10 replies to this topic

[MarkB]

Hey guys,

I have for the longest time wanting to give photography a go as a hobby to go with all my other design hobbies i have and I'm so confused on what type of camera i should get.

I'm looking for a camera that is not too expensive, i would say $1000 is the absolute max and is also capable of HDR (yea they look pretty ).

One of the catches is that i don't want a camera that is going to take up too much room and that can fit into my pocket if it have to.

I have been looking at the DSC-T700 but I'm having trouble understanding if its a good camera for photographers or just a camera for mothers who don't know what hdr means.

[Donna]

Cnet does reviews on majority of brands

Best 5 digital cameras
Best 7 megapixel cameras
Best 8 & 9 megapixel cameras
Best 10 megapixel cameras
Best megazoom cameras
Best compact cameras
Best budget cameras
Best entry-level digital SLR cameras
Best midrange digital SLR cameras
Best professional dSLR cameras

Lots of reading but they give you a great review of whats good and bad.

[Faken]

Just as an FYI, if you are looking for a DSLR and don't have any prior equipment like I did, go with Canon. Currently the best on the market for the dollar and has been for several years. I went with Nikon because I have Nikon AF gear that would also go with the digital stuff so I kept with that brand. But Nikon is more expensive and not quite as highly rated as Canon on the midrange stuff.

[eireen]

Thanks for the tip faken, just bought a new leica m8 for a simple reason that i found it cute. But my friend told me it is not a reliable camera

[MarkB]

Thanks for the links Donna

Ill definitely keep that in mind if i decide to go SLR but i'm not sure if i should go SLR as i like to fit my gadgets in my pocket but also ill admit im a slave to fashion (curse you Ipod touch).

Also i forgot to say that what i'm mainly looking for out of a camera is to develop my camera skills with the flickr thing and eventually convert that into my web design stuff. would i need an SLR to have high quality shots for the web?

Thanks for the help so far

[Lollipop-]

I'm quite new to photography too, and yeah I do it as hobby too.
I've got the Canon EOS 400D, and I absolutly love it, its great, it feels great when its in your hands, its reliable, cabable of producing HDR shots... Its a all round great beginners camera, I picked mine up from Duty Free in Gatwick Airport for about £350 with a 4GB Memory Card, and its been worth every penny. Hope this helps.

Fee free to check out some of my photo's I've posted up here, to give you an idea of the quality.


Lollipop-

[xXx-Treme]

For high quality shots you deffinitely need DSLR or more expensive pocket camera:P Now when you look at the prices then you'll see that they are more or less in the same category. When you think of photography as a hobby (which is great) then in some time you'll start thinking: Damn I vould use a macro shot of this thing, but this damn compact camera is no good for it, or maybe some point you want to make a quality shots of bird/animals. After that you start thinking that you should have bought better camera. That is why dsl os best choise in my eyes, it is flexible to do anything you imagine, yeah with a "little" investments sometimes but yeah it is worth it. As Faken, also I would reccomend you to go with Canon, for example EOS 1000D or 400D/450D. I use 400 and as Lollipop- said, its good
Sometimes with technology fashion is out of the question Although you may get yourself some fashionable bag to carry your DSLR

Edited by xXx-Treme, 26 November 2008 - 12:36 AM.

[MarkB]

Thanks for the advice lolopop and xXx,

I went around to the camerahouse nearby and i just couldn't resist the t700 and i ended up buying it, i ended up getting a 2gb stick and a bag for it and it somehow worked out to be $10 less than the price for the camera so that was cool.

From the amount of time i have had to play around with it it can take very good pictures despite my lack of photo skills :S.

But i also want to thank everyone for their advice and if later down the track i really enjoy photography and get to the point where i need a better camera im sure ill be looking at cannon first.

[Fernkurs]

I love photography but I only have Sony Cybershot which has 5.1MP. My biggest dream would be owning a professional digital SLR camera. I'm still torn between Nikon or Canon.

[mikepugs]

I just recently got a new DSLR, a Nikon D80. I got it from Ritz with two lenses for $650, an incredibly reasonable price when the D90 (the newest version of that line, D90 followed D80 followed D70) is running for over a grand with the stock lens. So far no complaints, it is a wonderful entry level camera with plenty of room to get into some serious photo stuff.

I wouldn't go about recommending one or the other between Nikon or Canon, both brands offer great support and you can't go wrong with either, it's just a matter of personal preference. But if you're looking for a bare entry level SLR Canon offers the Rebel (EOS) line while Nikon has the D40 or D60. All of these cameras will impress anyone who has never shot with an SLR before, so don't fret over all the forum discussion and nitpicking over picture quality you're probably never going to worry about (how many casual photographers print large scale anyway?).

If you are going with an SLR you have a lot of options. It is an investment so i recommend sitting down and doing a lot of research. One thing you will notice is photography (with SLRs) has a lot to do with the glass your using. High quality lenses will improve your pictures much more than spending extra money on a tricked out body. An old SLR body with a very nice lens can take beautiful pictures.

Some point and shots can also do the job very well. Some years ago I used a Fujifilm point and shot with some success. I would say take a trip to your local camera store and have a talk with one of the employees and try to iron out what you want to do with photography and they can help you find a camera that will fit what you want to do.

[damir_zg]

i am buying myself a SLR camera soon and i have chosen a pentax k200d

it got great reviews everywhere and pentax kit lenses are known for their quality so i wont be needing a new lenses soon and a built in shake reduction is great advantage too

canon cameras dont have image stabilization its supesed to be in the lenses but kit lenses dont have it, so if your going to buy a canon buy just the body and lenses with IS, only problem is they cost more