Whatever happened to a starting budget???

[emily21]

I was wondering how many of you are like me...
I started my camera idea with a "No more than 300euro"(compact) in mind, after comparing that to a 350euro camera, and that one with a 450euro camera, and that one to a 600euro camera and so on I'm getting up there, into SRLs! And to make matters worse, after convincing myself that I've decided I found one for 20 000euro!
I think I'm going to have to settle for improving my camera skills because otherwise it gets ridiculous.

[Bullitt]

That reminds me of an old saying "There's nowhere to go but up..."

[JTL]

Minimum budget for an entry level dSLR (once you include a quality lens, extra battery, memory card, bag)...$1,200. US. If you settle for a "kit" lens and skip the extra battery and get only a 1GB card, maybe $800. US...

[Rhys]

I was wondering how many of you are like me...
I started my camera idea with a "No more than 300euro"(compact) in mind, after comparing that to a 350euro camera, and that one with a 450euro camera, and that one to a 600euro camera and so on I'm getting up there, into SRLs! And to make matters worse, after convincing myself that I've decided I found one for 20 000euro!
I think I'm going to have to settle for improving my camera skills because otherwise it gets ridiculous.

Why not buy a film SLR to learn about photography? Shoot slide film and learn how to take good photos before splurging on digital. If you really want an SLR then start with film, let the restriction of 36 shots per roll guide you in your composition. Digital photographers mostly just blaze away and check to see what's good afterwards.

Look at wedding photographers. It used to be half a dozen rolls of film per wedding. Now it's 300, 500, 1000 digital photos - most of which are utter rubbish. With film it worked out that 80% would have been decent.

[DonSchap]

With a 1000 shots per wedding, after a year your poor little dSLR body should be just about... shot, right?

I am still thinking that a pellicle mirror would probably solve the dust/sensor issue. There would be no mechical fatigue, other than the shutter. Camera life would have to improve, somewhat.

Oh well, loftier thoughts... back to the drawing board...

[Jason25]

There's no such thing as a starting budget! There's just a "What I wish I could get away with spending" budget, which gets tossed right out the window.

[DonSchap]

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/sho...781#post120781

The dream event... a real starting budget for the entire hobby. Use this thread wisely... it could cost you, if you do not.

[erichlund]

Why not buy a film SLR to learn about photography? Shoot slide film and learn how to take good photos before splurging on digital. If you really want an SLR then start with film, let the restriction of 36 shots per roll guide you in your composition. Digital photographers mostly just blaze away and check to see what's good afterwards.

Several problems with this. My local camera shop doesn't even stock color film. It's an overnight order. Why? Because there are not enough people using it to make it viable. This situation is getting more critical every month. Second, there's a running cost to using film. With a dSLR, you cry once, but every twitch of the right index finger is thereafter free. With film, each twitch costs.

The same has been argued about buying a D50 instead of a D200 to learn. If economics are the limit, then this makes sense. But I contend that the D200 is easier to use than the D50. So, if what you really want is the D200, why waste money on the D50?

Some will ask, how can the D200 be easier to use, as it has all those intimidating buttons. True, the D200 has more buttons, and more command wheels. But the buttons are better labeled, they are bigger, and they are more available than menu items. Further, to take a basic image with either camera, the starting points are exactly the same. You only have to learn the use of additional buttons as you are ready to use them. And, you don't have to relearn everything when it's finally time to upgrade, because you already did.

[Rhys]

Many places still do stock film. It doesn't really matter whether it's negative, print, colour or black and white.

The point is that using film forces you to think about composition rather than simply blazing away and hoping for the best. Now that's the way to become a better photographer.

But when you consider the cost....

For a secondhand Canon EOS 620, expect to pay $45.00
For a brand new Canon XT expect to pay somewhere between $600 and $1000.

Now, while the latter might give you free photography after having purchased a 1GB memory card (at $50ish), the former will allow you to start with a minimal budget. Sure there are continuing film and processing costs but to equal $600 more you'd have to take a lot of film to equal that.

Let's see: Ritz has its cheapest film at under $5. Processing is about $7 so we have a turnaround price of $12. You'd have to use 50 rolls of film before you'd equal the price of a digital camera. Even at the heady rate of 1 roll per week (and you wouldn't most likely be shooting every week) it would take a year to equal the cost. By then anyway a better dSLR would be out and you'd want that.

Now the bonus of a film camera is that you can probably sell it on ebay for exactly what you paid for it.

The cost of digital doesn't stop with the camera and memory card. You have to stor ethe photos on DVD/CD or hard disk.

If you're unsure then get a film SLR and then get a digital later but you should be able to use the same lenses if you buy the same brand for your digital SLR.

[aparmley]

I was wondering how many of you are like me...
I started my camera idea with a "No more than 300euro"(compact) in mind, after comparing that to a 350euro camera, and that one with a 450euro camera, and that one to a 600euro camera and so on I'm getting up there, into SRLs! And to make matters worse, after convincing myself that I've decided I found one for 20 000euro!
I think I'm going to have to settle for improving my camera skills because otherwise it gets ridiculous.

Emily - Maybe this can help.

I started my digital camera budget with about $300 US when I bought my P.O.S. Sony cybershot back when 3.2 MP was about as high as you could find at a reasonable price. Then I upped it a little when I bought the 5mp Canon A95. After about 3 months of shooting with that and reading online, discovering DCRP and other places I sprung for the 350D last May. So as far as my budget was, I went above and beyond. I've never been happier.