Which Camera? **Please read OP first**

5uspect

ifaptwohanded wrote: »

Hi all- I'm here looking for a bit of advice on buying my first DSLR camera. I haven't really any idea on what camera i should be looking to get to suit my needs as everyone is different which is why i am here.

I am always taking pictures at family events, weddings, birthday's and in general and this is exactly what i would be using my new camera for but also for on holidays and my travels.

I like Nikon D3200 and reading the reviews online a lot of people starting out recommend it.

Thank you in advance for your advice & opinions.

TBH you're not going to get anything 'different' in the entry level DSLR market. Both Canon and Nikon have equally good bodies as well as the smaller players.
All that really matters is if you like the ergonomics.

So forget about the camera and start thinking about the future. Do you see yourself getting into photography in a big way? Because if the bug bites you're going to have to start investing in real glass. Good lenses are not cheap, the kit lens that comes with most entry level SLRs is pants in comparison. However they tend to hold their value, the bodies do not.

So get any entry level kit lens equipped DSLR and see if the bug bites. It'll be pretty inexpensive in comparison to the amount you'll end up investing in a particular system long term.

Kenny Logins

^^ With this in mind, be aware that the Nikon 3xxx and 5xxx series don't have in-body focus motors, limiting the lens choice to AF-S.

alowe

I'm looking to purchase a superzoom compact. It needs to be light and compact that it'll fit in my back-pocket easily, but i'd like about 20x optical zoom. The most important part for me though is been able to take pics of moving objects, i.e. my kids, plus be able to video various plays/events that will be coming up. I'm looking for it to be a compromise for when I can't or don't want to take my dslr with me. budget is no more than €200 though. My thoughts are to try and get last years technology at a reduced price :-)

I've looked at the panasonic lumix tz35 and think this might be good within my price range, but not sure if there's one even sub €100 that I can buy this year, and then in 2 years replace with another €100 one that would be equivalent to €200 now.... sorry, hope this makes sense, and any guidance as to what to look for where greatly appreciated :-)

kiddums

Hi Folks. Im looking at buying a better camera than a point & shoot.
I'm a motorsport fan so I'd like something with a decent zoom, and a good fps in continuous shooting.
I was looking at bridge cameras for my budget (<200), and I am thinking the Nikon Coolpix L330 might be the best suited to me.
I dont think I'll be able to get a good SLR, and a good lens for my budget, but I figure someone in here would know better than me.

CommShepard

I want to replace my 8 year old Canon PowerShot S3.
I cannot decide between Panasonic FZ200 vs Canon SX50
FZ200 has better lens, but I don't know Panasonic and Canon already proved the last 10 years it's a good camera (I had a Powershot S1 before, but it was stolen)
Any suggestions?

dinneenp

The Panasonic has constant f2.8 throughout the focal length. That's a winner for me.

The newer FZ 1000 will be a lot more expensive (just out) but it has 1-inch sensor, built-in WiFi and NFC, LCD touchscreen, ability to record 4K video

Killer_banana

So I've been playing around a bit with photography and video lately and really enjoying. I've got a fairly standard panasonic compact which was fine when I got it since all I wanted were some photos of friends but now it seems awfully limited and basic. I want something better quality with decent zoom and more control. Thing is I know nothing about photography or cameras. As a newbie is it better to go for a bridge camera or a dslr? While I want to experiment more with photography it is only going to be a hobby. I know canon also have superzooms which are basically compacts with really good optical zoom. I was using someone else's recently and was surprised at the picture quality for such a small camera. Would it maybe be better to learn the basics on something like that or are they just slightly more expensive point a shoots? I'm sorry this post is so vague, I just know very little about cameras and what to look for.

Bluefoam

Killer_banana wrote: »

So I've been playing around a bit with photography and video lately and really enjoying. I've got a fairly standard panasonic compact which was fine when I got it since all I wanted were some photos of friends but now it seems awfully limited and basic. I want something better quality with decent zoom and more control. Thing is I know nothing about photography or cameras. As a newbie is it better to go for a bridge camera or a dslr? While I want to experiment more with photography it is only going to be a hobby. I know canon also have superzooms which are basically compacts with really good optical zoom. I was using someone else's recently and was surprised at the picture quality for such a small camera. Would it maybe be better to learn the basics on something like that or are they just slightly more expensive point a shoots? I'm sorry this post is so vague, I just know very little about cameras and what to look for.

Have a look at the Pentax Q, quite cheap & lots of useful lenses available. It has all of the functions of a DSLR, but doesn't output the same level of quality - however, it's not bad either. Great camera for someone getting into photography.

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.uk/en/group/130/product/10404/body/overview/digital-mirrorless.html
http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Black-Standard-Zoom-Lens/dp/B007SQB896

navan21

Hi what is the best camera to buy for photographing Newborns? Always had a big interest in this but i am a complete novice so i will be asking lots of questions on this forum! I am hoping to make a living from this eventually so i am willing to invest. I Also have newborn twin girls who i can practice with thankfully thanks!

arcius

navan21 wrote: »

Hi what is the best camera to buy for photographing Newborns? Always had a big interest in this but i am a complete novice so i will be asking lots of questions on this forum! I am hoping to make a living from this eventually so i am willing to invest. I Also have newborn twin girls who i can practice with thankfully thanks!

Get any decent DSLR, but not invest a lot money in it as for now. And get yourself a pretty good lens If I was on the budget I would buy myself canon dslr (as I am a canon person) and if the camera was crop sensor then I would get 50mm 1.4 or 85mm 1.8, and if the camera was a full sensor then I would go with 85mm 1.8. But it's just me. I believe other would have other opinions I think your eye is the most important part in the picture you take

sebphoto

navan21 wrote: »

Hi what is the best camera to buy for photographing Newborns? Always had a big interest in this but i am a complete novice so i will be asking lots of questions on this forum! I am hoping to make a living from this eventually so i am willing to invest. I Also have newborn twin girls who i can practice with thankfully thanks!

Think twice or even more before you start thinking about photography like about a business. You have to take into consideration simple fact that everyone these days call themselves newborn /wedding / portrait / or whatever photographers

Anyways, get any DSLR + set of lenses + strobes + software and hardware (powerful computer) and ..happy shooting!

Hold on a sec, I didn't mention about learning part, so maybe it would be better idea to invest (your time not money at this stage) in learning. You might not like it (so many things to learn - about photography, post processing, business planning etc.), it's tough job (I'm serious) and not everyone can do it.
If you have day job then stick to it and photography might be your hobby. You might be great photographer though, however keep in mind that it might take quite a long time... fingers crossed & good luck !

5uspect

navan21 wrote: »

Hi what is the best camera to buy for photographing Newborns? Always had a big interest in this but i am a complete novice so i will be asking lots of questions on this forum! I am hoping to make a living from this eventually so i am willing to invest. I Also have newborn twin girls who i can practice with thankfully thanks!

If you want to make a living from it then for minimum equipment:
Canon 5D mkIII about €4k
EF 85 f1.2 L about €2k
EF 24-70 f2.8 L about €1k
600EX speedlites about €500 each and you'll need at least two.
Also studio space and lighting. A fast computer and pro software. So we're talking at least €12k. Then you'll need to learn to use all this equipment, but that's easy right? There's really no point wasting your time and money on entry level gear as you won't really get results worth selling.

If you just want to take nice photos of your kids a 600D and an EF 50 f1.8 for around €500 will do exactly what you want. Please don't think that you will ever make money from photography. Facebook is littered in Joe Bloggs Photography pages replete with awful wedding photos and mangled baby pictures.

Sometimes someone will work very very hard and eventually get very very lucky where they get to a level where they can sell their work.

Lemlin

Hi folks,

Hoping I could get a bit of advice. My wife is going to New York in November. We were thinking about picking up a few electrical items including a camera. Our camera at the minute is a 6.1 megapixel Sony that I got back around 2004 so its about time we upgraded. Our thinking is we'd like to spend around €200 to €250 which would be about $350.

We'd like something fairly decent if possible as we've young kids and want to get the best pictures we can. That said, we'd like something that is easy to use as well.

Any advice and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

dauntrica

Nikon Cool pix p500 is good in terms of Pixels,Resolution and Price.Other features are also good compare to other brands like Sony,canon etc.

dinneenp

5uspect wrote: »

If you want to make a living from it then for minimum equipment:
Canon 5D mkIII about €4k
EF 85 f1.2 L about €2k
EF 24-70 f2.8 L about €1k
600EX speedlites about €500 each and you'll need at least two.

So you can't be a pro if you don't have a Canon 5D?

5uspect

My reply was pretty sarcastic. navan21 wants the best camera for photographing newborns and is willing to invest. I offered a typical selection of the best quality equipment that a professional would be expected to have invested in.

Of course if you're really good you can use pretty much anything.

There's a perception that you can buy a cheap entry level SLR and suddenly you're a pro. I've seen people who can't even take a properly exposed picture with a level horizon suddenly taking wedding bookings. It boggles the mind.

Kells...

Hey guy's,just wondering what would be a similar camera to a GoPro
Namely underwater recording at 60fps.

Bluefoam

Kells... wrote: »

Hey guy's,just wondering what would be a similar camera to a GoPro
Namely underwater recording at 60fps.

What's your criteria? GoPro is most popular for a reason. Are you looking for more features, premium price point, finishes and materials or just a cheaper version with less features and quality?

Kells...

Bluefoam wrote: »

What's your criteria? GoPro is most popular for a reason. Are you looking for more features, premium price point, finishes and materials or just a cheaper version with less features and quality?

Just a cheaper version,I'm not too fussed on features once it has decent quality and waterproof.

denismc

Contour do a small HD camera, I have one mounted on a cycling helmet.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ContourROAM2-Handsfree-HD-Action-Camera/dp/B009CN8VRK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405715960&sr=8-1&keywords=contour+camera

You can buy an underwater housing for £50.
The only downside is that you can't play back your video without hooking it up to a computer.

Roland.B.

niikon coolpix is a good camera :P

Mike Litoris

Roland.B. wrote: »

niikon coolpix is a good camera :P

Which model?


...and welcome to the internet

galwayjohn89

I'm sure this gets asked a lot but I could really do with a hand. Currently travelling around Asia and only have my phone for photos which is a big let down. I am thinking of getting a DSLR or SLR camera but have no idea where to start.

Ideally spending less than 300 euro and used mainly for scenery shots and family photos. It will be used up Everest first so not sure if it will need a special lenses for that.

I will be buying it in China or south Korea so hopefully it be slightly cheaper here!?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

kaerobe

Kells... wrote: »

Just a cheaper version,I'm not too fussed on features once it has decent quality and waterproof.

Check out the bargain alerts page here. This is similar (in many many respects) to the GoPro and the reviews are good.

http://www.tmart.com/SJ4000-Waterproof-1.5-LCD-12MP-4X-Car-DVR-Camera-Sport-DV-HD-1080P-Sport-Camcorder-Yellow_p246171.html

Bogwoppit

I'm looking to get hold of a tough camera at short notice for work, I'm thinking of either the Pentax WG-3 GPS or the WG-4 GPS.

I can't find anybody selling them in Ireland apart from pixmania who do the WG-4.

Any suggestions from the more experienced on here?

mtoutlemonde

Hello,

Aplogies if I am not posting in the correct forum. I'm going away in a few days and would like to buy a decent camera. It will probably be used only for the holiday but I would like to buy my own in case I broke/lost a borrowed one.

I have been looking around and saw two camera's on the Argos website. The two cameras I was looking at were 1. Polaroid IE826 18MP Compact Digital Camera and 2. Canon Powershot A2500 16 MP 5xZoom Digital Camera.

I compared both and the main differences I can see are in relation to the Optical Zoom which is 8 in the Polaroid compared to 5 in the Canon.

There is a Wide Angle Lens in the Canon, but there is Continous Shooting with the Polaroid.

The only other difference that I can see is with the MAX ISO range which is 400 in the Polaroid and 1600 in the Canon.

I have no idea which is best. Are either cameras any good? (for my purpose anyway). Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Alltherage

I'm having difficulty finding a decent source of information on the polaroid. I can only seem to find it on sites in Ireland england e-bay and walmart. I don't know what the story is with that I initially suspected a rebrand for the UK market but I can't find an 18mp polaroid listed on polaroid.com in the pocket sized form factor.

If you can get the chance t shoot with both and comapre that would be good but if you're in the same information vacuum as I am then go with the canon. I will say it's ISO advantage may be on paper only as it produces some pretty awful noise at 1600, but I've no shots from the 826 to compare it to so that might be equally terrible at 400 who knows.

mtoutlemonde

Alltherage wrote: »

I'm having difficulty finding a decent source of information on the polaroid. I can only seem to find it on sites in Ireland england e-bay and walmart. I don't know what the story is with that I initially suspected a rebrand for the UK market but I can't find an 18mp polaroid listed on polaroid.com in the pocket sized form factor.

If you can get the chance t shoot with both and comapre that would be good but if you're in the same information vacuum as I am then go with the canon. I will say it's ISO advantage may be on paper only as it produces some pretty awful noise at 1600, but I've no shots from the 826 to compare it to so that might be equally terrible at 400 who knows.

Thanks for your reply. I bough the Polaroid - even though there was no information on it. I did watch this video on YouTube and the reviewer said that it was a good video although in another video, he was returning it as the video playback wasn't good and there wasn't a speaker to hear the audio - this really won't bother me as I have said I was looking a cheapish camera to get me through a holiday instead of relying on my phone. (Note: The cameras do not have the correct numbers but I can't see a difference between them.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJXI1YXgFGM


I also looked at this video and at the end of the video, the reviewer gives the pros and cons of the video and there seems a lot more cons that pros. So I decided to go with the unknown. It seems to be ok - took a few photos - the only problem I could say I have with it is that is says 'Turn on flash' which is set to auto but still get the message - will have another look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6hjUl_5Qek

Anyway thanks again for replying. Hope the links work.

Periwinkle!

Hey guys just looking for some advice on the nikon d3200.

Looking to get into photography and was just wondering is this a good starter camera?

I'm living in north dublin/Meath, could anyone recommend a good beginners course to attend, and where would be a good place to purchase?

mruser2014

Hi all

I am in the process of getting a camera. I am looking at a DSLR camera for taking shots around cities and also some nature shots.

As this will be my first serious camera I am looking at the entry level DSLR.

I have narrowed it down to the following. All from Amazon.

amazon.co.uk/Canon-EOS-700D-Digital-Camera/dp/B00BYOY9AS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407334045&sr=1-1&keywords=canon+700d


amazon.co.uk/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-4-5-6-Lens/dp/B0056E49MK/ref=pd_cp_ph_0


I was also looking at the 600d but as the 700d is only 50 quid more expensive, I decided it would be better to go with that.

What do people think of my choice? It looks a good deal.

Thanks in advance.