New camera??

[firegurl]

Many months after terrible photos of our Disney trip, my DH has finally decided that we should upgrade our cameras. We currently both have 10mp Kodak P & S that are about 2 years old. I am sure a lot of the problem is user error but I am fed up with the bad photos. I am not sure we are looking to put out the money on a DSLR quite yet. We would probably like to stay below the $400 range so we are looking at more of a bridge. DH really likes the Nikon P500 or P510. This is probably because a friend of ours has one and we know the pictures that it can take. My SIL is pretty knowledgable in photography so I asked her opinion. She has recommended Canon. I have looked at the Canon SX40HS or the G12. Opinions?

Our biggest issues are overall bluriness, incredibly dark pictures unless we are outside on the brightest day and lag time in the shutter. I have a million pics of the back of DS's head as he goes past on rides. Outside of pointing and clicking, I have pretty much no knowledge of photography but I am willing to learn, especially with a new camera. Our DS is getting into sports so we would like to be able to take lots of great shots of him.

 

[irishtigger]

I had one and my DISNEY pictures came out so bad that i sent it in for repair cause I thought something was wrong with it. I usually take great pictures and I am always the photographer at events so you can see my shock to having bad pictures. I bought a canon after I got back and I have never looked back. I have the digital elph 960 the camera is about 3 years old now and still takes great pictures. I recently purchase a canon DSLR T3i and I love that too. I suggest the canon

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Many months after terrible photos of our Disney trip, my DH has finally decided that we should upgrade our cameras. We currently both have 10mp Kodak P & S that are about 2 years old. I am sure a lot of the problem is user error but I am fed up with the bad photos. I am not sure we are looking to put out the money on a DSLR quite yet. We would probably like to stay below the $400 range so we are looking at more of a bridge. DH really likes the Nikon P500 or P510. This is probably because a friend of ours has one and we know the pictures that it can take. My SIL is pretty knowledgable in photography so I asked her opinion. She has recommended Canon. I have looked at the Canon SX40HS or the G12. Opinions?

Our biggest issues are overall bluriness, incredibly dark pictures unless we are outside on the brightest day and lag time in the shutter. I have a million pics of the back of DS's head as he goes past on rides. Outside of pointing and clicking, I have pretty much no knowledge of photography but I am willing to learn, especially with a new camera. Our DS is getting into sports so we would like to be able to take lots of great shots of him.

I'm going to make a recommendation that may sound counterintuitive, but it really isn't. I would suggest learning more about photography before buying a camera. There are little things that could help with your current camera, like pre-focusing by pressing the shutter half-way before fully depressing the shutter button. Remember, photographers take pictures not cameras. Cameras are tools. You first need to have some knowledge of what makes a good exposure. I would recommend a book, either in paper or electronic, by Bryan Peterson, Understanding Exposure. IMHO, once you learn more about photography it will help in choosing your next camera. There are so many types of cameras currently available, it can be a little confusing so every bit of knowledge you gain can't hurt you.

 

[firegurl]

I should have given a little more information. I have had success with cameras in the past but the ones that we have now just aren't great so we want to upgrade. The issue of shutter speed can't be fixed with what we have and I know one of the only ways to capture what I want is to adjust that or have faster shutter spead. There is very little that can be adjusted on our current cameras.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I haven't been a fan of the Kodak cameras, but my curiosity brings me to ask the question of which camera do you have? My son has an older Kodak which allows him to choose some options and he does quite well with it. I do like the Canon P & S', even though I do not use their DSLR's. Our family has two older PowerShot SD 800 IS' and they produce nice images. Here are a couple of images from these cameras, both handheld.


Kim Castle 4 by Gianna'sPapa, on Flickr


Castle Kim Night by Gianna'sPapa, on Flickr

 

[donac]

How is the canon in low light. I need a new camera and the upgrade on mine has some negative comments about low light. I have a panasonic and love it but want a longer zoom. I take a lot of theater pictures during the year and they have some strange light.


You pictures are beautiful. Those are the ones I want to take in Aug.

 

[Tink1073]

I just bought the Canon S100. It's great in low light! That's the reason I bought it actually. Overall, I'm very happy with it so far. I'm planning to take a photography class as well to get more out of it.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

How is the canon in low light. I need a new camera and the upgrade on mine has some negative comments about low light. I have a panasonic and love it but want a longer zoom. I take a lot of theater pictures during the year and they have some strange light.


You pictures are beautiful. Those are the ones I want to take in Aug.

Thank you for the compliment. I will pass it along to my youngest DD. Our two P & S' were introduced in 2006, so they are older cameras. They have enough manual controls to produce good images. Since I shoot with DSLR's I am not as familiar with the P & S cameras as I would like to be. I just like to point out that good images can be produced with them, even low light. Canon introduced 14 new P & S cameras so far in 2012 and another 14 in 2011! I'm not sure how anyone can keep up with the changes and/or make a recommendation when they are introducing that many cameras each year. I would recommend using a website like dpreview.com to look for the options you desire, their reviews and then go to a store and handle the cameras. Here is another handheld lowlight image taken by the DD. It can be done!!


Main St Cinema Night Kim by Gianna'sPapa, on Flickr

 

[traylorc]

I'm going to make a recommendation that may sound counterintuitive, but it really isn't. I would suggest learning more about photography before buying a camera.

I wholeheartedly agree with this recommendation.

If you really want to improve your photography, improve your photography knowledge. Yes buying a better camera can help, but if you do not have a basic understanding of photography then your next camera purchase may not solve all the issues you are currently experiencing.

IMHO it all comes down to this....do you want to take better snapshots or do you want to take better pictures? If you are simply looking for better snapshots (nothing wrong with that), then just go to CNET and simply buy one of the cameras listed in their best budget camera list. If you want to take better pictures, if you want to learn how to deal with low light situations, why using a flash during the day may be a good thing, how to take shots of moving subjects, then I would follow Giana's Papa recommendation and purchase Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

Whatever you elect to do....good luck & have fun.