Beginners

tim3115

Hi,

If one was to begin learning about photography, what would be the best way about it?

Do I go for a digital camera, and if so, which one?


Thanks.

DotOrg

best way is to get a camera and take pictures of everything and anything as often as possible, look at your pictures and then try and take better pictures the next time

get a beginners book or search on google for a basic tutorial on the difference shutter speed, aperture, iso will have on your pictures

you can buy a digital camera which is expensive to start with, but cheaper if you don't print many of your pictures and you're good with working in photo software on a pc

you can buy a very high quality film camera for cheaper than the most basic of digital models, you will spend more on processing and printing than you will with digital

you ask which digital camera you should go for. it depends on your budget and how serious you are about progressing and continuing photography. you can easily spend from €50 to €50,000 on a camera and lenses

Shrimp

DotOrg wrote:

best way is to get a camera and take pictures of everything and anything as often as possible, look at your pictures and then try and take better pictures the next time

You took the words from my mouth!

Keep snapping, and post stuff here. We'll give freindly feedback!

Oriel

Shrimp wrote:

We'll give freindly feedback!

:rolleyes:

tim3115

Thanks for the replies

I'd be looking to spend max 200:o I know it's not much but still, it's all I can afford.

tim3115

So...

Recommendations for 200?

halenger

Very short pros -v- cons for digitial versus film.

Digital --
Pro: You get to see the results of your photos straight away

Con: A cheap digital will not have much in the way of manual options (in general). You'll get good pictures but you really wont learn all that much.


Film --
Pro: You can have a wonderful array of options and learn properly about f/stops, exposure timing etc.

Con: You have to develop your pictures (more than likely in a lab and thus pay for it), pay for that and pay for film etc.


I spent a good bit of money on a bulky but quite manual digital a few years ago. That said, I didn't learn much of the basics. I did tinker with settings but not at all enough. Something happened with it recently and it now doesn't use the flash. If flash is enabled the camera will freeze up/crash etc.

Since that happened I went back to my manual SLR. I bought myself two lenses - a zoom (70-210mm) and a wide-angle (28mm). You'll learn about lenses with a manual SLR too. I quite enjoy using this camera. I will admit I hate having to get my work developed because I'm terribly impatient and hate a shot to be ruined. Most books will tell you you should take important shots in triplicate anyway (settings above and settings below what the camera recommends).

You can get yourself an SLR pretty reasonably off of e-bay. You'll find recommendations elsewhere for that. Personally I use a Phenix DC303N which you can get for about 150 euro around town. I've seen it a bit cheaper than that also. That has a 50mm lens with it by the way.

I know I'm repeating some of what was said before but it does need repeating. I'm not sure I'd recommend the snap everything and see how it goes. That's grand initially or with a digital but with film you should (after a time) start to take less photos and put more thought into them...

I took 4 rolls of photos, a lot fairly randomly when I got started using my film camera again and while testing my new (second hand) lenses. I was quite pleased with some of the results. I've stopped recently though, totally, but that's not really related to the shots, just lack of time/having the camera.

It'd be nice to get back to it soon. Hopefully I can actually plan out some shots too. Next on my purchase list is a flash for my camera.

tim3115

Halenger, thanks for that. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a digital one starting off. If I really like the whole photography lark, then I might invest in a film camera.

I'm currently looking at pixmania for a digital, recommendations?

halenger

The best idea would be to go to http://www.dpreview.com plug in the features you want into the camera search and read the reviews/check prices of them. I haven't kept up to date with digital cameras lately, aside from the Canon EOS 350D.

tim3115

I was looking a particular camera, but it's battery powered. What are your thoughts on this? Stay clear or what?

Thanks

jlang

All digicams are battery powered, no? Most film cameras have a battery too.

If you mean it has a special battery or takes standard AA batteries, there's arguments for and against both options and it really makes little difference. If it's AAs, you're presumably going to want rechargeables and to have a spare set as well, if a special battery, you'll buy a cheap third-party spare. Either way, you're going to need a bring a charger on your holiday.