Begginer Photography

buy this book "The New Photography Manual" can find a copy here on Amazon.

Then if you can, find the last digital photography UK issue (90 i wanna say) from Costco or where ever, it has the twilight girl on the cover, it has a great dslr article in it to help you pick your dslr. has an unbiased comparison between nikon, canon, sony, pentax, olympus and panasonic

remember: photography = money, lots and lots of money that is NOT going to your car

The war is won by Canon because they have a better marketing ploy than Nikon does? lol

Nikon has lenses that are just as good as L Glass, Canon just likes to charge more and be flashy.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/nikon-vs-canon.htm
I know, I know, but I saw this and he makes a lot of good points that I noticed too when I use a Canon.



Honestly just go to Best Buy or somewhere that has cameras that you can pick up and play with and see what you like. When I got my Nikon D300 I was also considering a Canon 5D I picked up both, played with both (I had already looked up the specs earlier), and I chose the D300 because it felt right.

I also suggest checking out craigslist like someone else said. Just buy an old DSLR to start out with and learn. I suggest the Nikon D50 or D70 or the Canon Rebel XT or XTi

Trust me, it's better to start with a lower model camera and spend money on lenses, at least when you upgrade you can keep the same lenses and use them for years.

good luck!




oh btw, NASA has been using Nikon since the 70's, FUCKING NASA! Where's Canon at? oh still on earth....ok

oh yeah. go play with them. I dont like the canon interface. if i didnt alreayd get hooked on Sony from FAL (this guys fault <3 you frank) then I would have gone nikon just because it felt better in my hand. no offense to canon you guys make a mean 7D.
 
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^^ I love the 7d and I'm highly thinking about picking on yup pretty soon.

To the OP what are you looking at doing with the camera?

How much are you looking at spending?

Is this just going to be something you play around with here and there or will you do more than take pictures for friends?

Photography can get extremely expensive just like cars. I would suggest either a used dslr or a highend point and shoot. Canon g11 will give you great pictures and also still have the manual controls of a dslr. Only place it will lack is low light situations but even then an entry level dslr will leave you wanting more.
 
^^ I love the 7d and I'm highly thinking about picking on yup pretty soon.

To the OP what are you looking at doing with the camera?

How much are you looking at spending?

Is this just going to be something you play around with here and there or will you do more than take pictures for friends?

Photography can get extremely expensive just like cars. I would suggest either a used dslr or a highend point and shoot. Canon g11 will give you great pictures and also still have the manual controls of a dslr. Only place it will lack is low light situations but even then an entry level dslr will leave you wanting more.

G11 should cost just as much as a used base model DSLR, right? I would go with the DSLR since I think thats what op is looking for. there is more versatility with a SLR, it just costs more lol.

DO RESEARCH
Don't just look at what camera has the best megapixels, look up the basics of photography as well. Like how many MPs are suitable for you for right now. Look up on Flickr pictures taken with different cameras, look on dpreview.com for indepth reviews on every DSLR ever made. Go out and hold them in your hand and see what you like personally. I don't know what else to tell you but to just read read read until you find something that works for you and then try it out before you buy it.
 
Yes up front it will cost more for a highend dslr but in the long run it won't. Also how many times have you been to a party or something where you don't feel like lugging around your dslr oh then don't think about when you want a wide shot and then to zoom in. Eekk you gotta change lenses.

Also the bad thing about looking at pictures online is that there also comes in photoshop and also the glass that comes into play. I typically only use good glass because when I started out I had crap glass and got pissed off at my pictures not having great color or sharpness. I learned that with my Canon 17-85 IS. The image quality was spotty and the non constant fstop I hated.

I'm actually thinking about switching over to all primes due to their image quality being so great straight out of camera even at f2.8 my 100mm is way sharper than my 24-70. I'd even put it up there with being sharper at 2.8 than the 24-70 at f4.

Some people aren't cut out for dslr's whether it be the money, time learning the controls, or learning how to make their images look like the pros.
 
what hayabusa and FAL have stated. do your research, you're gonna be paying a crap load of money, you better like and feel comfortable with what you are buying.
 
Once you do buy your camera, whatever it is, the best advice I can give you, that at least worked for me, is to go out and shoot everything. It doesn't matter if you buy a $30,000 dollar hasselblad, M8 or whatever... it will be useless if you don't learn the basics and really find your creativity.
 
what is your budget are you looking for a regular point and shoot or a dslr it depends be a little more specific and i can help go to camerlabs.com they have great reviews on everything.....
 
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