What kind of camera?

[glennab]

Hi volunteers,

I'm dying to get into photography and even have someone who can coach me, but I haven't a clue what type of camera to get.  Right now I have a Kodak 2mp that was a gift and it's been fine for taking, as my hubby calls them, "stoopid cat pictures."  Lately I've seen ads for cameras with a gazillion bells & whistles (with which I don't have the patience to grapple), little point & shoot cameras with unbelieveable MPs and reasonable prices and everything in between.  I can't imagine that I'd need anything over 6-7MP, but is there an advantage to going higher if one isn't going to print anything larger than 11x17?  Do the cameras have interpolation problems?  I've heard that Nikon and Canon are the best, but Sony has also been mentioned a few times. I'd appreciate any feedback you can give me.  I might want to shoot some photos for our publications, but mostly I'd be playing.  Recommendations, please?

Cheers,

Glenna

[cmpentecost]

Glenna,

Are you looking for a point and shoot, or an SLR?

Christine

[hoodman3]

I have a Canon 4mp point & shoot and for my purposes it's all I need (mainly what I call snapshots)and I've heard that a camera with more than 5 or 6 mp is probably not going to be that much better for the average user.
Good Luck,
Pete

[Tess (Tassie D)]

I have a Fuji 6.3mp with a 3x 8-24mm zoom lense. I'd love an SLR.

[schen]

This is a really tough question to answer, worse than plaid shirt restoration.  But I am going to try.

If you would like an SLR, Nikon D40.  Small, light weight and not many bells or whistles.

Compact size, Canon A570IS.  I like the ability of using regular AA battery.  Good for foreign travel.  Small enough to fit my pocket.

If you print them out of the camera, 6 mp is more than sufficient.  It does not have much to do with the print size.  We don't expect the 40" prints to have the same details per square inch as a 5x8.

If you do major cropping, rotation or perspective adjustment, the more pixels the merrier.

[glennab]

Thanks so much for the information, my friends.  Chris, to answer your question, I think I'd be best off with a point & shoot. If I get totally involved, then I might consider an SLR.  As an aside, my good buddy who taught photography hasn't even gotten into digital yet, so I'll be trying to learn more about good composition, etc. from him.  I shall continue to research and contemplate!

Appreciate the input!

Cheers,

Glenna

[Ausimax]

Hi Glenna,

My advice would be to get a good P&S.  Only go down the DSLR route if you are prepared to spend a motza on lens, there is always another one you "just have to have" and glass is not cheap.
The other consideration is, is Lon going to be available to carry the camera bag? :funny:


I had several film SLR's and a collection of lens that needed a Donkey to carry about, Now I have a Olympus 3.2 MP with 10x optical zoom, it does all I require (OK I'm no longer into "Photography" I now mainly take "Snapshots") and makes great prints at 8x10.

There are a good range of ultra zoom cameras about now at 18x optical zoom and a new Olympus at 20x zoom that goes from wide angle to long zoom - if you require reach, to have that versatility with a DSLR you would have a bag full of lens, and always the wrong one on the camera for what you wanted to take.

Right, I will state here that this is my personal opinion from my own experience, and I have no desire to start a P&S v DSLR debate. ;D


Max


PS,  For comparisons and info try this site, they have a camera database and reviews on most of them.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp

[schen]

The Nikon D40 comes with an 18-55mm zoom lens.  It is good for most of the shots without needs of changing lenses.  I have several lenses from my old film camera days but I rarely use them with my DSLR.

What I like about my DSLR are:
- better color and tone in difficult lighting conditions
- hand rotate zoom control
- faster zoom
- faster focusing
- fast power on time
- short shutter lag
- short time interval between shots
- short time interval between built-in flash recharge
- more buttons for direct access compared to rolling through menu pages
- more controls. a lot more
- wireless remote shutter release
- compatible with bounce flash
- looks professional  :P

The disadvantages I found are:
- more money
- LCD display only works after the shot is taken
- larger and heavier
- mirror flip noise

These may or may not be important to you.

[glennab]

Hi Shujen

Your Nikon sounds way, way beyond what I'd need (I would, however, to expect it to belong to an engineer with a passion for photography!).  However, Nikon seems to come up most often in the trade magazine discussions of the best digital cameras.  We have 7mp Nikons at work, and they do a fine job on the shots we need for our pubs.  I'm not sure whether even they'd be overkill for what I'd find time to do.  I certainly appreciate your recommendation and specs.  It'll all go into the mix when I decide.

Thanks!

Glenna

[hendersonforhomes]

When I started photo school, my first professor made me shoot for a semester with a homemade camera.

Seriously.  We made 4x5 inch lighttight boxes out of cardboard, and put a pinhole in one end with electrical tape over it.  That was my camera for 6 months.

It was a huge pain, but after 6 months, we were actually cranking out decent pictures.  It taught me that 90 percent of photography is operator, not camera.

I have a Nikon D50, and I just treated myself to a 28-200 lens with vibration reduction (very useful when you are getting older and drink too much coffee).  Still, that original photo teacher has probably kept me from spending several thousands of dollars for equipment that  would make me a "better" photographer.

[schen]

Randy,

I completely agree with you.  As an engineer and an engineer teacher, I am glad I could not afford a calculator until me senior year in college.  Numbers mean so much more to me when they had to be calculated in my brain than the kids these days who just pass the numbers from their eyes to their fingers on the keypad of a calculator.

I only had my DSLR for a little more than a year and I found myself becoming so careless in photography.  My DSLR becomes my expensive point-and-shoot.  I spend little effort composing the pictures (let PhotoShop do the work later) or considering exposure (check the histogram and retake if necessary).  But the ability of taking hundreds of pictures without having to pay for film or development allows my to catch a nice shot occasionally.

As I am getting older, I have a better appreciation of the differences between "needs" and "want".  The motivations of wanting something beyond our basic needs are the driving force behind the achievements of the culture.

Sorry for getting carry away into the philosophy.  The first time I felt a need for a DSLR was at a charity 10K run.  I was trying to take pictures of my son and his friends.  I would run in front of them, aimed my P&S and pushed down the shutter release.  All the pictures I got were the side view of them.  By the time the camera actually took the pictures, they ran halfway passed me already.

Since I bought my DSLR, I have yet to carry it with me to the 10K run  ;D

Below are pictures taken with P&S and DSLR in low light.  The grainy texture of the P&S photo is mainly caused by noise of the camera sensor, not the resolution.

[glennab]

Shujen & Randy,

I'm with you on feeling as if I've a more in-depth knowledge of what I do because at one time it was all done manually, i.e. the hard way. So much of what the computers do, I did with X-acto knives, specialty cameras, rapidograph pens, hands-on materials.  The youngsters I work with are so technically savvy, and I envy them their ease with the internet, servers, etc.  It's rather comical, because since I'm a word-meister, I always have a dictionary and thesaurus handy.  About 6 months ago I finally put them away and use the on-line versions, because of the honest amazement of my associates that I was actually using a BOOK.  Before that it didn't occur to me to go any other route.  However... I'm a really good designer because of my years of seeing the concrete version of what I was doing.  I notice that the younger, college-degreed group don't really understand some of the critical dynamics of communication and design.  I'll take being old, thank you so much!

Shujen, I'm amazed at the difference in quality of the two photos you posted.  Is it possible to get a good P&S camera that doesn't create all that grain? My concern is my potential level of frustration with a camera that's too complex, since I'm not a trained photographer and would be learning those basics as well.

You're both wonderful for keeping up this dialogue with me. What a wealth of knowlegde.  I appreciate it so much!

Bless,

Glenna

P.S.  I do forgo using the computer to read in bed.  Man, does that monitor hurt when I fall asleep and it lands on my head! 

[Atlantis]

I (we) have several Canon powershots (the A70 for ourselves and 2 newer models for the girls) that work very well for holidayshots, underwaterpics (in a special "house") and make great prints.  You can use the Manualsettings or pick one of the themes.
But it is to slow for dancing and sports and we wanted to be able to use a better flash for portraits and "studiowork". So two years ago the Canon 350D entered our home and I love it's speed and possibilities. I must admit I also like the oldfashion looking through the viewfinder again insteda of holding the camera away from me :funny:

Whatever you choose depends totally on what you intend to use it for. And your budget of course.