Purchasing Advice

[jacksmomma]

I am pretty camera/photography illerate so I am here for advice. My last camera purchase was a big mistake and I am hope to avoid a repeate preformance...

A very long story short I bought a Kodak Easy Share Z812 after reading great reviews online. I bought it from Best Buy (never again, I will only buy from a camera retailer now). It malfunctioned many times and finally I realized that my husband and I were sold a camera that had been returned due to damage. It has been in the shop over and over again (because Best Buy will not admit fault and will not give us a new camera). That was almost 3 years ago and now the flash has stopped. I am ready to give up on it and start over!

Here is what I am looking for...I need a camera that takes great action shots and has little lag time between shots. Screen size, camera size, etc does not matter to me.

Also, if someone could explain the difference between PnS camera and the "focus kind" (sorry, I do not know the specific term, that would be great. What is the advantage of one of these types of cameras?

Thank you so much!

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I will try to answer some of your questions. I'm not a professional by any means. There are some folks on this forum who can further elaborate on what I may say. First of all, most folks here will say that a camera is just a tool and that it is the nut behind the viewfinder that takes the picture. In a simplistic way, there four variations of cameras for the normal folks out there. There is the "P n S". Which by its name is primarily used as its name states, just point the camera and shoot. There are more advanced P n S' that have some manual controls and they cost more accordingly. The P n S' have a small sensor and therefore don't usually work as well for lowlight action pics. There are 'Bridge' cameras that have larger sensors, permanently attached lenses but have more manual control over the output. The latest cameras are the mirrorless cameras. I really don't know too much about them but they do have manual controls and interchangeable lenses. Last but not least, is the Digital Single Lens Reflex more commonly known as the DSLR. These are larger cameras with full manual control capability and interchangeable lenses. For the average person these come in two formats APS-C and Full Frame (FF). Full Frame is a larger sensor that corresponds in size to the old 35mm film size. APS-C is also known as a cropped sensor camera because its sensor is smaller than the FF but larger than the P n S. It has a narrower field of view and because of this the lenses will give you more magnification or length, ex. a standard 200mm lens on an APS-C camera with a crop factor of 1.5 will act like a 300 mm lens on a 35mm or FF format. There are other differences, but at this point I don't think we need to discuss them. There is also a 4/3 system (Olympus), but I really don't know a lot about that system.

That is a very simplistic explanation of what is available. Now it gets difficult in deciding what format of camera and then what make/ model to purchase. Each brand will take good pics. Once you get into the DSLR format, it will start costing money, but there are some very good entry level models with very good 'kit' lenses that are fairly reasonable. Do you have a budget? That can be a limiting factor as to what you can purchase. The equipment is only one factor in producing good images. Whichever route you choose, to improve your photographs, you will need to do some studying and practice. You will need to learn about the photography triangle of shutter speed, ISO and aperture. One book that does a good job of explaining that is, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It can be purchased or found at your local library. If you purchase it, I think it costs about $20 at Amazon.

I may not have answered all your questions and I may have even confused you, but I have attempted to give you the simple version. If anyone else out there wishes to correct, chastise or call me an idiot, you won't hurt my feelings. Just trying to help.