Complete newbie. Advice needed please

HankScorpio1985

Hi all,

I am in the market for a camera and have read through many forums and articles but looking for some final advice. I have never owned a proper camera before, unless you count a very much reduced digital camera bought on a J1 in the US or the camera on my iPhone. I travel a lot and usually use my iPhone and most of the time the pictures are ok. But I really want to step it up a gear in the photography stakes. First of all I am probably going to buy second hand as I am a complete newbie and to get some experience cheaper. I think I am going to go with a compact system camera as it seems to be a nice step from a normal digital camera with most of the benefits of a DSLR just not as expensive or big. I was looking specifically at the Nikon 1 J2. It seems to get good reviews and is relatively cheap second hand. Would people on here recommend it? Or any other recommendations? I will mainly be using it for travel photography(landscapes, sunrises etc.) but not looking for spectacular. I like the fact that it's compact and easy to use but you can still change lenses when you want. Any other advice would be most helpful!

Thanks in advance,

h

allfred

Hi there,

From the specs:
RAW shooting - So you can experiment processing your pics.
P,A,S,M modes - So you can decided aperture and length of exposure or semi-automatic.
Different lenses (if you get any other but I see limited number of second hand lenses there).
3 Metering modes including Center - Allow to expose the picture in the spot you choose.
5 Autofocus modes including Single Spot - You start to decided where to focus on the pic.
Some flash controll including front and rear curtain;
Nice video capabilities;
Iso controll?? coun't find.

So as per specifications the camera will allow a good level of control however from my very limited experience the shape of the camera and the position of the controls, being able to frame the pic without the bits and pieces around the screen has a different impact on how you may take pictures. Sure it's a good step up from full-auto cameras like the one on your iPhone and will give you plenty to learn: ( Combination of aperture and depth of field - long exposure and light trails - rear curtain shots - etc... ) and many other that at the moment is left to the camera software.

I think for pretty much the same price than the camera you are mentioning you could get a second hand dsrl, of course older than the Nikon 1 J2 but not worse in quality ( eg Nikon d3100 ). To be fair I don't know the quality capability of the Nikon 1 J2.

Otherwise you could go for a bridge-camera.

On the other hand shooting with a camera like that will will let you shoot with a different style.

In my opinion very different way of shooting, is like driving a quad and a motorbike, both are "motorbikes".

Hopes this helps a little bit.

Check this website: dpreview.com

cnocbui

Compact system cameras were pioneered by Olympus and Panasonic with their micro four thirds standard. Nikon are newcomers and their offerings are not as readily available, extensive or as mature as what you will find in the M4/3 ecosystem, particularly in terms of lenses available. I would suggest you broaden your horizons beyond the more obvious brand name.

For traveling, the Olympus E-M10 is worth considering if you want a viewfinder. If you you want something even more compact and don't mind the lack of a viewfinder, the Panasonic GM1 offers astonishing performance for it's size.