Beginners photography-what camera do I buy?

musicismylife78

i am a beginner, so i dont have a ton to spend on it, but, what would you suggest for a beginners camera? I dont think I want a digital camera really, or a camcorder, just a regular camera.

Any suggestions? What cameras do all you photographers here on this board use?

gunda

seriously you should start with a disposable one their cheap and can lead to great pics once you learn how to use lighting to your advantage. then move on to a point and shoot where u can adjust aperture and focus this is a great hobby but can get expensive.

81

do they even make film anymore?

gunda

81 wrote:

do they even make film anymore?

yeah but its not that easy to come if u see it and have the cash stockpile it will last bout a year

polaris_x

gunda wrote:

seriously you should start with a disposable one their cheap and can lead to great pics once you learn how to use lighting to your advantage. then move on to a point and shoot where u can adjust aperture and focus this is a great hobby but can get expensive.

??????

this is weird advice - anyhoo, i would suggest you get a used entry level digital SLR ... you can take a course or read a book on the basics of photography and go from there ... i don't see why anyone would not want a digital camera these days ... film is obsolete ...

i would say canon and nikon have the majority of the market ... and with how many photographers are upgrading to the latest and greatest - i would think you can get a used one pretty cheap ...

blackredyellow

polaris_x wrote:

gunda wrote:

seriously you should start with a disposable one their cheap and can lead to great pics once you learn how to use lighting to your advantage. then move on to a point and shoot where u can adjust aperture and focus this is a great hobby but can get expensive.

this is weird advice - anyhoo, i would suggest you get a used entry level digital SLR ... you can take a course or read a book on the basics of photography and go from there ... i don't see why anyone would not want a digital camera these days ... film is obsolete ...

i would say canon and nikon have the majority of the market ... and with how many photographers are upgrading to the latest and greatest - i would think you can get a used one pretty cheap ...

I agree... a Canon Rebel XS or Nikon D3000 will run you about $500 new for the body and basic lens. Check ebay or Craigslist for older models, and you can probably get one for half that.

Heck, I just checked ebay and here's a used Canon 300D for a little over $100. http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-Digital-R ... 19bce5eeee

I bought the Canon around Christmas and since bought a zoom lens for it, and honestly, I've taken more pictures in the last six months than I probably have my whole life. It's a blast, and the quality of images are excellent.

81

gunda wrote:

81 wrote:

do they even make film anymore?

yeah but its not that easy to come if u see it and have the cash stockpile it will last bout a year

one of the best things about digital vs. film is that you can shoot the same thing 15 times really quick and pick the best of the bunch to print or whatever you want to do with it. with film, if you shoot it 15 times, you are going to be paying a ton for film and processing, plus you have to wait for development. and of course, if you want to share it via email or post it to a web site, you will need a scanner.

nuffingman

I agree with all 3 previous posts. A second hand digital SLR would be ideal. I wouldn't touch film.

blackredyellow

81 wrote:

gunda wrote:

81 wrote:

do they even make film anymore?

yeah but its not that easy to come if u see it and have the cash stockpile it will last bout a year

one of the best things about digital vs. film is that you can shoot the same thing 15 times really quick and pick the best of the bunch to print or whatever you want to do with it. with film, if you shoot it 15 times, you are going to be paying a ton for film and processing, plus you have to wait for development. and of course, if you want to share it via email or post it to a web site, you will need a scanner.

A friend of mine in college used to shoot pictures of stars and stuff with a 35mm film camera... he had a book where he noted all of the aperture settings and everything for each picture. Then get them developed and see which settings worked.

With digital, you can play with everything on the fly and see instantly how it turns out.

rafie

I have a cannon S3 and love it. It has plenty of advanced features, but also point and shoot capability.

eyedclaar

I need something that can get really nice close-ups of wildlife, survive a bear mauling, and double as a hand-grenade. Anything like that on the market yet?

Sidnum

musicismylife78 wrote:

i am a beginner, so i dont have a ton to spend on it, but, what would you suggest for a beginners camera? I dont think I want a digital camera really, or a camcorder, just a regular camera.

Any suggestions? What cameras do all you photographers here on this board use?

I got a used Nikon D70 for $299. But, the real question is, what is your actual budget? Then we could tell you exactly what to get.

If you want to learn, you should at least get something that has an option for total manual settings. That way you can get a feel and learn about all aspects of photography.

Franny

musicismylife78 wrote:

i am a beginner, so i dont have a ton to spend on it, but, what would you suggest for a beginners camera? I dont think I want a digital camera really, or a camcorder, just a regular camera.

Any suggestions? What cameras do all you photographers here on this board use?

Well I'm not a "photgrapher" by any means, but I do like something fairly decent. I have been using a sony for about 4years now without any hassles, but I am looking to upgrade to something like a Lumix (panasonic)FZ35/FZ38, it has a decent enough pic quality (12.1MP) and the zoom is something I really am looking out for now..this has 18x zoom (which is something I think is very important)....plenty of other stuff too(yep I'm up with the technologic terminology shit ). The rrp of this little sucker is about $699 Au, but can get on ebay with heaps of extra stuff for around $420 delivered. There are plenty of options out there, just check some of the sites that do comparisons of cameras to get idea of the pros and cons.