I need help buying camera

[Moreno1]

The thing about digital SLR's is that they are almost a complete waste of money if you are not serious about learning how to use it. I would advise you to stay away from them otherwise, because the learning curve could be viewed as pretty steep for someone who JUST wants to take better pictures.

Buy a point and shoot, and save yourself the headache.

- Amateur photographer

[Number 3]

It's about the same as your car...........how fast do you want to go and how much money do you have to spend.

A good point and shoot will do most of what you want. But if you aspire to real photography you will want a digital slur. That gives you more options for lenses, lighting and adjustment.

But keep in mind buying a good camera is like buying a computer......5 minutes after you walk out the door there will be a newer one with more features on sale.

[SlingShot]

I've got an old Mavica floating around her somewhere, still works but just don't have a 1.44 floppys ... LOL ...

[ss=scuba steve]

BJ's, Samsung sl30 pocket cam 10.2 megapixel for about $100 works for me. Doesn't take superstar photos but its smaller and thinner than my wallet and does what I need it to do. Here's a couple I took with it.....

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by ss=scuba steve

BJ's, Samsung sl30 pocket cam 10.2 megapixel for about $100 works for me. Doesn't take superstar photos but its smaller and thinner than my wallet and does what I need it to do. Here's a couple I took with it.....

Attachment 165886

Attachment 165888

Not bad photos at all, and for $100? Dang, I need to get one myself! My neck starts to hurt after a while carrying my camera around...

[SlingShot]

Originally Posted by Nathan Moreno

Not bad photos at all, and for $100? Dang, I need to get one myself! My neck starts to hurt after a while carrying my camera around...

I had the same problem with my 5D with big lenses ... Broke down and got a harness and made a world of difference, getting the weight off the neck.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Here is what i am look to fix, Pic one is what i am trying to get my pics to look like, That is the kind of camera i want. (Pic two is my POS camera)



I tried and got this pic in my car yesterday but its only a cell phone camera and this pic is no way close to the what it look's like in real life, Its a lot closer to the first pic, so what kind of camera will come close?

[Mindz]

If you take shots at night, or in low lighting, get a DSLR, If you're shooting stationary pictures in bright light during the day, then pretty much any camera in your price range will work. From my experience, Nikon and Canon are the top two companies, and I prefer Canon to Nikon. I did about 6 months of research before buying the camera I have now, and I'm glad I did. Also www.bhphoto.com is where I bought mine. No sales tax and free shipping on lots of cameras and accessories.

Tribone, Myself and I think TripleB all have the same DSLR and we can get the shot you posted with no problems (although that's a photoshopped picture). Let me find a picture I took at night and show you what I mean.

Edit: This picture is shrunk from it's full size. The quality is the same if it's blown back up to original size also.

[SlingShot]

Photo 1 is a very high end camera and lense with studio lighting ... Also don't forget the post editing ...

Looking close at photo 1, that looks more like a digital mock up rather than an actual photo ...

[Moreno1]

Ok, i'm going to give you a quick photography 101.

ISO - setting that makes the sensor more sensitive to light. higher the setting, the more noise you are prone to get.

shutter speed - the speed of the shutter, the longer the shutter speed, the more light comes in and hits the sensor, but you will usually get blurred images unless camera is stabilized. Faster shutter lets less light hit the sensor, and captures more frozen images.

Long shutter (exaggerated)


fast shutter:



then there's aperture.

the wider open (smaller the number), the wider the shutter opens to let light in. the smaller the aperture (larger number) lets less light in. Look at the pic below for what happens with the different apertures.



Knowing these 3 things can help you take better pictures. A high iso setting, and low aperture combined with a tripod and long shutter will help you get similar results to the upper picture.

The top picture you posted was done with professional lighting too so keep that in mind.

I just grabbed all these photos off of google

[v6sonoma]

You'll want something like a DSLR with a big lens and you'll want to adjust the ISO up high and the shutter speed way down. A tripod is advised so you don't get blur. Also you don't want to crank the ISO up too high or to will make the picture grainy.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Thank you all, I did not want to spend that kind of money to take pics to post on here. So may be i will go get a cheep P.H.D. and call it a day

[v6sonoma]

Originally Posted by 2SSRS

Thank you all, I did not want to spend that kind of money to take pics to post on here. So may be i will go get a cheep P.H.D. and call it a day

If your looking to get a good camera without breaking the bank this one is a great choice. (and it's on sale!)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Nikon+-+...&skuId=9758692

[rolnslo]

Originally Posted by 2SSRS

Thank you all, I did not want to spend that kind of money to take pics to post on here. So may be i will go get a cheep P.H.D. and call it a day

I can understand that. I've got a Pentax D-SLR (plus all the lenses, tripods/monopods, neck/shoulder straps, bags, etc...) and when my wife wanted a camera, she pretty much said..."get me something simple that takes good pictures and doesn't cost more than $100". It was a challenge but I ended up with a Samsung SL-420 that I picked up on sale at Sears for $95. It takes nice pictures, especially given the price point.

Start here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/best-cameras.html

Pick a price range and then read up on the reviews. To get blur free low light images, you'll want a camera that has optical image stabilization. You can find this even on sub-$150 cameras, just make sure you look for one that has it.

Once you find a camera you think might work, see if you can find any photos taken with it on here: http://www.flickr.com/cameras/