Help Please Total Amateur and I need a new camera (update post 10. Found one?)

[DVC Jen]

Hi..

Please take pity on me. Last June DH and I partook of the wine package a bit too much while on the Magic (DCL) and during the pirate night dinner - while taking a very loopy "self portrait' we dropped our camera and the screen broke.

Now we are in the market for a new camera. I see so many pics here on the Dis that are simply amazing. I want a camera that can do that! AND I want to learn how to use that camera so it CAN do that.

I want to be able to take pictures of my daughter during her dance recitals and not have them come out blurry. I know this is difficult with her dancing, but there has to be a camera and a way to do it. Right?

I also want to get some amazing night time shot when we are at WDW and I want to get some amazing shots of the fireworks.

My DH and I are also storm spotters for our city/county and always take the camera out with us in the hopes that some day we can get some good pics of cloud formations - lightening - rain bands that type of thing.

We can spend somewhere in the range of 600.00 - 800.00 on a good camera - but I am totally clueless on what to get. And once I get it, I know I am going to have to just "play" with it a lot, but I am also hoping that someone here may take me under there wing and help me along the way.

Any suggestions on cameras? And anyone brave enough to be my mentor and help when I am lost?

 

[DVC Jen]

No one? Not even suggestions on a good camera?

 

[Groucho]

No need to be impatient , I think everyone's still decompressing after a big meal yesterday and/or napping after a rough morning of Black Friday shopping!

Your price range gets you into the DSLR range - which can be good or bad. Good as DSLRs can produce unbeatable quality, bad as you'll need to work a little harder to get really good photos, plus you'll need supplementary lenses to get the range of zoom that the SLR-like camera do (with their 12x lenses.)

If you want a DSLR, the Pentax K100D is IMHO the obvious choice at the moment, $520 after rebate with a nice 18-55mm lens and image stabilization. All DSLRs offer terrific quality but nothing can come close to giving you so much for so little as the Pentax. There's also a Pentax K110D for about $100 cheaper, but I would spend the extra for the image stabilization.

If you don't want a DSLR, there are many 12x zoom, image stabilized cameras available... the hot ones seem to be the Sony and Canon ones, but others are worth considering, too.

 

[DVC Jen]

Thanks Groucho. I guess now I need to understand what the DSLR is all about. Does that mean I have to choose all the settings on the camera? I took several photography classes in high school - but unfortunately that was forever ago and I have forgotten nearly everything I learned about the ins and outs of cameras. I do remember a lot about composition and what makes a good picture and what doesn't - but it is the actual technical camera know-how that I need to relearn.

 

[Olaf]

Sorry, I don't know much about the other cameras out there on the market. I would suggest reading through some of the old messages. I bought the Canon Digital Rebel XT after scanning through this message board and seeing what it can do.

 

[Graeme]

I've got a Canon S3IS and I love it! flick it on auto and it does all the thinking I need, but if I want to fiddle it does that as well. www.dpreview.com has a good write up on it.

 

[Anewman]

Jennifer, do not worry about having to set all setting on DSLRs. Auto settings work perfectly, but the options to use full manual and anything in between do exist.

Now my pick

This CAMERA
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=CNDRXTB

with this LENS
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=CN5018II

Adds up to less than $600 and IMO is unbeatable when it comes to picture quality in this price range.

 

[JohnW]

Good choice on the body IMO (Anewman) but I have to say a bit surprised on the choice of lens. I believe it is a very good lens but as the only lens for the camera, is a fixed length a good idea? Wouldn't the OP be better off with a more all round lens with some zoom?

 

[Anewman]

Good choice on the body IMO (Anewman) but I have to say a bit surprised on the choice of lens. I believe it is a very good lens but as the only lens for the camera, is a fixed length a good idea? Wouldn't the OP be better off with a more all round lens with some zoom?

Well Yes a zoom would be more versitale, but you would have to spend well over $400 more to get a zoom lens with comprable image qualities(IMO). And I have yet to see ANY zoom that would do better at her daughters dance recitals, yes she would need to position herself properly but the picture quality will be as good as it gets in her price range.

And again IMO, learning to shoot with a PRIME will help with ones long term overall photography skills. I always use a baseball analogy...

"Who will be a better hitter in the long run, the one that learns how to hit with a cheap HEAVY wood bat or the one that learned to hit with the expensive ultra light metal(composite) bat?"

also she would still have $200 under her budget to save towards a future lens, once she realizes what lens would best suit her shooting style.

 

[DVC Jen]

I did a little bit of looking today and talked with a man at CompUSA about cameras and this is the one he recommended. The price was 699.00 and it had a case with room for more lenses, another battery and something else - I don't remember what it was right now for another 100.00.

Here is the camera he suggested. Camera What do you all think? Is it going to be something that I can put in auto until I get the hang of the settings and figure out what I am doing, or should I go with something simpler.

He suggested this camera over a less expensive one when I told him I wanted to use it for night shots and fireworks.

 

[Anewman]

I did a little bit of looking today and talked with a man at CompUSA about cameras and this is the one he recommended. The price was 699.00 and it had a case with room for more lenses, another battery and something else - I don't remember what it was right now for another 100.00.

Here is the camera he suggested. Camera What do you all think? Is it going to be something that I can put in auto until I get the hang of the settings and figure out what I am doing, or should I go with something simpler.

He suggested this camera over a less expensive one when I told him I wanted to use it for night shots and fireworks.

That is the same camera I linked to, and yes it gives GREAT results using AUTO. The Web site I linked to has the camera body only at $525(with kit lens it is $608), they do not charge sales tax and give you free shipping. Feel free to so a search on "buydig", you will see that it is very well respected here and elsewhere.

I am guessing the other item you are forgetting about is a Tripod, to be honest I would skip those accesories since one can buy better quality products for the same or even less money.

 

[3dog2kidmom]

My dad has this camera and really likes it. Unfortunately it is out of my price range, and I bought my Canon S2 IS last year... maybe when I need to replace that! I think a lot of people here like the Rebel XT. Good luck!!

 

[Groucho]

Honestly, I would look very closely at the Pentax K100D over the Rebel XT. The megapixels are lower (which means little in the real world - there's not much difference between 6 and 8) but the Pentax offers you more features (image stabilization, spot metering, much better viewfinder, much larger LCD, what most feel are better ergonomics, etc) for less money. Not to say that the Rebel is a bad camera, far from it (and image quality is a given with DSLRs, they're all superb) - but again, I believe the Pentax offers more for less. I'm sure you'd be happy with either one, though.

I would take any CompUSA suggestions with a grain of salt - they're not exactly photo experts - in my experience, there's not exactly computer experts either.

I'm still not convinced that you need/want a DSLR though. A DSLR on auto will not do much better at night than a PnS. For one thing, a DSLR on auto will generally not go past 400ISO, which is probably less than you'll need to get low-light photos of moving objects like a parade. On the other hand, for fireworks, you'll want a low ISO but a longer shutter.

Most of the advanced Point-n-Shoot cameras let you choose most manual settings (ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, etc) if you get more advanced, and are smaller and have longer zoom than a DSLR with most lenses. (You need approximately a 300mm lens on a DSLR to equal the 12x zoom of an SLR-like PnS.) A DSLR doesn't NEED the user to understand the more technical sides, but it really helps, and they're designed for a more advanced user than a SLR-like PnS. If you don't remember the technical side of things, I think you might be happier spending less and getting one of the advanced PnS cameras.

It'll also cost less to replace if it gets, ahem, "dropped" like the old camera!

 

[DVC Jen]

Thanks for your opinions Groucho.

I will check into the Pentax.

As far as a DSLR camera - it really is the direction I want to go down. I may not understand all the ins and outs of it right away - but I want to learn. I also don't want to spend the money on a point and shoot and then a year from now regret my decision and turn around and spend more money on getting the DSLR then.

I really want something that takes decent pics on AUTO - and will also let me play with it and learn to become a much better photographer. I don't want to limit myself by buying a camera that I will not be able to grow with.

My best friend is a photographer and I have been sending messages back and forth to her the past day. She is willing to help me learn. I just wish she lived closer. She is on the Texas panhandle and I am in the Dallas area. Oh well.

 

[Groucho]

As far as a DSLR camera - it really is the direction I want to go down. I may not understand all the ins and outs of it right away - but I want to learn. I also don't want to spend the money on a point and shoot and then a year from now regret my decision and turn around and spend more money on getting the DSLR then.

Best of luck - that's one of the great things about a DSLR, you're sure to be happy to matter which one you pick.

 

[jann1033]

just remember with any dslr the body and kit lens is only the beginning...i would guess for storms you'd want something with some zoom ( i was way to close to a tornado once so maybe that's why i think that ) which you will end up spending at least a few hundred more for ( thinking the sigma 18-125 which last i looked was around 250+, that's the cheapest i know of and not really that much zoom)
i bought a rebel xt last summer and have spent almost $1800 total( body was i think 600 with rebate) and still want another lens for a larger zoom ( $600 range so that 's why i am still waiting ) which will bring it up to $2400 and i have bought the low end lens with IS ( not external flash yet either, couple hundred more)

however a nice p &s with 12x will cost you around $400 and the zoom wil be way more than the sigma( think 12x is round 400mm ). given the average p&s life is about a few yrs, you could learn to use the set your own modes (on i think most of the big zoom P&s) and in a couple yrs be ready to really use a dslr..if you haven't used a slr, it will be an enormous learning curve to jump in and use a dslr and at least those here with the canon s2/3 p&s get great results. just something to think about... cameras change so quickly, imho it's kind of a waste to spend a few thousand now to use it like a p &s but end up wanting a newer model by the time you learn to really use it. the IS of the canon s2/3 might help with blur too and nighttime you'd probably want a tripod no matter what camera you get

 

[Groucho]

however a nice p &s with 12x will cost you around $400 and the zoom wil be way more than the sigma( think 12x is round 400mm ).

FWIW, 12x zoom on a PnS equals 432mm on a 35mm. To compare that to a DSLR, take your SLR lens and multiple times the crop factor... so for a 200mm lens, a 1.5x crop will equal out to a 300mm, a 1.6x will equal out to 320mm, and a 2x crop will equal out to 400mm. On most DSLRs, you're looking at a 300mm lens to match or beat a 12x zoom PnS.