Should I get a new camera, or just a new lens?

[Patrick in Oregon]

I'm placing my basic question at the top in case people don't want to read my wall of text. Thanks for your input.

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I guess my question boils down to this: Am I in the stone-age of camera technology? At what point do I need to catch up with the times? Is the ~$175 used on a new lens better served going toward a newer camera?
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Hello,
First off, this is what I have:
Lumix DMC - FZ30

As you can see it is about 7-8 years old. It is a hand-me-down from my parents. I've used it for multiple Disney trips and the pictures are nice, but they aren't great. I can get equal results from my pocket-sized PnS. I would like to be able to take great, if not incredible pictures. I realize that a lot of this falls on me and learning how to use my camera.

This weekend I was at a gaming convention (PAX in Seattle). The convention center was dark but there were a lot of bright screens as well. I used my flash liberally, but a lot my subjects still appeared to be bathed in yellow light. Clearly I need to work on my exposure techniques.

My plan for sometime was to make this camera serviceable. It only accepts 2gb sd cards (not even SDHC ), the LCD is tiny, and the write speed can be sloooooow, but I feel like I can get past those things.

This weekend I was throughly annoyed by how far back I had get to fit my subjects in frame. The convention center is obviously cramped and for larger displays, it wasn't easy to back up far enough to get it all in. And even if I got it all in frame, the results made it obvious that I was really far away, as opposed to being "right there." So I was thinking of getting and learning to use this:

Raynox HD-6600 Pro Wide Angle

I hope I made it clear that I definitely willing to learn. I know this camera is capable of very good pictures and it is up to me to take them. I know that dropping a lot of money, which I am not looking to do, doesn't solve many things.

I guess my question boils down to this: Am I in the stone-age of camera technology? At what point do I need to catch up with the times? Is the ~$175 used on a new lens better served going toward a newer camera?

Thanks

 

[havoc315]

You correctly note that first and foremost, you need to work on your basic photography skills.

That said, I was surprised at how quickly digital photography has changed. I have a 6-year-old Sony Alpha. I only recently realized how much the technology has advanced in 6 years. My camera didn't feel "old" until I saw what newer cameras can do.

Changing the lens on your camera won't increase the ISO, it won't increase the mega pixels. Without a tripod and a fantastic lens, you have little hope of taking those low light photos you tried to get at the gaming convention. With the low mega pixels, you won't be able to blow up 8X10's or larger.

I invested in the Sony RX100 -- A point and shoot --- And it vastly out performs my 6-year-old SLR.

So yes.. If you truly want "great, if not incredible" pictures, it may be time to invest in a newer camera.
It is certainly *possible* to get great pics with the older camera, but you will be much more limited with it.

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

You correctly note that first and foremost, you need to work on your basic photography skills.

That said, I was surprised at how quickly digital photography has changed. I have a 6-year-old Sony Alpha. I only recently realized how much the technology has advanced in 6 years. My camera didn't feel "old" until I saw what newer cameras can do.

Changing the lens on your camera won't increase the ISO, it won't increase the mega pixels. Without a tripod and a fantastic lens, you have little hope of taking those low light photos you tried to get at the gaming convention. With the low mega pixels, you won't be able to blow up 8X10's or larger.

I invested in the Sony RX100 -- A point and shoot --- And it vastly out performs my 6-year-old SLR.

So yes.. If you truly want "great, if not incredible" pictures, it may be time to invest in a newer camera.
It is certainly *possible* to get great pics with the older camera, but you will be much more limited with it.

Specifically, I did wonder how much of my exposure problems were due to an outdated sensor.

Maybe "incredible" is a poor choice of words. I know the potential is there for some very nice pictures. I guess I just want to be proud of the pictures I take instead of taking pictures to fill up my facebook albums.

The idea for the wide angle lens was just kind of a cheap solution to an annoying symptom, not necessarily the cure for an underlying problem. If I have w, x, y, z things that need to improve, the lens might knock out problem w and that's one less thing to worry about. Although from what I've read, wide angle lens can be a new can of worms...

 

[photo_chick]

The camera you have does not change lenses. It allows you to add auxillary lenses which is very different from actually changing the lens on a camera. And you often get less than desireable results. If it were me I'd put that money to a new model super zoom.

And the yellow pictures... I'd bet your white balance was set incorrectly for that scene.

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

The camera you have does not change lenses. It allows you to add auxillary lenses which is very different from actually changing the lens on a camera. And you often get less than desireable results. If it were me I'd put that money to a new model super zoom.

And the yellow pictures... I'd bet your white balance was set incorrectly for that scene.

Yeah, I was just going off of reviews for lenses from here
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/FZ-30/Converters/Lenses/WideAngle.html

http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/FZ-30/Converters/Wide-Test/Short/WA-Test-Short.html

The results seemed pretty decent, but I expect they would not be equivilent to being able to change the lens

 

[SplashMo]

I agree with Photo Chick. The coversion lens is not the way to go...

You could go with a canon S95 or S100, SONY RX100 or SONY NEX-5 with 15-88 lens. These are more money but nice cameras. Or you can go with a less expensive camera as well.... Lots of choices...