A Digital Camera to learn Photography?

[sirpado]

My Tiny Pentax Optio S suffered a deadly blow and it is now out of commission. That one was more of a point and shoot type camera. But now I want to start learning about photography techniques, etc. And i thought for this it would be better to have one that has more controls, etc. I

I am looking for something with quality, but not too expenseive (around 200). I've seen the Canon A60 recommended. Now I am just a beginner so I didn't want anything to high tech, and also I would want something more portable then bulky.

Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[beer]

Nothing in that price range (digital) will compare to a (film) SLR which is what you should be using to learn actual photography.The A60 wouldn't do it, sorry. You're looking at a lot more money for an equivalent-quality digital with which to learn photography. It's an expensive hobby.

Edit: ambiguity

 

[BaboonGuy]

get a canon S40 or something

 

[LS20]

the a70 has full manual controls, i know that

so does the s-series (s30/40/45/50).. and theyre in a better body

both of those would do fine

 

[slydecix]

Pick up an old manual 35mm slr for 50-100 bucks off ebay and go with that. The instant gratification of digital isn't there, but it's the best way to learn the basics of photography.

 

[RossMAN]

Add another $50 to your budget and buy the Canon PowerShot A70.

It has a nice mixture of both manual and automatic controls, see sample pictures here.

 

[Sketcher]

Originally posted by: Elitebull
Pick up an old manual 35mm slr for 50-100 bucks off ebay and go with that. The instant gratification of digital isn't there, but it's the best way to learn the basics of photography.

Nothing wrong w/learning the basics of photography via film... But, there is more than instant gratification to consider.

1. Processing time.
2. Processing costs.
3. Learning curve.
4. Flexibility in final image.

Digital allows you to test/learn settings immediately whereas film requires you to take notes for each shot, wait for processing & spend $$$, then "hope" you're a quick learner the next session. Exif Data is embedded w/in each digital shot allowing you to view shutter, aperture, iso, focal length, exposure (lotz of information about a shot) so you can adjust at the moment, learn from your results and be on your way. And if your Digital camera displays "Histogram" information, that's even better. The histogram is a graph representation of your image which among other things gives you an immediate depiction of how well you've exposed the shot.

For example: When I first got my camera, I didn't understand how "f-stop" affected "Depth of Field (DOF)". So, I set up on a tripod and took this set of pictures changing my aperture through four different stops to see how much of an image is brought into focus at a particular focal length.

Simple DOF Test

Look at the background flower. It's a subtle test but you can easily see the change in how much background is in focus when changing my aperture settings. This is a test which is fairly simple to read up on and visualize in your mind but you really don't want to be clicking off rolls of film, waiting and paying to learn this stuff if you don't have to. Further, this test only took a couple minutes and in that short time I spent no money, grasped the concept and was able to immediately apply what I'd learned.

Another great benefit to going digital is that you can "Process" your images immediately. Say you want to enhance/correct color, remove blemishes, crop an image etc. You can do that before you print your image or send it to a shop. There are actually a quite a few other benefits of digital vs film but those are the two big advantages which I've appreciated since buying my digital SLR.

Good luck!

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Sketcher

Originally posted by: Elitebull
Pick up an old manual 35mm slr for 50-100 bucks off ebay and go with that. The instant gratification of digital isn't there, but it's the best way to learn the basics of photography.

Nothing wrong w/learning the basics of photography via film... But, there is more than instant gratification to consider.

1. Processing time.
2. Processing costs.
3. Learning curve.
4. Flexibility in final image.

Digital allows you to test/learn settings immediately whereas film requires you to take notes for each shot, wait for processing & spend $$$, then "hope" you're a quick learner the next session. Exif Data is embedded w/in each digital shot allowing you to view shutter, aperture, iso, focal length, exposure (lotz of information about a shot) so you can adjust at the moment, learn from your results and be on your way. And if your Digital camera displays "Histogram" information, that's even better. The histogram is a graph representation of your image which among other things gives you an immediate depiction of how well you've exposed the shot.

For example: When I first got my camera, I didn't understand how "f-stop" affected "Depth of Field (DOF)". So, I set up on a tripod and took this set of pictures changing my aperture through four different stops to see how much of an image is brought into focus at a particular focal length.

Simple DOF Test

Look at the background flower. It's a subtle test but you can easily see the change in how much background is in focus when changing my aperture settings. This is a test which is fairly simple to read up on and visualize in your mind but you really don't want to be clicking off rolls of film, waiting and paying to learn this stuff if you don't have to. Further, this test only took a couple minutes and in that short time I spent no money, grasped the concept and was able to immediately apply what I'd learned.

Another great benefit to going digital is that you can "Process" your images immediately. Say you want to enhance/correct color, remove blemishes, crop an image etc. You can do that before you print your image or send it to a shop. There are actually a quite a few other benefits of digital vs film but those are the two big advantages which I've appreciated since buying my digital SLR.

Good luck!

what camera did you use to run your DOF test? the CANON DSLR?

most point and shoot cameras aren't that good at manual settings.

the best way to learn photography with cost as no factor is a DSLR.

i did learn to use my digital camera better after learning some tricks and stuff on the film SLR. great information.

 

[DT4K]

I would agree that digital is a better way to learn because you get the instant feedback and you can try numerous different settings with the exact same shot. You immediately see the difference between those settings.
But to do that, you need a digicam with full manual control.
At around $200 that's hard to find.
The A60 would work and is probably the only one with all the manual control you would want at that price range.
But it's only 2MP.
I just bought a S45 and I really like it so far. It's got all the manual controls and gets really nice pics.
But it's around $350. I got mine with a coupon for $330 with shipping.

 

[JupiterJones]

The great thing about digital is that you can take a LOT of pictures, without having to have them developed. Save for a while longer and spend the $400 necessary to get a digital with good manual controls. You would spend that $200 in film development anyway.

 

[Nocturnal]

If you are serious about photography, and want to invest money into it, I'd suggest a dSLR like the Digital Rebel. But as you stated, you want something entry level or not too expensive. Canon is where it is at.

 

[Sketcher]

Originally posted by: Sid59

what camera did you use to run your DOF test? the CANON DSLR?

most point and shoot cameras aren't that good at manual settings.

the best way to learn photography with cost as no factor is a DSLR.

i did learn to use my digital camera better after learning some tricks and stuff on the film SLR. great information.

I have a Canon 10D and various lenses. Certainly a bit pricey compared to a PS but if you're seriously into photography, worth every penny spent (not that you can't be serious w/less expensive gear).

The Canon A60 does have the creative modes as well as manual so there is certainly enough configuration options there to "learn" photography. Sid59 makes an excellent point though in that most PS's Don't have good manual settings. The only down side I see of 'starting' in the low cost range of the A60 is that it's 2.0 Megapixels. It'll cost you approx. $100.00 more to go anywhere in the "UP" direction regarding MP's but at that range it's money well spent IMO. At $200.00, you can have fun - get some nice prints up to 5x7 and not have a huge hole in your pocket. There's plenty of manual setting on that thing to let you learn for a while. Further, if you decide you don't really want to learn more you can feel good about having a good PS that you didn't overspend on. (i really would recommend getting into at least 3.0MP though).

If you outgrow your PS and get the photog bug you can start looking at DSLR's like Nocturnal mentioned in the D-Rebel aka 300D or put both feet in the water with a 10D or whatever happens to be its' replacement at the time. So, you'll have learned a bit of photography with your inexpensive PS, saved for one of the big boys and then actually know what to do with it when graduation day arrives! AND you'll have a nifty backup PS for those times where a DSLR is just too bulky or inconvenient to snap off a shot.

Here's a link to my gallery where everything shown is taken with the Canon 10D and various lenses. I'm a rank amateur so do not attribute any of the poor images to my gear. I haven't updated it in a while and I see I should get more recent images up there. I have about 13GB of images which could use some attention.


Sketcher's Place

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Sketcher

Originally posted by: Sid59

what camera did you use to run your DOF test? the CANON DSLR?

most point and shoot cameras aren't that good at manual settings.

the best way to learn photography with cost as no factor is a DSLR.

i did learn to use my digital camera better after learning some tricks and stuff on the film SLR. great information.

I have a Canon 10D and various lenses. Certainly a bit pricey compared to a PS but if you're seriously into photography, worth every penny spent (not that you can't be serious w/less expensive gear).

The Canon A60 does have the creative modes as well as manual so there is certainly enough configuration options there to "learn" photography. Sid59 makes an excellent point though in that most PS's Don't have good manual settings. The only down side I see of 'starting' in the low cost range of the A60 is that it's 2.0 Megapixels. It'll cost you approx. $100.00 more to go anywhere in the "UP" direction regarding MP's but at that range it's money well spent IMO. At $200.00, you can have fun - get some nice prints up to 5x7 and not have a huge hole in your pocket. There's plenty of manual setting on that thing to let you learn for a while. Further, if you decide you don't really want to learn more you can feel good about having a good PS that you didn't overspend on. (i really would recommend getting into at least 3.0MP though).

If you outgrow your PS and get the photog bug you can start looking at DSLR's like Nocturnal mentioned in the D-Rebel aka 300D or put both feet in the water with a 10D or whatever happens to be its' replacement at the time. So, you'll have learned a bit of photography with your inexpensive PS, saved for one of the big boys and then actually know what to do with it when graduation day arrives! AND you'll have a nifty backup PS for those times where a DSLR is just too bulky or inconvenient to snap off a shot.

Here's a link to my gallery where everything shown is taken with the Canon 10D and various lenses. I'm a rank amateur so do not attribute any of the poor images to my gear. I haven't updated it in a while and I see I should get more recent images up there. I have about 13GB of images which could use some attention.


Sketcher's Place

lol. thanks for posting what i wanted to say :beer:
yeah i really like that Canon digital. you have great shots. i've been on the lazy side lately and busy with school. haven't been inspired to shoot for months now.
i recently read that Nikon is developing a sub 1000USD camera to compete with the Canon Rebel. NIKON D70.

I want to upgrade from my digital canon a40 and upgrade from my Nikon FE2 SLR but i can't justify buying another point and shoot digital or buying an automatic film camera. I already have some nice manual lenses for my FE2 and rather not buy another automatic camera with more lenses. I'm willing to upgrade to one of the Nikon DSLRs, reuse my current lenses and even drop some money to buy a few prime lenses.

I really hope the D70 Nikon pans out. I want to upgrade.

my site hasn't been updated in months but i have a few nice shots.

http://www.sidistic.com