Looking for a Camera

[xanis]

To be honest, I really don't have much money to spend on a new camera, but I would like something of my own instead of using my dad's Sony point-and-shoot. I'm not really an avid photographer and it's more of a interesting hobby for me. I'm also probably going to major in Graphic Design and I would like to think dabbling in photography would help. I don't need the top-of-the-line DSLR or anything like that, but I definitely need something better than a standard point-and-shoot. It's going to be tough to get one for my budget, which is $400, but I would like some help. I'm pretty much a total noob at photography and any help or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[DBL]

On the canon side, look for a used rebel (6mp) with the kit lens and pickup a 50mm f/1.8 for $75.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Text

 

[blinblue]

It depends a lot on what type of photography you are doing. If you plan to do a lot of people photography, a DSLR is probably the best way to go (you can pick them up cheap now, I believe Pentax has some nice rebates). If you don't plan on doing people photography, then a DSLR is probably not the best choice for a first real camera.

I know this is out of the budget (if you buy it new that is $475 at beachcamera.com), but the Panasonic FZ30 is a fantastic camera (I own one). It isn't great as an indoor/low light camera, but it is amazing outdoors. It has a 12x optical manual zoom lens with image stabilization (which is the best thing ever), it has a great feel to it, and can take some amazing photos. It is a very fun camera to have around and is worth at least checking out.

Also check out some sites that are dedicated to digital photography, my favorite being dpreview.com

Best of luck

 

[kalster]

canon s2IS is a great choice.

 

[Mrvile]

If you're only looking at just regular photography and don't need all the fancies, take a look at the S3 IS - a good all-around enthusiast point-and-shoot. Aflac has one, he can comment on any specifics. The FZ30 is also a great camera, I've seen a lot of stunning work done with it as well.

$400 these days can get you a pretty nice point-and-shoot camera, so it'll be hard to go wrong.

Also, you'll want a camera (not necesarily a good one) for graphic design - the freedom of taking your own stock and reference photos is very flexible, you won't regret it.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

I got my Casio Exilim Z850 for a bit over $300 (dell deal thing)

I have some sample shots, and you can pm me if you want to see 'em. Or just do a search about a spider and my name in off topic, or just search spider in bbzzdd.

anyways, i like the camera, but the problems is that you have to hope you get the camera w/ the latest firmware (1.00.09). Cameras that were released w/ older firmwares have problems w/ oversharpness, overexposure, and really really messed up movies (artifacting, severe sidestepping, etc.) 1.00.09 doesn't solve all these problems, but it's a ton lot better than the previous ones (after exchanging movies and pics @ dpreview forums).

i'm very happy w/ my camera. It has too many features to mess around with lol. I love the option to manually focus anywhere on the camera's viewing area. That's waay too cool. Man, also, I haven't charged the damn thing for a week now, and i filled up my 1 gig memory card and 1/3rd of my 2nd 1 gig card.

all on one charge.

They advertise it at 450 shots. I have a lot of my settings maxed out (LCD at highest brightness, so i can see what i'm shooting @ during day, etc), and still the battery's going strong. Insanest battery life ever.
The shutter speed is insane. YOU HAVE TO GET A 133X SD card for this!!! If you do, you can take pictures almost at will.

I have a 133x SD card, and a 40X SD card. I want to choke that person here in AT that said "yaya it doesn't matter unless you have a $10000 camera blahblah." fvck him. my 133x transfers stuff to my comptuer sooo much faster than the clumsy 40x.

I also can take pictures faster. You can take 3 shots in very quick succession before the internal 8 meg memory gets filled and flushed to your SD card. If you have a 133x +++ card, then you can take shots a lot faster.

Thie camera never flinches. It takes anything no matter what the lighting is. I just press, and I never ever have to wait for the lens to focus on something and then take a shot.


Yes, I know my camera is a P&S camera, but it's portable, and i'm not much of an enthusiast anyways. Oddly enough, the camera has made me take pics of random crap i find anywhere, and I found myself messing with photoshop wiht the pics i took. 3264x2448 resolution of goodness.

Here are my extremely stupid and crappy screaming w/ amateurism wannabe-cameraman shots (messing with manual settings and such to get rid of grain in low lighting situations, or high contrast situations. NOT DIALUP FRIENDLY!!!!)
Turtle
Actually, plenty of ambient light, except explosure manually set to lower time (1/100s)
Spider
Forest. messing w/ one of the camera's "best shot" configurations. There's like a list of predetermined settings to apply for various types of shots (macro, old-setting, lowlight, high movement, against sun, etc etc)

btw, i got this camera last week. Dell still has it for $299 after coupons I believe (the coupons will expire very soon iirc)

If you want more info about the camera I bought, then pm me. I'll tell you all the pro's and cons, and all the stuff i've read in the reviews from dpreview and stevedigicams, and their forums.

Stevedigicams and dpreview has a lot of sample shots for this camera. check out their sites to make your decision. My decision obviously came due to this camera's:

battery life
shutter speed
tons of features
$300!!!
$100 cheaper than the canon SD500 I was eyeing (at the time i bought it. I believe the SD500 is cheaper now).
Has more customizable features than SD500.


anyways, on the topic of cameras..
who wants to buy my used digicam??
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=45&threadid=1889206

 

[ElFenix]

the S2IS and S3IS are great cameras except for the fact that they're completely lacking in the wide angle department, as is pretty much every other p&s type digicam. the exceptions are the canon S80 (28 mm wide), the panasonic DMC-FX01 (28mm), and kodak V570 (23 mm fixed length lens with a 39-117 mm zoom).

panasonic tends to be a bit too heavy with the noise reduction for my liking. i've been taking a good long look at the FZ30 and its predecessors for a while, and i just can't get over the fact that they start at 38 mm, and if you want lower you have to buy an accessory lens (which, though the panasonic is probably the best one ever made, are never quite as good as the lens on the camera).

i don't know much about the kodak.

now, you might think that it isn't a big deal, taking a usual 35 mm wide angle over a 28 mm wide angle, but the difference between the two in just how much you can capture is dramatic. just take a look at this picture right here. now, you might be thinking, all that telephoto looks great, surely it is more usable than an extra 7 mm on the wide end. truth be told, though, long telephoto is entirely overrated. there, i said it. unless you're doing bird photography (in which case you need 500 mm on a tripod with a fast SLR anyway), you'll find yourself shooting in wide more than tele (unless you're one of those people with the bad habit of using the zoom on the lens to frame your shot). there is a reason that photo.net recommends getting a 50 mm prime lens first (it has a 'normal' viewing angle equivalent to the human eye), and a wide angle lens second:

telephoto simply isn't that useful for creative photography.

 

[montanafan]

Lots of good DSLR type cameras out there in your price range, but you have to look around because the price can vary widely from site to site.

Look on www.dpreview.com to compare some like the:

Canon PowerShot S2 IS - nice camera well within your price range

Pentax *ist DL - really nice camera, price varies widely, could be found in your price range with a rebate.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 - nice camera, could be found in your price range.