new to digital...is A95 good?

[ljcooper]

This will be my first digital camera purchase. I really want a camera that I can grow into but that works really well when set on automatic (since I will probably only use the automatic setting at first until I figure out all of the features).
My top priority is to take pics with excellent image quality and to have a camera that's easy to use. Someone recommended the A75, but I really want more MPs because I plan to cut and crop pictures. Is the quality of pictures taken with the A95 as good as the professional reviews say?

[Alnath]

You will love it :)

[ReF]

Not trying to sound rude, but if you can't take the word of professional reviewers (who aren't getting paid by the manufacturers), then why would you believe a bunch of random anonymous opinions? look at the sample shots and decide for yourself if they meet YOUR expectations and YOUR standards. for the most part I think its a great cam but it might suck compared to 20D with an expensive lens.

[MrSleep]

The A95 is my first serious cam too. I did own the old pocket & polaroid as a kid but the cost of film never made me stick with it.

You will love the A95 for what you are talkin about, it will definately grow with you..

And when you grow out of it there will be inough knowledge there to take you all the way to SLR land.

For the little difference in price compared to the A75, other than the flip out LCD for them awkward to photo moments, you'll be gettin a larger CCD sensor 1/1.8 " (7.18 x 5.32 mm) not, 1/2.7 " (5.27 x 3.96 mm).

Bigger CCD = less noise, cleaner pictures.

Hope this helps,

[ljcooper]

Not trying to sound rude, but if you can't take the word of professional reviewers (who aren't getting paid by the manufacturers), then why would you believe a bunch of random anonymous opinions? look at the sample shots and decide for yourself if they meet YOUR expectations and YOUR standards. for the most part I think its a great cam but it might suck compared to 20D with an expensive lens.


I don't think you're rude. Your point is well taken, however my point is that I am a complete novice when it comes to digital cameras. I've read every professional review I could find, but I need to know if amateur photos, without using the manual controls, come out great too! I do want a camera that has great manual features that I'll eventually learn to use, but I want the basic point-and-shoot pictures to also have excellent image quality.

[ReF]

oh, in Auto... well in that case yes, it does very well in Auto. Might I suggest that you put it in "P" which is still auto but leaves the menu options open. My advice is to leave the ISO at 50 or 100 (50 comes out cleaner) unless a certain shooting situation forces you to change it. I can think of no better camera than the A95 (or A75, A85) to learn "advanced" photography on. What's also great is that it's a good "tool" for measuring your photography needs. by that I mean, if you never feel like you need more out of your camera, you wouldn't have spent uneccessary $$$ on the more expensive models. If you do need more, well that easily narrows your future choices down to DSLRs, something like the G6 (not a HUGE difference though) or an ultra zoom if you just need more zoom.

[MrSleep]

The other day when I was taking snaps of my nephew on a merri go round, I decided to switch to auto, and by doing so, all of the shots were out of focus.

After switching to manual, everthing was sharp and focused.

I dont mean to complicate matters however you also got to take in to account, for a longer shutter lag time when using in auto which most P&S style cams suffer from.., That is, it takes longer to snap, cause its gotto adjust all those settings for you, shutter, f-stop, iso, flash etc.

When using in manual, you dont miss out on them candid moments, and it doesnt take that long to make adjustments of these settings either, for eg when changing the shutter, (most frequently tuned) the camera feels unburdened about going through every setting everytime you want to take a simple picture.

Learning about how your camera works is like upgrading to a more expensive camera for free.

You will find yourself zooming through these featuers in no time, and then..
You will know what setting to tune for whatever subject and make prior adjustments just like a real photographer.

Hope this helps,

[sanjayj]

The A95 is my first digital camera. I am a novice, and I deliberated considerably about which camera to invest in. I read many reviews of the main players, and finally decided to take the plunge and invest in the A95.

I am really loving it! I have had it for 3 weeks, and have hardly put it down. I have been taking shots practically everyday, and the quality of the pictures is breathtaking. I have found it extremely easy to use. Even my wife, who normally shies away from such toys, is marvelling at the quality and simplicity of the camera.

So far, I have left the settings on Auto-mode. However, as other people on this thread have pointed out, there are so many manual options available that you will get good use out of this camera.

Sanjay

[Newbie]

Just to correct what someone said... Yes the larger the sensor is the better it is, but there is another factor to this equation(unless I am wrong) and that is the number of megapixels.

So, the A75 has a 1/2.7" sensor with 3mp; whereas, the A95 has a 1/1.8" sensor with 5mp. If there was a camera with a 1/2.7" sensor with 1mp, then the noise would be less than the A95 because the space each mp could have would be much greater on that camera. So here if you check that, u find out that the A75 has a little bit more space on the sensor for each mp, so normally the A75 should show a tiny tiny bit less noise.

I personally own the A95 and it was my first real camera and I love it. My father owned a film SLR which I would use in P mode from time to time, so that was all my prior experience.