For starters......
Discussion
what camera would you recommend for a first timer?
my girlfriend has recently enjoyed taking lots of good photos of our holiday to st ives. she feels some images would have been better with a higher quality camera and associated equipment and as i know sweet FA about photography i thought it best to ask the advice of the all knowing PH forum.
thanks
my girlfriend has recently enjoyed taking lots of good photos of our holiday to st ives. she feels some images would have been better with a higher quality camera and associated equipment and as i know sweet FA about photography i thought it best to ask the advice of the all knowing PH forum.
thanks
Out of interest, what sort of stuff does she shoot? Landscapes, portraiture, motorsport etc etc..
Funny you should mention size, because believe me it does matter!!
Some people find that DSLRs are large, heavy bulky things compared to say a compact that they're used to using. It may be tha while the idea of a DSLR is alluring, the hassle of taking a large camera out, is sometimes too much for people. There's always bridge cameras which while aren't generally as capable in the more extreme uses(IMO), there's some good ones out there. Might be worth considering as an outside the box suggestion.
However,
One thing to consider with camera purchases is that apart from the technical specs you have to take into account their physical attributes as they're all different. Different brands use different layouts, and it really is a case of going into somewhere like Jessops and trying a few out, to see what feels more natural in terms of weight and dimensions, not to mention button layout.
I shoot with Canon gear, but when a friend wanted her first DSLR, we looked at all the major brands and ended up buying a Nikon D5000. It really is a cracking camera, and well worth a look.
There really isn't a bad entry level DSLR these days, it's just a question of budget and trying a few out!
Funny you should mention size, because believe me it does matter!!
Some people find that DSLRs are large, heavy bulky things compared to say a compact that they're used to using. It may be tha while the idea of a DSLR is alluring, the hassle of taking a large camera out, is sometimes too much for people. There's always bridge cameras which while aren't generally as capable in the more extreme uses(IMO), there's some good ones out there. Might be worth considering as an outside the box suggestion.
However,
One thing to consider with camera purchases is that apart from the technical specs you have to take into account their physical attributes as they're all different. Different brands use different layouts, and it really is a case of going into somewhere like Jessops and trying a few out, to see what feels more natural in terms of weight and dimensions, not to mention button layout.
I shoot with Canon gear, but when a friend wanted her first DSLR, we looked at all the major brands and ended up buying a Nikon D5000. It really is a cracking camera, and well worth a look.
There really isn't a bad entry level DSLR these days, it's just a question of budget and trying a few out!
lodgy said:
what camera would you recommend for a first timer?
Does she want to get decent 'snap' photos without hassle, or learn about photography and put some flying hours in?lodgy said:
my girlfriend has recently enjoyed taking lots of good photos of our holiday to st ives. she feels some images would have been better with a higher quality camera
Better in what way? What is it about the photos she's not satisfied with?just had a look at the nikon and we like that. shes not happy with the quality of zoomed in pictures and its quite a small lense so decent landscape shots are difficult. i think she'll keep her existing camera for snap shot but we want something more for holidays. both willing to learn about photography
By the looks of it, something along the lines of the Nikon would be fine. If you were shooting fast moving stuff, then you'd need higher frames per second, but for landscape portraiture stuff 4fps would be fine.
It does produce a good balanced picture in terms of colour, and noise levels are fairly well controlled and about the same as other competitors.
For a more in depth review, look at the DPreview site.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond5000/default...
Another one that might me worth a look at would be the Canon 500D
They're pretty much equal with each other, that's why I mentioned trying them out in a shop.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos500d/
When you're ready to make a purchase, have a look a camerapricebuster. It's a price comparison site for photographic equipment, it'll show the most keenly priced shops.
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/
It does produce a good balanced picture in terms of colour, and noise levels are fairly well controlled and about the same as other competitors.
For a more in depth review, look at the DPreview site.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond5000/default...
Another one that might me worth a look at would be the Canon 500D
They're pretty much equal with each other, that's why I mentioned trying them out in a shop.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos500d/
When you're ready to make a purchase, have a look a camerapricebuster. It's a price comparison site for photographic equipment, it'll show the most keenly priced shops.
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/
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