Camera recommendation? - Page 2

Lampshade · #1 08-29-2011, 10:11 PM

I have an Olympus E520 DSLR, with the 4/3 mount. the camera above has the micro 4/3. lots of lenses around, and 4/3's is adaptable to almost anthing with a cheap adapter. $50+ in stores, $10 on ebay. It's adaptable because of something with the focal point being shorter than most camera's. I love my DSLR, but have a kodak point and shoot that's seen more picture due to ease of use(More so the pocket size), and because of that, has seen some better pictures.

doch · #2 08-29-2011, 10:40 PM

I've had a little bit of time to look at a few cameras on line today, and to be honest, the main reason that I lean towards something that is point and shoot is for simplicity. My wife has a good point and shoot, and I have one that is kind of hit and miss (which makes me question my camera using skills - it's a sony, btw). We already have cameras, and I don't know a whole lot about photography (most of what I read today sounds like german). As such, I worry that if I spent $600+ on a DSLR, and then lenses on top of that, I wouldn't understand how to properly use it, and I'd end up with a dust collector. Even with my ~$400 Sony, I don't know what most of the settings in the camera mean. I end up getting crappy pictues quite often and question if I should be mad at the camera, or take a class.

One thing that I know for sure, is that neither of the cameras that we have take very good close up pictures. I prefer to use my cell phone over my sony... this to me is pretty sad.

I do want an SLR, but as stated, I worry about understanding it. I wonder if I could request a photography class for my birthday...? Would that be a good approach?

doch · #3 08-29-2011, 10:42 PM

Oh, and BTW, I'm in the preliminary thinking/planning/budgeting phase, so I have not set a budget yet. Like I had said earlier, $600 doesn't bother me all too much, but I'd prefer to stay around that mark all included (lenses, case, etc). A little bit more than that is not so bad... but I want to know how to use it.

sphelps · #4 08-29-2011, 11:55 PM

Like I said before take a good look at the Nikon D3100, in your budget with a basic lens that will still take better macros than a standard P&S but this will allow you to later get a nice macro lens to take real macros. It shoots in auto just like a P&S and has a built in guide, you don't need a class to use this camera.

doch · #5 08-31-2011, 02:00 AM

Well, I have unofficially decided against an SLR. I did a little research and looking at what can be done with the bigger p&s, and I'm thinking that for what I want to do, they'll work just fine. There are some fairly decent p&s that have respectable macro. I also borrowed my wife's Panasonic Lumix FH20, went into the basement and took a few shots. Not bad, and it's just a regular pocket sized point and shoot.

I'll have to go in and check them out in person, but I'm confident that I'll find something that I like in the range of $300-$500. Without actually looking in store, I'm looking at something like these:

http://estore.canon.ca/eStore/product?pid=4812&

https://panasonic.ca/english/audiovi...ll/DMCFZ47.asp

http://store.sony.ca/webapp/wcs/stor...52921666297852

http://en.nikon.ca/Nikon-Products/Pr...LPIX-P500.html

From the reading that I've done, the Nikon sounds the best, and is at the top of the list, but we'll see.

The main reason for this decision is the $500 price tag on a macro lens. Add that to the price of the camera, and it's more than I want to spend... for something that may not end up being used to it's full potential.