes with either will not be good enough for very long, and you should review the course outlines to see what lenses you might need for each.

I suggest you try to handle and go into the menu systems for Canon and Nikon models, because the feel and the preference for the user interface is personal, and once you start with one or the other it's expensive and a major learning curve to change. Both can make professional quality images.

If you are very sure about doing studio portrait photography, you might want to forget the "kit lens" and just buy a good camera body and a professional quality 50mm "prime lens" which will not be adjustable but will provide beautiful images. My guess is that a "minor in photography" will require more versatility than just one lens.

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What type of camera should I be getting?

best type of camera lens for portraits image

Etnie

I'm really into photography and I have the money to buy a pretty nice camera. Nothing like 2,000 dollars or anything, but I want to know what type of camera would be good with taking action shots like skateboarding or alot of movement, but also takes really nice portrait pictures too. Help please! :)

Answer
Get yourself a 35 mm, SLR (Single Lens Reflex) film camera.
A Canon EOS Rebel will do what you want for about $400.00 and it is both automatic as well as manual.
For the sports shots you want; you have to get a fast film, and preferably a fast lens, (about another $400.00) but the lens that does come with the camera should do the job you want quite adequatly.
Use an film speed with an ISO of 800 and for dusk scenes an ISO of 1600 should do. The 800 ISO can be purchased in many stores, but the 1600 ISO has to be bought from a camera shop. But not one that is a franchise like Blacks or Wal Mart. The independant camera stores will be more likely to stock those fast films.
You can get a 3200 ISO film as well but it only comes in black and white and I think that only Kodak makes it.(it's a really fast film, you can take night scenes with that one!)
The 800 & 1600 ISO film can be bought in colour film and I would suggest Fujicolour for colour film but Kodak for all your black and white films.
For your portraiture photos use a slow speed film of 100 or 200 ISO.
You can get as low as 24 ISO in black and white film and that gives you an extreme amount of detail. However the lower your ISO the more light you will need to use it! Okay?
The higher your ISO the less light you will need.
The higher the film speed the more grainy your negatives will be, hence you will have grainier photos than a film speed of 100 ISO.
The Canon EOS is the most common SLR the students of photography buy. It's a good strong camera and it does take good photos. It can be geared to work with a fast film to take action photos like the skateboarders you want to catch.
All the best to you in your endeavours.
EDIT: A lot of the youth today go with the digital cameras but I would caution against that. Although film looks like it is going out of style I can assure you that it will be around for a very long time. Digital cannot compare with a film speed of 800 or 400 ISO and it will be decades before they produce a digital camera that can come close to the quality of an 400 ISO film. Although the digitals give you immediate gratification it loses out in quality. Film may be more expensive in the short run but in the long run? It is the best choice.

What type of Camera do professional photographers use?

Hope

What type of cameras do they use to take pictures for magazines?

Answer
Professional photographers use different cameras depending on what the images are going to be used for.
Magazines publish editorial pieces, landscapes and scenes, portraits, models, fashion, news items, travel photos, adversing and architectural photos - and that is just the GENERAL magazines.

In general, studio photos are set up using medium format cameras, and so are many architectural photos. Some pros prefer large format cameras, too. These are film and , increasingly, digital cameras producing very large extremely detailed images. They are expensive - a recently released digital medium format camera is about $10,000 with one lens, but that is the cheapest- until theis camera came along, you needed $30,000 to buy one, and most are much more. These cameras lend themselves to careful, methodical work; they are no use to the paparazzi and sports photographers.

The staff photographer on a magazine or newspaper is generally equipped with a full frame digital single lens reflex. Two brands dominate -Canon and Nikon, and the arguments about the relative merits of each are endless. These cameras cost between $3000 and $9000 depending on model. They are versatile, high performance tools and you will see them at sporting events and fashion shows, weddings, news events.... they are the workhorses of photography. The huge investment that their owners have in lenses and accessories means that photographers and the companies that employ them, do not change brands just because a "better camera" comes along.

Many magazines do not employ or even hire photographers. Nor do they buy from freelancers. They get their photographs from Image Libraries (stock photos). The biggest and most respected of these stock libraries list the cameras from which they will accept images. The last list I have seen from Getty's is certainly out of date, since at several; of the cameras on it have been superseded and there are many more highly specified cameras in the marketplace, but it gives you an idea of what is acceptable:

" Canon EOS: 1D(Mk1,2&3), 1DS(Mk1,2,2n&3) 5D, 30D and 40D; Nikon: D2X, D2Xs, D3, D200, D300 and the Leica M8. All medium format backs (e.g. backs by Phase One and Leaf etc) produce sufficiently high quality images to be accepted by us." That was in 2007, and there doesn't seem to be an updated list on their site, although in 2009 they announced that they would accept images from a compact camera for the first time - the Leica M9.

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What type of a camera lens would you recommend for taking outdoor portraits?

best type of camera lens for portraits image

Someone

I'm doing a shoot with my friend, and I own a Canon Rebel XSi.

I have a 50mm f/1.8 and the kit lens (18-55mm).

I'm thinking to use the 50mm, but are there any ones I should try out? I have money to get a new lens.

Answer
Yep the 50mm f/1.8 you already have its great for outdoor portraits. But if you want to get another lens for portraits the best option are fixed lenses because they tend to be sharper than zoom lenses. Also another advantage of using fixed lenses is that you get more creative because you are forced to step close or farther when trying to recompose your image, and you can get nice photos trying new angles and distances. Some photographers seem to anchor themselves to one spot when they have a zoom lens.

I for example, use the macro 2.8 L USM IS lens for outdoor portraits. I actually use that lens all the time, i just love it. Its great for portrait and macro and also i can get really cool macro shots from the face.

But you will learn that depening on the lens you get you will take different types of pictures. A wide angle lens will give you another bizarre point of view for portraits. I mean it all depends on what tyoe of portraits you want to do. Just image and decide which lens you want to work with.

My list of great portrait lenses.
macro 100 mm L USM IS
28-70mm
70-200mm
50mm 1.4 or 1.2
the 85mm one its amazing too

havea great day

Can anyone recommend a camera that a beginner can produce pretty professional pics with?

Jessica G

I've never used anything more than a snapshot type camera! I need to produce some photos that look as professional as possible. The photos are of models and clothes and accessories.
Please can you recommend a camera that's easy to use and will produce professional results? Budget as low as possible, not exceeding £450 second hand...Thankyou!

Answer
Take a look at this video of a photo shoot.http://fstoppers.com/iphone/ Shot with an iPhone and a bunch of talented people.

Don't take the "any camera will do" too seriously. There was a lot of expensive work to make the images look like they do. What you should take from this is that it is not the camera that produces the image. It is the photographer.

Also while the images are striking the quality is just passable. OK for the resolution displayed on the WEB. You can see the noise in the images (look at the backgrounds) and the images are a bit soft. The images have been heavily professional retouched. So what you are seeing for skin tones are not quite real.

The sensor in the iPhone is not that bad. But it needs a lot of light and the noise level is a bit high. But it is a phone. Better to start with a clean image from a good camera. This may look good on the web but it would not work in print.

This was a nice experiment but really you couldn't use that for real pro use. But it shows you that the camera is not the most important part to get great images. Remember the extra people that had a hand in making the images look good.

You need good lighting. Composition. A professional camera does not produce professional photography. The photographer does. Yes it is desirable to shoot with a professional camera but if you give a good photographer the original Canon digital Rebel SLR you can still get great results.

**** But to answer your question. I would recommend a Canon 30D and a 50mm f1.8 lens. A 40D would be a little nicer but the images will not be noticably better. The 30D camera new was $2000. Now you can get it for a fifth of that.

Stay away from Point & Shoot cameras. They will not give you what you need. Sensors on DSLRs are so much bigger (physically bigger not just number of mega-pixels) and will give you a cleaner image. A good photographer could make good enough images with one but you need a lot more powerful lighting equipment and that will cost more in the end than having gone for the DSLR.

The 30D and the 40D are metal framed cameras rather than plastic as in the Rebel series. These were semi-pro cameras that a lot of professional photographers also used. (don't buy one if it was used by a professional photographer as it would have seen some hard use) They also had shutters with a design life of 100,000 shots.

The other important factor is the lens. The 50mm f1.8 is a very good lens available at a low cost. Great for portraits. A 50mm f1.4 would be great but it will cost much more money. The best bang for the buck is the 50mm f1.8.

The 30D and a 50mm f1.8 can be had in your buget range. I bought one recently (body without lens as a backup camera) for $350 CDN (almost the same as the USD now). The previous owner was selling his 30D and 40D since he had just upgraded to a 50D(or was it 7D, I forget). The 30D had little use (since he had upgraded to the 40D). I didn't want to spend much more for the 40D since it would not give me better image quality. (it does have some other nice features I do like though)

The 50mm f1.8 costs about $100 new. I don't know the current exchange rate but I still think this is under your budget (both camera and lens). You will need to buy a new battery or two. Ebay sellers has them for about $8 each delivered. Then you need a memory card. The seller of the camera may or may not sell one big enough with the camera. Get 512MB or bigger. You don't need bigger than 512MB.

I have one full size image on the web from this camera. This was just a Thanksgiving day snapshot but it shows you what it can do. Other than this shot I don't post full size images of my work. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/hydedj/2008thanksgiving/comp1.jpg I have not cleaned up or enhanced this image (notice all the dust and fuzz on the clothing) This is the default setting for the camera. The lighting is undramatic but that is what I was going for.

You can get good Canon equipment cheaper than Nikon. Canon upgrades their line more often and "obsoletes" bodies faster than Nikon does. Yesterday's hot camera is today's old news even though it still produces the same great images.

But in the end you still have to create the image. The camera just captures it. It is not that easy to do but if you are working with professional models it sure does help.

The video shows what helps for professional looking images.

You will have to learn about lighting. A great starting point is http://www.onelightworkshop.com/page5/page5.html Get his DVD. You will be glad you did. Nice simple setups.

You will have to learn a bit but it is just like anything else, one step at a time.

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Can anyone recommend a camera that a beginner can produce pretty professional pics with?

best type of camera lens for portraits image

Jessica G

I've never used anything more than a snapshot type camera! I need to produce some photos that look as professional as possible. The photos are of models and clothes and accessories.
Please can you recommend a camera that's easy to use and will produce professional results? Budget as low as possible, not exceeding £450 second hand...Thankyou!

Answer
Take a look at this video of a photo shoot.http://fstoppers.com/iphone/ Shot with an iPhone and a bunch of talented people.

Don't take the "any camera will do" too seriously. There was a lot of expensive work to make the images look like they do. What you should take from this is that it is not the camera that produces the image. It is the photographer.

Also while the images are striking the quality is just passable. OK for the resolution displayed on the WEB. You can see the noise in the images (look at the backgrounds) and the images are a bit soft. The images have been heavily professional retouched. So what you are seeing for skin tones are not quite real.

The sensor in the iPhone is not that bad. But it needs a lot of light and the noise level is a bit high. But it is a phone. Better to start with a clean image from a good camera. This may look good on the web but it would not work in print.

This was a nice experiment but really you couldn't use that for real pro use. But it shows you that the camera is not the most important part to get great images. Remember the extra people that had a hand in making the images look good.

You need good lighting. Composition. A professional camera does not produce professional photography. The photographer does. Yes it is desirable to shoot with a professional camera but if you give a good photographer the original Canon digital Rebel SLR you can still get great results.

**** But to answer your question. I would recommend a Canon 30D and a 50mm f1.8 lens. A 40D would be a little nicer but the images will not be noticably better. The 30D camera new was $2000. Now you can get it for a fifth of that.

Stay away from Point & Shoot cameras. They will not give you what you need. Sensors on DSLRs are so much bigger (physically bigger not just number of mega-pixels) and will give you a cleaner image. A good photographer could make good enough images with one but you need a lot more powerful lighting equipment and that will cost more in the end than having gone for the DSLR.

The 30D and the 40D are metal framed cameras rather than plastic as in the Rebel series. These were semi-pro cameras that a lot of professional photographers also used. (don't buy one if it was used by a professional photographer as it would have seen some hard use) They also had shutters with a design life of 100,000 shots.

The other important factor is the lens. The 50mm f1.8 is a very good lens available at a low cost. Great for portraits. A 50mm f1.4 would be great but it will cost much more money. The best bang for the buck is the 50mm f1.8.

The 30D and a 50mm f1.8 can be had in your buget range. I bought one recently (body without lens as a backup camera) for $350 CDN (almost the same as the USD now). The previous owner was selling his 30D and 40D since he had just upgraded to a 50D(or was it 7D, I forget). The 30D had little use (since he had upgraded to the 40D). I didn't want to spend much more for the 40D since it would not give me better image quality. (it does have some other nice features I do like though)

The 50mm f1.8 costs about $100 new. I don't know the current exchange rate but I still think this is under your budget (both camera and lens). You will need to buy a new battery or two. Ebay sellers has them for about $8 each delivered. Then you need a memory card. The seller of the camera may or may not sell one big enough with the camera. Get 512MB or bigger. You don't need bigger than 512MB.

I have one full size image on the web from this camera. This was just a Thanksgiving day snapshot but it shows you what it can do. Other than this shot I don't post full size images of my work. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/hydedj/2008thanksgiving/comp1.jpg I have not cleaned up or enhanced this image (notice all the dust and fuzz on the clothing) This is the default setting for the camera. The lighting is undramatic but that is what I was going for.

You can get good Canon equipment cheaper than Nikon. Canon upgrades their line more often and "obsoletes" bodies faster than Nikon does. Yesterday's hot camera is today's old news even though it still produces the same great images.

But in the end you still have to create the image. The camera just captures it. It is not that easy to do but if you are working with professional models it sure does help.

The video shows what helps for professional looking images.

You will have to learn about lighting. A great starting point is http://www.onelightworkshop.com/page5/page5.html Get his DVD. You will be glad you did. Nice simple setups.

You will have to learn a bit but it is just like anything else, one step at a time.

What type of camera do I need for Landscape photography?

J Martinez

I am a beginning photographer looking to buy a Digital SLR & trying to figure out what type of camera I need. Landscape, up-close nature, & portraits are my main interests. You can be as detailed as possible... the more info the better. Thanks.
With all the "extras" for sale, how do I know what I really need to start. Just the basics.

Answer
Ah, well, portraiture and landscape have very markedly different requirements.

Any modern dSLR and a good lens is very capable of producing wonderful portraits, however, landscapes are best captured with a Medium Format or Large format film camera. Intrinsic acuity and final print size is a real and ultimate concern to quality minded landscape photographers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RZ67

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera


If you must shoot landscape with a digital camera then you might look into the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D Mark II. Those two cameras are almost universally considered the minimum for landscape.

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