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View Full Version : Hey guys, uh, I wanna get a camera :P


Gubby
05-21-2006, 08:25 AM
Right well for some time I've kept a camera in my satchel with me wherever I went and photo'd whatever came up in front of my eyes that looked beautiful. (then someone stole my satchel :mad: ) So I guess that makes me an art photographer. That was an "olympus D630". My main problems with it were that there wasn't any manual focus (I'm TOLD that I want a manual focus to be able to get it to focus on what I want, blur out the background etc...), close up photos of small flowers and stuff were impossible, and I had to alter the colours etc quite a lot in photoshop to get it looking good.

So:

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

Up to 400€ (500$), if need be, but naturally I'd rather pay less. It basically depends how important I feel it is to pay more money.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

Compact enough to carry around with me everyday. Say, medium to small. Come to that, it would do well to be a bit shockproof...

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

Eh, I don't really know. I always reduced the resolution below maximum on my old camera because I'd have to shrink it down anyway. I guess whatever I buy will probably be good enough in this respect..............right?

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

Ultrazoom.

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
6-10? I want good photos of course, but I don't know how much quality really comes into the equation. If it's paying 100$ extra for quality I wouldn't even notice, no thanks. You should know better than me.

Do you care for manual controls?

YES YES YES

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
See above.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
I can definately see myself doing that. Making the nicer ones into framed photos on my wall.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
I dunno, not really. A few.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
No.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
...
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
...
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

I have no idea about any of these. Should I want them???


There you go. Have pity on the poor newbie. Thanks in advance!:cool:

Gubby
05-21-2006, 08:27 AM
Oh yeah, if this helps your jedi instincts you could check out some of my photos on my deviantart page: www.gubby.deviantart.com . :D

Gubby
05-23-2006, 10:46 AM
BUMP

Come onnnnnnnnnnnnn:mad: anyone??

Telecorder
05-23-2006, 11:03 AM
BUMP

Come onnnnnnnnnnnnn:mad: anyone??

Take a look at the Pany FZ7 12X OIS Zoom; Manual Focusing w/Extended Optical Zoom...
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Panasonic/panasonic_dmcfz7.asp

~$350 leaving room for added items...

Gubby
06-03-2006, 02:12 PM
Hm, yeah that looks about what I want, thanks :D any suggestions for cheaper ones I can compare it to, though?

Telecorder
06-03-2006, 02:33 PM
Can't speak for them as I only have the FZ5 and am waiting on my new Pany FZ30 coming in on Monday. I did a comparison of a few that are similar in price/features that I'm aware of. I've heard/seen great images/user comments about the Pany FZ7 and the Pany TZ1 but, in the end, its up to you and what your primary usage of the digi will call for...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=panasonic_dmctz1%2Cpanasonic_dmcfz5%2Cpana sonic_dmcfz7%2Ccanon_s2is%2Ccanon_s3is%2Ckodak_p85 0%2Ckonicaminolta_dimagez6%2Ckonicaminolta_dimagez 5%2Csony_dsch2&show=all

Militaris
06-03-2006, 06:10 PM
A slightly cheaper option would be to get the Canon PowerShot S2 IS, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 they have been replaced with newer models so can be gotten quite cheaply.

The Kodak EasyShare P850 is another option.

bennygill
06-03-2006, 08:46 PM
My main problems with it were that there wasn't any manual focus (I'm TOLD that I want a manual focus to be able to get it to focus on what I want, blur out the background etc...)

I'm new to this stuff too, but I think that your reffering to "Depth of Field"

Heres a link (http://www.photoxels.com/digital-photography-tutorials.html) to some tutorials that helped me alot when trying to get my head around all this stuff. Click on the "depth of field one", plus read the others (from the top down), if ya want, there pretty helpfull. And It'll also help you out cos you'll know what features you'll need when choosing a camera that can get you your desired effects.

John_Reed
06-03-2006, 10:34 PM
No manual controls, but very capable, to wit:
http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/69693450-M.jpg
http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/73024106-L.jpg
http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/73242232-M.jpg
No post-processing (except for cropping the flight attendant) on any of those photos.