Which Camera?

[NickC]

OK so not related to inkjets but as many of you have so much digital imaging knowledge I hoped there might be some opinions; which Camera to buy?

Are there any which stand out from the crowd in value for money terms. It seems that I should be aiming for 8MPixels but other than that I have no idea what I should be looking for. Is there any difference in picture quality between the compact camera with small built in lens and the larger SLR type with bigger lens.

Your opinions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[lolopr1]

OK so not related to inkjets but as many of you have so much digital imaging knowledge I hoped there might be some opinions; which Camera to buy?

Are there any which stand out from the crowd in value for money terms. It seems that I should be aiming for 8MPixels but other than that I have no idea what I should be looking for. Is there any difference in picture quality between the compact camera with small built in lens and the larger SLR type with bigger lens.

Your opinions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

It all come down to how serious are you about photography and how much money are you willing to spend on a camera. I will recommend you the new Nikon D90 ($850 plus) is definitely a must have if you are some what serious about your photos but if you are really serious I will recommend the new Nikon D700 ($2500 plus) is really an expensive camera but you get what you pay for. My opinion is only based on my own experience and taste for Nikon cameras obviously .

Take a look here
http://www.techlore.com/article/15546/Point-and-Shoot-and-Digital-SLR-Cameras--A-Comparison/

good luck

 

[Grandad35]

It's impossible to answer your question without a lot of information about what you are looking to use the camera for and how much money and time you are willing to invest in learning how to use it. This site does GREAT reviews on a wide variety of cameras. Read the reviews on a variety of cameras. If you don't understand what they are talking about, start with an inexpensive "Point & Shoot". By the time that you have outgrown the P&S, you'll know enough to make an intelligent decision for your second camera (and you won't have wasted a lot of money on your starter camera).

You will find that almost all of today's cameras give good photos when used properly. IMHO, the pixel count is vastly overrated - to print sharp 4x6 images, 2 megapixels of "good" data is more than adequate. Far more important is the quality of the lens and its ability to gather lots of light (its size) to keep the noise down and allow higher shutter speeds and lower ISO settings.

If you decide to go with a DSLR, remember that it will be difficult to change brands later if you want to use the same lenses and flash on your next camera, so do a lot of research before selecting a camera brand.

Here is a good forum on photography.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Several years ago, when I was shopping for a digital camera, one of the students who came to work during the summers recommended the Canon PowerShot SD 500 which I purchased and just love, especially because it is small enough to carry on my belt and I ALWAYS have it available. The next summer, he had switched to an SLR which was much larger but he liked it better. Go figure. Like Grandad says, you need to figure out what you like and your likes may change with your experience!

 

[pharmacist]

For me: SLR, definitely Canon and for compact I prefer the latest Panasonic Lumix TZ25. I'm not very found of compact camera's due to it's small CCD (about 8-10x smaller compared to a similar SLR) giving a worse noise to ISO ratio, but with the Panasonic Lumix TZ25, I was really stuned by the image quality of the pictures I have taken till now.

 

[Froggy]

The more you look into cameras, the more complex it gets.

More megapixels doesn't mean better quality, stuffing 8MP onto a compact sized CCD (image detector chip) will give inferior results than 8MP of a digital SLR with a larger chip surface. Thats part of the pice difference.

What do you want it for? A general purpose camera for indoor / outdoor holiday / party snaps and you are looking for a compact camera perhaps with a low zoom lens, 6-8MP ok, up to A4 prints reasonably good. Something that can live in a pocket and not worry too much.

Then you have the higher zoom cameras like the compact Panasonic lumix with the 10x zoom, still a good all-rounder but with the zoom for outdoor shots.

Then you have the "compact super zoom" cameras which look like SLR's but have fixed lenses with 12-20x zoom lens, like the panasonic lumixes mentioned previously. These are an in-between compromise between SLR zoom power and compact CCD imaging. If you want to take outdoor, natural light pictures, these are good. They suffer tewrribly in lower light (small CCD) though and they don't fit in a pocket. I'm looking at the Panasonic 18x zoom model perhaps later this year, going up from a 6MP fuji finepix f18(?) which is another nice make.

Finally, if you are really really into photography and have loadsamoney, you go to the digital SLR range, where you pay $500 for the body and heaven knows how much for a good lens. A 5MP digital SLR will abolutley murder, slaugher, disembowel a 8-10MP compact camera for image quality. But they will also slaughter your wallet.

 

[Tom Hock]

The best camera is the one you have with you when a "Kodak Moment" presents itself. For this reason I suggest your first digital camera be a small pocketable unit, like the Consumer Reports top rated subcompact Canon Power Shot SD1100IS. I have a Nikon D80 with added accessories, which I love and always use for the important events in the life of my family, but I seldom have it with me on day-to-day outings. However, I seldom leave home without one of my small digital cameras in my pocket. The new subcompact cameras, like the Canon SD1100IS at 8 megapixels, with all the recent improvements in the technology, may be all you ever want. If you really get into photagraphy you'll probibly want a SLR too. Even when I am using my Nikon D80 at family events, my wife is snapping away with one of my subcompact caneras. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be in many family photographs.

 

[Smile]

Get yourself PowerShot G10 and forget the rest. Live Viewfinder is worth it alone. I've never seen such feature on other cameras. Live histogram etc. For novice this is a must.

 

[mikling]

Everyone seems to have a different opinion because the question is a difficult one to answer as there are so many points to consider.

To answer your question about the Point and Shoot vs. dSLR: Yes there is a difference between the images AND how the photo can be captured. If you are at all going to capture moments on the fly, then using a point and shoot is not your best chance of capturing the shot. They are all focus and respond much slower than DLSRs. Additionally, because of their smaller sensor, the quality of the image captured in low light conditions can be of poor quality. Add to that their flash range is rather limited, working well only to about 10 feet or less. However, they do allow you to carry them with you to most places. So if you're taking many shots of scenery outdoors and casual shots indoors then they will suffice. If you plan to take shots of your kids as they play etc. they respond too slow to capture the moment.

I agree with grandad about the megapixel count. As long as you don't print very large images, a good quality 2MP will allow nice pictures on a 4x6. The reality is that all of the current cameras geature MP counts far far greater. That should allow you to ignore the megapixel issue in your search. The other thing to consider as well is that the lens of the point and shoot cameras are actually less resolving than the amount of sensors they carry. In other words their less precise lens is limiting the resolution and not the megapixels on the sensor.

I personally have always preferred Canon point and shoots because for many years other brands because for a given price range, they seemed to offer a superior picture than the others. Others have now caught up, but I would still recommend choosing from Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and lately Sony.

As to choosing a dSLR, I think most DSLR owners eventually have two cameras. The DSLR and the PS. The PS is the one they carry the most but the DLSR is the one for special occasions.....because they are not convenient to carry around. So if starting out, I would say get start with a PS camera and then see if you outgrow it. If you do, then a dSLR would be next and by that time, you'd have gained enough knowledge to choose on aspects you consider important.

Oh, I nearly forgot. Make sure that you get a PS with IMAGE STABILISATION. That is a genuinely useful feature as it allows shooting pictures with less chance of blur and allows capturing pictures at lower ISO and slower shutter speeds without blur.