What Should I Get - Part 2

A continuation of this post. :)

An alternative to the point & shoot is a dslr (a digital single-lens reflex) - or in really simple terms, a camera you can change lenses on. They cost quite a bit more than a point & shoot - but the quality of your images will increase significantly.

Remember - I'm a Nikon shooter, so that is the line of cameras I'm most familiar with and suggest most often - there are other great systems out there (Canon, Sony, Pentax) that all take great photos - the very best thing to do is go to a camera store (Don's photo, London Drugs, etc.) and physically hold the cameras - you'll find one feels better in your hands than the others, all the other differences are going to be minimal, especially if you're just looking to get really nice snapshots.

The entry level Nikon I suggest is either the D60 or D90 right now. (If you can pick up a D80 they're awesome as well and will cost a lot less than the D90). They have all of the "auto" modes, so you'll be able to pick them up out of the box and start shooting (though hopefully you'll one day venture into the manual modes - once you learn to take control of it all things really start hopping!) There is a brand new Nikon out as well - the D5000, I don't know a lot about it, but if you look it up on www.dpreview.com you'll find out what you need to know - it looks like a great compromise between a point and shoot and a full blown bad-boy camera.

Using your first dslr can be quite daunting - there are a tonne of dials and options and buttons everywhere - read your manual front to back and learn something new about it every few days, soon you'll be a pro. ;) There are also books called "field guides" - I strongly suggest picking one up (available from Amazon, McNally Robinson, Indigo, London Drugs - lots of places). It's a book that takes your manual and writes it in very plain language, adds in some photos and good examples - just another thing to help it all "click".

If you stumble upon a question you still can't figure out, great resources are You Tube (search for your camera and you'll find a bunch of video tutorials), the forums on dpreview.com hold a wealth of information, Search for your camera on Flickr.com and you'll also find groups/forums that will tell you all you need to know - and then some!

Once you enter the world of DSLR, you're also entering the never ending world of lens envy as well. ;) Most likely you'll buy a "kit" lens with your body (otherwise the camera is useless, so you need some sort of lens on it.) The kit lens will usually be something like a 18-55 or 18-70mm lens - it'll be ok to get started with, but you'll soon find yourself really wishing you could zoom in on your little guy running around on the soccer Field or really wanting to take photos inside without your flash - that's when adding to your lens kit begins. (and never ends!)

All lenses are not created equal - you can often find a few different versions of the same focal length - with all sorts of numbers and letters - and HUGE price difference. One very true rule is you honestly do get what you pay for when it comes to lenses - the $200 lens really is not equal to the $600+ lens right beside it.

How much does it matter? If you're just taking photos of Jr. on the playground you'll be fine with the kit lens and a cheaper "zoom" lens - (the 18-200mm lens is a great "walkaround" as it covers a huge range and you don't have to change lenses while out and about.) If you plan on really getting into photography and maybe even eventually want to start charging for your work then I would really suggest investing in good quality glass. My most recent lens acquisition was the Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 lens - which cost more than a vacation to Mexico - but for me was SO well worth it - the quality blows me out of the water everytime I use it, but if I was not doing photography as a profession, I would not have invested in it as my other lenses would have worked just fine for snapshots and photos of my children.

There are SO many things I could ramble about on the topic of Lenses- so I'll take that as my own hint and save it for another time. ;)

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What should I get?

I get a lot of questions about what camera is "good", and suggestions for a new camera.  One of the hugest complaints I hear is how the owner's camera is slow - and hands down that was my complaint when I had a point and shoot - it seemed to take forever to start up - and then forever to take the photo - so slow that by the time the darn thing actually clicked, my child was no longer doing the adorable thing anymore. (honestly, the only solution I've seen so far is to upgrade to a dslr)

The upside to point and shoots are the low price and compactness, it's great to be able to just throw it in your purse or pocket and go - but the downside is the slowness, which is unfortunately is just what happens with point and shoots.

When choosing a new camera, there really is one thing to keep in mind when looking at the oodles of choices and tonnes of different numbers and jargon thrown at your way - mega pixels aren't everything.  Generally with photos from your point and shoot, you're going to print off 4x6's, maybe an 8x10 here and there.  I would go for a lesser mp in exchange for a faster start up time (usually listed on the specs), faster frames per second (fps) and a better lens.

Another thing to keep in mind is digital zoom & optical zoom. Optical zoom is the "good" zoom - it's the lens doing its thing, digital zoom - it's, well, in my opinion useless. It's almost the same thing as taking your photo and zooming in on the computer for the most part. (I actually turn it off on my point and shoot.)  The more optical zoom the better!

My very first camera was a 1.3 mp and I could easily make great looking 8x10's from it - megapixels really, when it all boils down, just means how large you can make a print. So having one camera with 6mp and another with 8mp - ignore the salesman trying to tell you the 8mp is automatically better - it means squat for the most part - unless you're planning on printing a huge 20x24 for your bedroom wall.

A great place to visit for researching a camera is:

DP Review

It's great - you can compare cameras side by side, see sample shots and every detail you'll ever need to know.  I strongly recommend heading there if you're in the market for a new camera.

so, for a short answer, what point & shoot camera would I recommend?  Well, I'm a die-hard Nikon fan, but in this category I really do recommend a Panasonic Lumix point and shoot - there are rave reviews out there and I have heard nothing but great things. A close second would be the Nikon Coolpix 5400.  

Now, if we're talking a DSLR, that's a whole other story! (and another post for another day!)

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