Please Respond!

[mln]

I am new to this site - new to the DSLR's as well.

I use to have the Canon 4.0 digital and the Sony 7.2 MP. I manged to get some amazing pictures with these "point-and-shoot" types. In fact, the pictures, compostion etc were so good (IMO) that I have become a VERY ameteur photographer.

Last week, my home was broken into and all 4 of my cameras were taken (as well as MANY other things). Now, with the insurance money coming in, I am going to be purchasing a DSLR camera. But...which one.

My main uses for my camera are:
my family. I love taking the everyday candid photos. I have 4 kids and they are the most (vunerable) photographed. I also enjoy taking nature hotsos, but with the digitals I had before, they photos didn't ever come out the way I "saw" them.

I really like the new Sony 10.3MP DSLR, but I have also read so many RAVE reviews about the Canon and the Nixon. All three are within my budget.

Another question. Would anyone mind "DUMMING-IT-DOWN" for me about the ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, and the like. Just a very simple explanation for a VERY beginner? Lenses?

Thank you so much!
Maureen
mln@shaw.ca

[mln]

I have just read on other posts that the Sony DSR-1 is not really a DSLR. Is it an inferrior camera, I ask because right now it is my first option. I read, (again previos post) that there is the issue of it being a "fixed" lens, well, I have the Sont 2006 catalougue and have been to the website and I know that there are additional lenes and assecories.

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=1002007&navigationPath=n32090n32091

One one hand, more MP = better larger photos. But, I do want the ability to upgrade my camera years from now...

Maureen

[ktixx]

Another question. Would anyone mind "DUMMING-IT-DOWN" for me about the ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, and the like. Just a very simple explanation for a VERY beginner? Lenses?


Faster the shutter speed the faster the action that can be "stopped". Faster the action, less blury the shot. Ususally shutter speed should be a minmum of 1/40 or 1/Focal Length (Whatever is faster).

F/stop is the aperture or the hole that lets light onto the sensor after the shutter opens. The larger the aperture (larger the hole) the more light that is let into the camera, but the larger the aperture the smaller the Depth of Field (DOF).

ISO is the speed that the light is captured. A higher iso is better for lower light situations. The higher the iso the more "noise" in the image the lower the iso the slower the light is captured, but the less noise is in the image.

Low Light Situations:
High ISO's
Large Apertures
Slower Shutter Speeds
-usually require flash-

Bright Situations:
Low ISO's
Smaller Apertures
Faster Shutter Speeds.

DSLS's are much better than point and shoots because they offer more control over the above mentioned settings. Also, normally the sensor in dSLR's are much larger allowing the light capturing pixels to be larger. This translates into less noise at higher ISO's. In addition, dSLR's usually offer higher ISO speeds (ie: canon 20d - ISO 3200)

Hope this helps, any terms you don't understand you should google - ie: depth of field, ISO etc. to get more information.
Ken

[mln]

Thanks for your response.
Your relpy really did help! I have been reading up (and UP) about the camera lingo and i think i am slowing beginning to uinderstand.

Now, since the SONY 10.3 MP is not "officially" a DSLR, what exactly is it. I would, ideally, like a camera that I can take prefessional pictures with. That I could change the lenses, and have more say about the outcome of pictures than a simple point and shoot. However, I also need the camera to be easy eanough to use so tha even my hubby can use it!

Nikon, Canon or Sony??

[coldrain]

Sony's R1 is the same type of camera as the Canon SD400 and Sony P200 you had, just a lot bigger. It has a fixed lens, you can not take it off unless you use hammers and saws. That you can put some add-on lenses in front of the lens that is fixed to it, does not mean you an get the fixed lens off.

What SLR means is that the light that would normally go to the film or sensor is diverted to a view finder, so you can look directly through the lens to the subject you want to make a photo of. This is done with a mirror in front of the film/sensor.

With the introduction of image sensors, an SLR has gotten competition from small digital cameras that use the sensor to generate an image on an LCD screen to show what is seen through the lens. But those cameras are still no SLR's, that term is reserved for cameras that actually let you look through the lens, via a mirror. And the Sony R1 is just no SLR.

Both things, the viewfinder and the LCD screen, have their plusses and minusses. The LCD screen gives a much bigger freedom for framing, making odd angles and pics in small spaces possible, the viewfinder gives a more accurate impression and has the advantage with bright sunlight or when it is dark (you can't see well on a screen in such conditions).

It is up to you what you would prefer, a camera with the better image quality, detachable lenses and a viewfinder but no LCD preview, or a camera with one fixed lens, an LCD preview as you are used to and a bit less image quality.

The lens from the R1 is good but not great, it shows quite strong light fall off/vignetting towards the corners.
The Canon EOS 350D/XT has a very strong lens lineup, from Canon itself and from 3rd party manufacturers. It of course lacks LCD preview, but has the best image quality.
The Nikon D50 also has very good image quality and a extensive lens lineup.

There is a new Olympus DSLR that does offer LCD preview. Their solution to make that possible is not ideal, but still it is a special camera. How it performs is still an unknown, since it only is announced and is not available yet. It does not have the same big lens options as the Nikon or Canon, but it does give some options that are good.

DSLR's with lenses are expensive, because good lenses just are expensive things.

[aparmley]

Would anyone mind "DUMMING-IT-DOWN" for me about the ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, and the like. Just a very simple explanation for a VERY beginner? Lenses?


This has been covered a lot on this and many other forums. I think a simple google search on those keywords [ISO, aperture(f-stop), shutter speed] would provide you all the information you could ever want.


I have just read on other posts that the Sony DSR-1 is not really a DSLR. Is it an inferrior camera, I ask because right now it is my first option. I read, (again previos post) that there is the issue of it being a "fixed" lens, well, I have the Sont 2006 catalougue and have been to the website and I know that there are additional lenes and assecories.


There are many Point and shoots out there that take accessory lenses, wide angle adaptors, telephoto adapters, macro adapters, this doesn't put them in the same ball park as a Digital Single Lens Reflex [DSLR]

But, I do want the ability to upgrade my camera years from now...

Then stay away from the Point and shoots + accessory lenses. You will not be able to use them on your next camera. DSLRS are different, sure you invest in a camera body, but really, you are investing in lenses as well. When you upgrade your body, DSLR, you will be able to use the lenses from your old camera on your new one, assuming you stay with the same manufacturer and not getting into the whole adaptor side of things.


One one hand, more MP = better larger photos.

More MP = larger physical image and larger file size. Thats it. It doesn't mean better image. In most cases it does mean you have the ability to record more detail - but thats always a function user skill - i.e. if you have someone with a shaky hand or some one who doesn't understand what precautions one needs to take to shoot at slower shutter speeds you're going to end up with 10.3 MP worth of a blurry photo that looks a lot worse than someone who knows what their doing with a 3.2 MP camera - the same can be said about focus and many other things. . . Knowledge of camera operation and a good eye cuppled with the ability to capture what one sees = good better photos.

[Blob]

There is a class of point and shoot cameras which provide a broad range of focus with excellent image quality. These are the Panasonic FZ-30, FZ-5, the Canon S2, the Sony DSC-H1, and the Kodak P850. With them you can shoot children's pictures and nature pictures with ease. The lenses are not removeable but the range of the zooms are huge and with their built-in image stabilization you have a very powerful camera in one package.

I had a Panasonic FZ-15 prior to upgrading to a Nikon D50. I loved the possibilities the long lens provided and I learned a lot about photography playing with the camera's different functions. I upgraded to the digitral SLR because I wanted an optical viewfinder to shoot pictures of my son's soccer games. I also wanted the immediate response times dSLR's are famous for. My D50 starts up and is ready to fire as soon as you turn it on and press the firing button. It focuses extremely quickly and even with the flash it is ready to shoot again almost immediately. I catch a lot more spontaneous shots because of the D50's quick responses.

I also like the D50 because the photos are awesome. Lenses are expensive and the vast number of lenses can be rather intimidating but there is a good forum on lenses on another part of this site.

Nikon has just released a wonderful lens called the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX lens. It can shoot wide angle for pictures of the kids and landscapes and it can zoom up to animals in the distance. It costs about $700 but it is one lens you would definitely be happy with. There is also the Sigma 18-200 lens that is supposed to be almost as good.

The D50 costs about $550 at butterflyphoto.com, (that's where I bought mine).
The lens is $700

For $1200 you could get a beautiful camera that would provide years of enjoyment.