Thoughts on Cameras

jbooker82

If you get a DSLR camera get this book: Understanding Exposure 3rd edition. It is a really good book that explains stuff really well. I highly recomend it.

Another good one is Creative Shutter Speed.

I started looking at an olympus pen. Then a Canon Rebel 2TI, and ended up getting a Canon 60D with the 18-135mm lense and a 70-300mm lense. It is a really nice camera and way more than what I probably needed. I liked how it felt in my hand.


As others have said when you buy your first DSLR your kind of buying in to a system. You just don't go switching back and fourth, especially once you get a lens colection going.

shack

cokewithvanilla wrote:

just wondering, but... why?

Why not? If the white balance is correct and exposure is correct, RAW offers me little advantages. My workflow on the majority of my photos is in lightroom. Check saturation, levels, rotate if necessary and crop. If needed sharpen in photoshop. Most of what I do is minor adjustments...not serious processing. If there is something special that I don't want to mess up...is a particularly difficult exposure...or that I know I want to get creative with...then I might shoot in RAW...but jpeg works for me most of the time.

cokewithvanilla

My biggest why not is compression, even if the difference is very small. For me, there is no reason to limit myself when I do not have to. But that's me

shack

cokewithvanilla wrote:

My biggest why not is compression, even if the difference is very small. I could just be crazy but, hey

If that is what concerns you, that's fine. Jpegs will compress and information lost if you repeatedly open and close them...but even then it is minor. Unless I plan on printing something very large I'm not worried about it.

TNHNDYMAN

I would highly recommend a Canon P&S. The upper end powershot SX series is hard to beat. Great image quality. Works in 90% of all situations you are likely to run into. Unless you are working professionally shooting sports, low ambient light all the time, or needing a big external flash for group shots such as wedding photography the Canon Powershot series with 10-12 optical zoom, image stabilization, and the ability to do some video makes perfect sense. They have green ie auto modes as well as the ability to shoot in aperature priority (for depth of field focus control), shutter priority for stopping action or blurring it, and many other preset modes which may be utilized. The ease of carrying it around on vaction would be another factor to consider. A decent P&S can be had for under $300 while most DSLR's with kit lens plus a zoom lens will run you over $700. I truly believe that you can get more satisfaction and use out of using the P&S for now and down the road if you decide to pursue photography as a more serious hobby then you could look into upgrading to a DSLR.

zarrdoss

reported^^^

fishbones

I'll admit to not reading all of the posts here, but the camera I bought a couple years ago, after researching for 2 months, was the Lumix. I'm sure it's not a current model because cameras change all the time in the point-n-shoot arena, but it has been an excellent camera, it fits really nice in my cargo pocket of my shorts when walking around amusement parks for photo oppurtunities (instead of a heavy one sitting in the rental cart, or a locker because of it being too heavy and bulky to carry all day), it takes awesome pictures, and battery lasts a long time. I do find myself wanting a more advanced camera to take even better pictures at times, but everytime I check them out and see how much bigger and heavier they are, I come to the realization that it will be the same scenario as the old SLR camera that I had - always sitting in the closet instead of on me when the oppurtunities present themselves. Samples...

eeagle

Well as others have pointed out a DSLR offers the most flexibility. I have a Nikon D80 that gets pulled out for any serious endeavor, but today's point and shoot cameras, I call them PHD (Push Here Dummy), simply can't be beat for most photo opportunities.

My most recent favorite is a Nikon Coolpix S8100; thing even has VR (vibration reduction), smile detector, and will shoot 1080p movies....amazing little P&S for all occasions.

I've always been biased toward Nikon, clear back to the film days. Final decision should take into consideration how the camera fits your hands and the controls and menu system.

dorourke07

This is stuff is just as tough as audio!

fishbones

^I sure don't think so. I bought the camera I researched for 2 months, liked it, done. I've been researching audio stuff for years - buying/listening/selling/researching/buying/listening/selling...yadda yadda...and will probably never be set after any purchase. Makes me NUTS!

ratster

grimmace19 wrote: »

For the price it's hard to beat the Rebel line. I have an XS that I bought when I moved to Colorado and it does everything I need and then some for just an entry DSLR. Very happy with it's performance compared to my other canon point and shoot options.

X2
This is what we are using.It's a great camera once you get a grasp on the features.
Look at used from Cameta
Good luck.

dorourke07

fishbones wrote: »

^I sure don't think so. I bought the camera I researched for 2 months, liked it, done. I've been researching audio stuff for years - buying/listening/selling/researching/buying/listening/selling...yadda yadda...and will probably never be set after any purchase. Makes me NUTS!

You got me on that. I've spent more on audio already and will spend a lot over my lifetime to never quite be satisfied. The camera isn't that bad.

Trev123

I have a Canon Powershot SX20 IS which is basicly a DSLR but with a fixed lens. It has now been superceded by the SX30 IS.

dorourke07

Ok, I went with the PowerShot SX110 IS to start with. It will be a start and then I can move up to the DSLR game. I think it has the features and optical zoom to get me started but still will be an easy point and shoot. Its menu's are the same as the big Canon's so it will be an easy transition when I am ready. Thanks for everyone's help.

TrashyTrucker

Congrads on your purchase... Photography is somewhat like the audio adventure, there is ALWAYS something better. The greatest advantage to a dslr is the investment in glass. Perhaps you might not want to use a full frame... or perhaps you like the 1.6 crop factor. (in Canon, I dont use a nikon nor do know much about Nikon) You can use your glass on different bodys.
good luck and sometimes the ease of portability of a p&s is a +