Opinion on cameras

[katelynsmommy2001]

Hi everyone!! I have been lurking around here checking out your pics & let me just say... you guys are awesome!! your pics are beauty-ful!!

I would love to step up my photography skills, but I just don't know where to start. My main subjects are dd and dh and family. Let me tell you what artillary I am using.

Mostly I am using a Kodak EasyShare Z740. I would have loved a Canon, but I have caviar taste on a beer & peanut budget! I really like this because of the zoom (10x optical) and I am sure that it does a lot more than I even know how to use.

My other camera is a Minolta Maxxum5. I only have the standard lens. So now that you know my toys, how do I step up my game? Are these decent cameras? A guy at our local camera store recommended the Minolta.

Thanks! Keep postin' those pics!! They are GREAT!!

 

[Groucho]

Chances are that you can get more out of your cameras than you're getting now. The best bet is to get an idea of the basics of exposure - ISO, shutter, and F-stop - and how they relate to each other. Your camera has the usual suite of advanced modes - Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual. Don't worry about Manual, but try spending your time in Program instead of Auto (it should be just about as easy, though you may need to manually select when to use the flash - which is a good thing!)... and as you figure out aperture and shutter speed, you can play with those modes and get the hang of them.

Your Minolta also offers these modes, and is capable of much better optical quality than your Kodak (or any point-n-shoot camera), due to the film being so much larger than the sensor inside the Kodak. The drawbacks, obviously, are cost and convenience - film cost, development cost and bother, larger size camera, changing rolls every 24-36 shots, etc. If you have a special occasion, you may want to break out the Minolta, and use the Kodak for day-to-day shots.