What Camera to Buy?? - Read me Before Posting

5uspect

Well thats not a dSLR its a prosumer cam. You can't change that lens.

6th

Right, my bad.

But is it any good?

5uspect

I really don't know first hand, but online reviews seem good. A selfish but handy thing to do is to hop down you your local Dixons or Currys and try one out.

Here's a half decent review:
http://www.digicamreview.co.uk/fujifilm_finepix_s5600_s5200_review.htm

Spyral

I have one, Its a great camera and I have produced some nice shots with it like these here:

1
2
3
4
5

the jpg artifacts are from compression to the web. They are NOT camera noise.

6th

Spyral wrote:

I have one, Its a great camera and I have produced some nice shots with it like these here:

1
2
3
4
5

the jpg artifacts are from compression to the web. They are NOT camera noise.

Cheers for that, all i needed was to hear a good report from someone who actually uses one.

Off to Pixmania for me!

Spyral

dude I think they are french but the camera uses 4 x AA batteries so my advice is to get yourself 4 rechargable batteries.

~Oh and

READ THE FLIPPING MANUAL !

green123

Fuji FinePix S5600 (10x zoom)
Purchase Link Review on camera purchase page.

this camera is now 166 on pixmania
a good bargain ?

man1

Hi

I am interested in photography and I want to buy a SLR camera, my budget is between 500 and 800 euro.

I want to invest in a good camera.

I saw the Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR m/18-55 objektiv on komplett.ie for €799. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=324991
Is this a good price? Should I buy from komplett or are there any shops in Dublin that would be comparable to komplett for price but with better customer service and after sales advice.
I dont know too much about whats a good camera or not. Is this a good one for a beginner or is it too complicated to start off with. I will be taking mostly people shots and some sunrise/set, buildings, nature etc.

Are there any other brands that would be good?
nikon or sony?
I have used a sony dsc cyber shot for the past 4 years so have loads of memory sticks so if there is a good sony SLR, I would consider that also.
Although I have heard that sony dont make good SLR's.
Is this true?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Paulw

Tha majority of people buying a dSLR would go for Canon or Nikon.

The Canon 400D is a good camera, a nice entry level one in to the world of dSLR. It has automatic settings and all the manual settings too. Work your way through it and you can learn a lot. That price seems quite good too.

5uspect

With an SLR its more a question of investing in a family of lenses rather than investing in the camera body. Both Nikon and Canon have extensive ranges of lenses so they're you're best bet. The 400D is indeed a very good camera, but the kit lens (like most kit lenses) isn't fanstatic.

latchiko

man1, I bought the 400D a few months back and I'm very happy with it. As 5uspect said, you will probably want to look at lenses as well but the kit lens that comes with the 400D should serve you well to learn the ropes and it's not very expensive.
The price on komplett is quite good. I've also heard that it is cheap in Argos. I bought mine here for about €650. It really depends on what after sales service you want and how much you are willing to pay for it.

5uspect

latchiko wrote:

man1, I bought the 400D a few months back and I'm very happy with it. As 5uspect said, you will probably want to look at lenses as well but the kit lens that comes with the 400D should serve you well to learn the ropes and it's not very expensive.

Very true, the kit lens while not the best lens is great for learning. The 18-55mm range should be enough for starting and if you want more length (for the zoo for example) then get a good telephoto. After figuring out what type of photography you like then you can consider getting better lenses.

man1

Thanks guys
I will probably go for the canon 400d and get used to it with the kit lens (or is it lenses) before I decide what lens I should go for.
Are the memory cards expensive?

latchiko

man1 wrote:

kit lens (or is it lenses)

It's just the one lens, 18-55mm. You will need a Compact Flash (CF) memory card (or two) and it's handy to have a spare battery as well (they're not expensive). I got this 4GB CF card for €30. And you can pick up a spare battery for €11 or so.

5uspect

The battery grip for the 350D (and I presume 400D) is great. Stick in 6 high capacity AA NiMH batteries and you're sorted.

Fajitas!

Anyone know where in Dublin I can get a Canon hand strap?

And how much?

Never mind - Ordered online. Much much cheaper.

man1

latchiko wrote:

It's just the one lens, 18-55mm. You will need a Compact Flash (CF) memory card (or two) and it's handy to have a spare battery as well (they're not expensive). I got this 4GB CF card for €30. And you can pick up a spare battery for €11 or so.

What about a flash for this camera?? is there one with it?

Shiny

Yes there is a flash built in.

You only really need to worry about the flash when buying
High end DSLR's (5D, 1D etc...) which need a dedicated flash.

beer4life

Hi guys total virgin to digital cameras here. Been thinking about getting a camera for a while and since being accepted for a colege place with photography on the course and the interviewer suggesting I get one and start taking photos I decided Im gonna pick one up.

I want this camera for three reasons 1 :Taking pictures of nights out with friends. 2 When at gigs and festivals I will want to take photos of bands on stage. 3. College and for my own curiosity to see how I get on taking photos.

I am budgeting myself to 400 euros as its my first camera.

From reading the argos catalogue I now have a little knowledge on digital camerasa. So here is what I think I want and need.

Pixel - High as possible

Optical zoom - I think I would need this to zoom up to the bands on stage while keeping the quality.

igital Zoom - Dont really mind(Is this necasary as optical zoom does the same thing but keeps the quality these ones Im confused with)

Anti Shake - I think this would not be totally necessary but if it is on most cameras then thats cool.

Lcd screen - biggest I can possibly get

Just wondering what number optical zoom I should go for?

Is anti shake necessary?

Do I need Digi zoom if I have a good Opti zoom? Or are the two on most cameras in this price range?

Pixel wise I wanna go as high as possible how high is possible within this price range?

5uspect

Time to pop your photographic cherry? You've come to the right place!

beer4life wrote:

I am budgeting myself to 400 euros as its my first camera.

Should be enough to get you a decent point and shoot with manual settings or a good prosumer.

From reading the argos catalogue I now have a little knowledge on digital camerasa. So here is what I think I want and need.

beer4life wrote:

Pixel - High as possible

Not always. More pixels on the same size sensor may result in more image noise (fuzzyness in colours). Generally tho newer technology does better at reducing noise.

Optical zoom - I think I would need this to zoom up to the bands on stage while keeping the quality.

With a fixed lens that you can't change (like with an SLR) you'll have to compromise here a bit. Most cameras do have a good bit or reach tho.

igital Zoom - Dont really mind(Is this necasary as optical zoom does the same thing but keeps the quality these ones Im confused with)

Digital zoom is useless, its the same thing as zooming in on your monitor. forget about it as a feature because its not.

Anti Shake - I think this would not be totally necessary but if it is on most cameras then thats cool.

This may be quite useful when shooting a band in low light where exposures are longer.

Lcd screen - biggest I can possibly get

yes, but a big backlit screen will eat batteries...


I'd say get a Canon Ixus or a powershot, close to the money you're willing to spend:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd900/
or
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a570is.asp

I'd go with the A570.

beer4life

"Not always. More pixels on the same size sensor may result in more image noise (fuzzyness in colours). Generally tho newer technology does better at reducing noise"


Can you please explain this a bit better for me? Dont know what you mean by sensor. Say I was to get a 10m pixel what size sensort should I get?



"With a fixed lens that you can't change (like with an SLR) you'll have to compromise here a bit. Most cameras do have a good bit or reach tho."


"This may be quite useful when shooting a band in low light where exposures are longer."


Ok I will definitely look for that when purchasing.


"yes, but a big backlit screen will eat batteries..."

I'll also look out for this as Im sick of buying or re-charging batteries

Thanx mate great help so far

Shiny

beer4life wrote:

"Not always. More pixels on the same size sensor may result in more image noise (fuzzyness in colours). Generally tho newer technology does better at reducing noise"

Can you please explain this a bit better for me? Dont know what you mean by sensor. Say I was to get a 10m pixel what size sensort should I get?

Look at this chart:

Usually compacts have the smaller size sensors.
The Digital SLR's usually have the bigger sensors.

The compact camera's advertise that they
have 10MPs or more in resolution yet have only
a tiny size sensor. This means that all the little
photo sensors that actually record the light, have to be
made much smaller to fit in. Then when it comes
to actually taking the picture not all the photo sensors
get the correct value and this is how noise is produced.

So usually you dont really have much of a choice with
sensor size unless you want to get a DSLR and start
paying big money.

I would say look at a Canon Ixus 60 for a start.
Also there was a thread there where a few people
have one of those Samsung Compacts which looks
very impressive.

Any more questions, fire away.

5uspect

beer4life wrote:

Can you please explain this a bit better for me? Dont know what you mean by sensor. Say I was to get a 10m pixel what size sensort should I get?

As shiny has said the physical size of the sensor is important.
A proper (expensive ) camera has a big sensor. So the individual photo sensors on the sensor itself are quite large.



If its larger, the sensor (which is essentially an analogue digital converter) can measure more light for the time its exposing thus resulting is a better signal.
Increasing the gain on the converter (called ISO on a camera) will multiply the signal by some value before converting it to a digital number (for an 8 bit camera you get 256 [2^8] different tones of gray for each colour channel - red. blue and green)
Of course multiplying a poor signal from a low light scene or from a small sensor where little light is captured multiples the noise in the process:


Think of all those night vision video you see on the news. They're always grainy and fuzzy. This is because standard (non IR) night vision simply gains up the very poor light to something that the eye can actually see. Such devices are just digi cameras you wear on your face.


Also have a read of this and this.

Ghost Train

If 400 is your budget I'd say look at either a bridge camera or a good quality compact/ultra compact

bridge camera you'll probably learn more about manual controls, compact you might get more use out of (have it in your pocket all the time) and might be more enjoyable way to start

Have found the compact canons really good when it comes to picture quality

Resolution-wise I'd say 6-8MP are good value for money while still giving a high enough resolution.

Optical zoom, bridge camera will give you 10-18x zoom vs 3-5x zoom of a compacts

Image stabalisation is really useful at high zoom levels and lower light, some cameras have better IS systems than others

pixmania.com is a good place to look, lots of cameras at reasonable prices

beer4life

This is getting more confusing now guys!

eclectichoney

I just picked up a samsung s850, and i'm very impressed so far, although i haven't had a chace to try it out much yet so will have to reserve judgment. it's 8MP and 5X optical zoom so it might suit you? I plan on using it for the same uses as you outlined - and it's small enough to carry everywhere. I had seriously considered getting sth bigger, in the prosumer line but then I figured Id probably end up leaving it at home more often, kinda defeating the purpose. Also I'm surprised at the amount of manual settings you can change like ISO, WB etc. I'd recommend looking into it if you decide to go down the compact road...

beer4life

Hers some links tell me what ye think

Canon power shotG7 this is the sites no1 canon viewfinder digital camera best seller. Has 10mp and 5x optical zoom
http://www.digitalwonderworld.de/product_info.php/cPath/85_99_282/products_id/9030?osCsid=b28b9454e7c2d39da932028b60275acc

Fuji Finepix- Put this up because it looks like a DSLR but doesnt have much info on it.
http://www.digitalwonderworld.de/product_info.php/cPath/85_99_284/products_id/9187?osCsid=b28b9454e7c2d39da932028b60275acc


Panasonic 7.2 mega pixels and 12x optical zoom.
http://www.digitalwonderworld.de/product_info.php/cPath/85_99_290/products_id/9629?osCsid=b28b9454e7c2d39da932028b60275acc

Quick question also. If I wanna go for say for example 10 mpixels will this put a lot of strain on my pc?

If so would I be better of going for say 6 - 8m pixels and higher optical zoom like 10(which is equal to 200mm of lens)

5uspect

I haven't had a chance to check those links yet.
But regarding the PC question, more megapixels will require more storage space. Most point and shoots just shoot JPEGs so you should be able to keep file size down at maintain a reasonable quality if your worried. Any machine under 3 years old shouldn't have any hassle basic editing, opening/closing etc. If you plan a lot of editing in photoshop or similar you'll need a good bit of RAM, 1 gig or better.

beer4life

What does this sound like for second hand?

Canon EOS digital Rebel (300D) 6.2 mp, boxed with all software cd's,charger,leads, battery, and a Canon battery grip to go along with it.
£250-00 sterling

Will probably work out at 400euro anyway.

What do ye think of the links I gave?

Fajitas!

Any lens with the 300D?

I wouldn't pay 400 without it!