Powershot A640 or DSLR?

[Rottie]

Should I go DSLR or buy Canon Powershot A640 I only work with modeling (myself)

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: Rottie
Should I go DSLR or buy Canon Powershot A640 I only work with modeling (myself)

Gee that is quite the vague question that is very hard to answer with the limited details provided. I had the A95 and a610 for several years before I wanted to upgrade to a dSLR. I wanted to upgrade since I wanted full manual controls and interchangeable lenses. Some questions you should answer first:
Most importantly what is your budget?
Shooting style? (what type of modeling? building models, bodybuilding, etc)
How portable of a camera do you want?
What level of control do you want? (full manual features?)

You might want to read the other threads on this forum of people asking the same questions. You could also check out other sites like http://www.Fredmiranda.com and read the comments there.

 

[tfinch2]

Apples vs. Oranges

You provide no substance to your post for us to quantify your needs.

 

[rml]

If you want faster shutter speed, DSLR

If you want it to be portable, Powershot

 

[magomago]

Just on the basis on modeling as the only thing you'll be doing....Get a DSLR with a single "portrait lens" that is 80-120mm or so. If you go with a prime (fixed focal length) you'll get better image quality

other than that...like others say you need to be way more specific.

If you really never heard of anything about DSLRs and are unsure and this will be your first digicam...I'd say go with the Powershot first.

Ideally flesh out moreso what you are expecting form the camera

 

[Rottie]

I don't know a lot about dSLR or any manual control or interchangeable lens but I am willing to learn about dSLR.
Also I have Powershot A610 for 2 years now I don't take so many pictures but like 2 or 3 a month. Most of time I take picture of me (A610 has vari-angle color LCD screen).
While using Photoshop I usually crop cut and fill background layer that about it.
If I take a dSLR plunge I might want a Rebel XTi I know I have to be careful with price

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: Rottie
I don't know a lot about dSLR or any manual control or interchangeable lens but I am willing to learn about dSLR.
Also I have Powershot A610 for 2 years now I don't take so many pictures but like 2 or 3 a month. Most of time I take picture of me (A610 has vari-angle color LCD screen).
While using Photoshop I usually crop cut and fill background layer that about it.
If I take a dSLR plunge I might want a Rebel XTi I know I have to be careful with price

That sounds like you will be happier with the a640. If you don't know much about dSLRs, and don't take many pictures, it will be a steep learning curve to be able to fully appreciate all of the flexability that a dSLR offers. Of course you could get a dSLR and leave it on manual to learn how to get used to it, but $800~$1000 seems to be the absolute minimum while the a640 is $250 at Dell.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

If you're taking pictures of yourself you might want to just go for a digicam with an adjustable LCD screen. A DSLR forces you to look through the viewfinder or the non-adjustable LCD (if you have one of the new live preview DSLRs) to frame the shot, something that is really really hard if you're a few feet in FRONT of the camera...

 

[magomago]

P&S for sure......2-3 pics a month is not that much, especially if you are going to put down a minimum 1k investment. As for taking pics of yourself, you can b position the camera with a tripod and then turning on 10 second timer, or using a shutter release cable. I'd still say save your money though

 

[Rottie]

I forgot to mention that I might be attending graphic school later this year do you think school might requrie to use dSLR for learning?

When I posted my pictures a lot of people asking me if I can take pictures of them

 

[magomago]

In the end if you are only doing 2-3 pics a month...I can't see the investment. Most likely if you need a camera for learning - any camera with basic manual controls should suffice. Of course if you could shoot raw and then always fix your w/b that is a plus...but its not necessary. Even for stuff like macro my A70 didn't do that bad of a job (and i had many manual controls to boot!) ~ of course it was not an expensive 1:5 macro lens but that is obvious with the given price range (and how the cost of the lens alone easily dwarfs any P&S)

So what if many people ask you to take pictures of them...do you actually want to go and take that many pictures of others? Will you be doing it for cash, in a situation where HQ images are of absolute importance and you want to be professional- or is this casually with friends? Even if you want to appear professionally, you can still do some interesting stuff with PS and touching them up (although i would prefer getting it right the first time). The quality of many P&S cameras are not bad at all ~ especially when resized downwards (full size is where you can see issues like noise if the lighting situation is poor) it looks very nice.

 

[Rottie]

Alright thx everybody I will go for A640 then.