Thread: camera advice

There are lots of great photos and photographers on this site so I figured this would be a good place to ask for camera advice.

I am thinking of upgrading my camera. I am now using an old Sony 5 mega pixel point and shoot. I want to use the camera for taking pictures of razors and the occasional snapshots. I am looking for an affordable upgrade to my current camera.

Thanks

Charlie

you can go with a low end DSLR but I to get best results a dedicated lens will be neede and they are pretty pricey.
I think g12 canon is a great point and shoot with some extra cheap accessories you can get it to do a lot of stuff
check out this thread I replicated the set up and it works great, although I do not consider myself to be expert photographer.
What is you G11 wearing today - a bit of fun... - Canon Digital Photography Forums

look at the last pictured set up.

I got the filters from Amazon, the rings from e-bay(total was ~30 bucks). You do not need the 50mm lens unless you want to do some super macro shots.

Here a pic of what I use, the filters can stack and effectively increase the total magnification.
Those are very useful if you want to shoot from a bit of a distance with macro settings.

Hi spazola,

I currently use a Nikon D5000 - I have found it to be excellent. The cost isnt the highest and the quality is amazing. I guess the one tip I have for you is get enrolled in a beginners course. I started with www.creativephotoworkshops.com.au and these guys took me from beginner (and using only auto mode) to using manual and being in control of my photos.

Honestly, for the last 3 months - I have been playing. After that course I can actually create awesome photo's.

Also buying a kit (like a twin lense kit) is a good starting point - as you dont know what style of photograpy you will warm to. www.bhphotovideo.com is about the cheapest place on the net to grab gear.

Good luck - and if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a pm.

Pete =)

I would definitely recommend a camera on which you can shoot full manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, or full auto. I also think being able to shoot manual or autofocus is a plus. These options let you use the camera as a point & shoot or take full control, and anything in between.

I'm not sure if you need to get a DSLR to have all these options or not, as I'm not fully current on cameras. For the average hobby photographer, I don't think your choice of lenses will be too important; I use the kit lenses (lenses that come in kits with the cameras, these lenses are lower or mid range made by the camera company) as a pretty good standard. Nicer glass will give you nicer photos, but unless you are blowing stuff up or have a really good eye for photo quality, you probably won't notice the difference. The same is probably true of camera bodies, as the sensors have gotten really good since I made my last purchase. Honestly, unless you push your ISO up over maybe 800 and blow up your shots, you probably won't notice any noise. If you are going to do a lot of hand holding in low light, that may be a factor.

If you want to shoot macro photos, I think you are better off getting a nice macro lens compared to adaptors/tubes/rings/etc. This is really a matter of personal preference, but, to me, for that application, the quality really matters and you can tell the difference when you look at photos. There is a substantial price difference for the nice macro lenses, but totally worth it, IMO. IF you are going to do a fair amount of macro work, that is. If not, don't bother.

I took SOTD photos for over a year with a small point and shoot Canon. They were quite presentable

Last Christmas I upgraded to a Nikon D3100. I later purchased a Nikkor wide angle lens. Its my go to camera now as well as the wide angle lens.

My point here is that you can take great photos with a relatively inexpensive camera. Some SRP members use their cell phone or Blackberry cameras to take very good photos.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I would definitely recommend a camera on which you can shoot full manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, or full auto. I also think being able to shoot manual or autofocus is a plus. These options let you use the camera as a point & shoot or take full control, and anything in between.

I'm not sure if you need to get a DSLR to have all these options or not, as I'm not fully current on cameras. For the average hobby photographer, I don't think your choice of lenses will be too important; I use the kit lenses (lenses that come in kits with the cameras, these lenses are lower or mid range made by the camera company) as a pretty good standard. Nicer glass will give you nicer photos, but unless you are blowing stuff up or have a really good eye for photo quality, you probably won't notice the difference. The same is probably true of camera bodies, as the sensors have gotten really good since I made my last purchase. Honestly, unless you push your ISO up over maybe 800 and blow up your shots, you probably won't notice any noise. If you are going to do a lot of hand holding in low light, that may be a factor.

If you want to shoot macro photos, I think you are better off getting a nice macro lens compared to adaptors/tubes/rings/etc. This is really a matter of personal preference, but, to me, for that application, the quality really matters and you can tell the difference when you look at photos. There is a substantial price difference for the nice macro lenses, but totally worth it, IMO. IF you are going to do a fair amount of macro work, that is. If not, don't bother.

+1 to all of this.

Your razor pictures always come out looking great; I'm sure whatever camera you get they will continue to come out looking great.

I think it depends on what you mean by "SNAPSHOT." if your talking about action photo's I would stick with a full function DSLR. If not, there are many options you can save a bunch of money with. DSLR cameras are expensive.

Depending on your budget you can buy a camera where as long as you take the lens cap off, you get a good photo (Canon 5D)... Back before the economy tanked I used one with a full compliment of L series lenses daily. However, if you're like me that isn't in your budget these days. I've got a Canon G10 that is amazing. It does everything I need it to, has great manual controls, shoots RAW for increased leeway with sketchy lighting and lets me use good external flashes or lights if I feel like it b/c of the hotshoe on it. The newer models g11 or G12 are much nicer. The G10's only real "fault" is how much noise/grain appears over ISO 400. They crammed too many pixels on to the sensor and ruined it. Had they made it an APS-C sensor that thing would be the greatest digital camera that isn't a DSLR.
However, if you're looking for more leeway and zoom range for other uses, the SX30 is a good buy. Lots of zoom and a decent feature set without going over the top.
If you want a DSLR the rebels aren't bad at all for a starter camera. I know a few pros who use them for personal use because the form factor is smaller. I've got my eye on a 7D for a new general use body and an upgrade to my 20D which is close to 7 years old and has been royally abused while mountain biking, skiing, fly fishing, hiking, and two toddlers but refuses to give up the ghost.
Brand preference is subjective, both Canon and Nikon are great cameras but I've found Canon's control scheme to be more intuitive and user friendly but that may have something to do with near daily use of one of their cameras for near 12 years.