New to photography/videography.

[mcwarriors2012]

Hey everyone,

we are avid disney people and are going back in february. I am 24 and my parents are asking me what i want for xmas. I would really like a HIGH quality camera so that i can take pictures around the park. I told my mom this and she said well find someone around 500 hundred. What i would like to know is what do u guys suggest for a HD camera in that price range?

I want it for photography, but it must also do HD video. I love watching on ride videos on youtbe and would like to start posting my own videos. DO u know of a camera that can do both video and pictures?

Any help would be great

 

[photo_chick]

There is such a wide range of models to choose from in your price range. What other features would you like besides video? dpreview.com has some great buying guides that can help you figure out what features you might want. It would be a good place to start researching to help narrow down what you're looking for.

 

[ShadeRF]

I may be biased as a bit of a Nikon fanboy but I'd suggest the Nikon D3200. It's an incredible entry DSLR that will allow you to take great high quality photos and video.

 

[havoc315]

First decision is whether you want a compact, bridge, mirrorless, or dSLR.

 

[DSLRuser]

buying a new camera is like buying a new car.

way too many options for you to just blindly ask a forum what should i get. it took me 3 weeks of reading reviews, determining my skill level, deciding what my end goal is, how much money did i have.... the list of questions go on and on.

i decided on a higher end "pro-sumer" nikon d7000 and some higher end glass (lenses) to go only with it. Knowing the lenses will be with me longer than my camera body.

so back to cameras and cars. you can buy a toyota prius, or you can buy a ford mustang. and many cars in between. they all will get your from point a to point b, but only you know what and how you ultimatly want to get there. and just know, what ever you choose, some clown will say you should have got the Bently instead.

cameras are just like that. dpreview.com is a great place to start.

 

[bob100]

Hey everyone,

we are avid disney people and are going back in february. I am 24 and my parents are asking me what i want for xmas. I would really like a HIGH quality camera so that i can take pictures around the park. I told my mom this and she said well find someone around 500 hundred. What i would like to know is what do u guys suggest for a HD camera in that price range?

I want it for photography, but it must also do HD video. I love watching on ride videos on youtbe and would like to start posting my own videos. DO u know of a camera that can do both video and pictures?

Any help would be great

I agree with the others, decide if you want compact, bridge, mirror-less or DSLR and see what is in your price range. I prefer Canon for the superior image quality and other features but the other brands are OK.
e.g.
Canon 550d / T2i - around $400 with 18-55IS lens
Canon 600 / T3i - $550 with 1855IS

 

[LittleMissMagic]

There's really hardly a difference besides preference when it comes to choosing Nikon/Canon/Sony/Pentax.

Like everyone else said, first you need to decide if you want compact, bridge, mirrorless, or DSLR. I went for compact (Nikon1 J1) for travel so it would be easy to pack and carry around with me everywhere I go. I was also drawn to the clean white look of it (yeahh... I'm a girl, what can I say? ) and its ability to take HD video and still photos at the same time.

Once you decide what type of camera you want, it really just comes down to preference of brands and price. You could get into comparing tiny specs, but really no brand is far superior over the other. It all comes down to what's best for you.

I suggest going to Best Buy or an electronics store where you can pick up the cameras and just get a feel of them. See what's comfortable in your hand as far as where the controls are, grip, etc.

 

[havoc315]

There's really hardly a difference besides preference when it comes to choosing Nikon/Canon/Sony/Pentax.

Like everyone else said, first you need to decide if you want compact, bridge, mirrorless, or DSLR. I went for compact (Nikon1 J1) for travel so it would be easy to pack and carry around with me everywhere I go. I was also drawn to the clean white look of it (yeahh... I'm a girl, what can I say? ) and its ability to take HD video and still photos at the same time.

Once you decide what type of camera you want, it really just comes down to preference of brands and price. You could get into comparing tiny specs, but really no brand is far superior over the other. It all comes down to what's best for you.

I suggest going to Best Buy or an electronics store where you can pick up the cameras and just get a feel of them. See what's comfortable in your hand as far as where the controls are, grip, etc.

Generally, I'm going to agree with everything that was just said. But don't use your visit to the Best Buy showroom to pick the actual camera. Playing around with the display models won't give you all the information you need. But it's great to get an idea for the TYPE of camera you want. Do you want something that goes into your pocket, or maybe you size doesn't bother you. Or maybe you even just want something more substantive in your hand. Do you want the simplest possible controls. Do you want an optical viewfiner, electric viewfinder, or are you ok with just an LCD screen.


Once you have a general idea of camera type, you can start to look pros and cons. THere are lots of high quality cameras in your price range that can do video and photo. But do you want interchangeable lenses. How important is zoom. How important is low light, etc.

For the most part, the brand names are comparable. Especially if talking about dSLRs. For non-dSLRs, pros and cons are more model specific. For dSLRs.. Sony is a bit different. They got rid of dSLRs and started making dSLTs. From the user experience, very very similar, except electronic viewfinder instead of optical, with a few pros and cons as a result (faster video focusing, shoot at faster frames per second, but slightly more noise, harder to pan when taking pictures). Nikons have the reputation of the best overall image quality. But really, if looking at dSLRs, all the major brands will produce very similar image quality which becomes largely dependent on lenses.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Generally, I'm going to agree with everything that was just said. But don't use your visit to the Best Buy showroom to pick the actual camera. Playing around with the display models won't give you all the information you need. But it's great to get an idea for the TYPE of camera you want. Do you want something that goes into your pocket, or maybe you size doesn't bother you. Or maybe you even just want something more substantive in your hand. Do you want the simplest possible controls. Do you want an optical viewfiner, electric viewfinder, or are you ok with just an LCD screen.

Yeah, that's a great point. I didn't really mean just go to a showroom and choose a camera... but I think it's a good starting point to actually pick up the camera and feel it.

 

[manning]

9 times out of 10 the sensor will be a Sony one. They are a huge supplier for other camera manufacturers.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

As you are just starting out, a word of warning. Many photographers make their purchases online. For the most part, that is where we find the best pricing. There are many unscrupulous vendors out there. For me personally, I only use three:

bhphotovideo.com-based out of NYC with a huge brick and mortar store.

Adorama.com-based out of NYC with a smaller brick and mortar store.

Amazon.com

There are others who may recommend some more, but those are mine. B & H has been rated as the #1 store for several years.

I almost forgot another for used equipment: keh.com