New to the forum, looking for some advice

[Grant76]

Hi all, I am looking to start taking pictures of a better quality than I'm getting at the moment with my current digital camera.

I have a budget of around £500 and whilst looking around my eye has been drawn to the Sony Nex 5.

Was hoping you guys could give me some advice on the merits on the above or recommend any others in the same price range.

Thanks very much, Grant

[Simpo Two]

You're going to hate me but - what do you mean by 'quality'?

[IanMorewood]

NEX system becomes very expensive when you look at the interchangable lens's.

[miniman]

Personally I would say don't get trapped in a system with limited scope for growth. This means stick with Canon or Nikon - your upgrade path is so much more varied.

[Grant76]

Simpo Two said:

You're going to hate me but - what do you mean by 'quality'?

Not at all!

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

[ian in lancs]

miniman said:

Personally I would say don't get trapped in a system with limited scope for growth. This means stick with Canon or Nikon - your upgrade path is so much more varied.

X2

[dibbly dobbler]

Hi Grant - an SLR will give you scope to do a lot more than you can do with a point and shoot so your thinking is sound. I'm with the others on makes, I would stick to the big boys (ie Canon or Nikon) as there's a lot more kit around for them.

Good luck

[Simpo Two]

Grant76 said:

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

First thing to do is analyse your photos and work out what's wrong with them. Throwing money at new kit won't necessarily help and could make it worse.

Post some with your thoughts and we'll have a look.

[Grant76]

Thanks very much much for taking the time to reply guys.

It would seem Canon or Nikon would be the ones to go for..

Had a look on Pixmania to see what they had around my price range. They have a Canon eos 550d down from £900 to £608. Would this be a good camera for a beginner?

[Major Bloodnok]

Simpo Two said:

Grant76 said:

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

First thing to do is analyse your photos and work out what's wrong with them. Throwing money at new kit won't necessarily help and could make it worse.

Post some with your thoughts and we'll have a look.

Ditto. No amount of kit is going to produce good photos if you don't know what it is that you want your photos to say. Conversely, you can produce great photos on 'rubbish' kit if you have a clear idea of what you're doing.

[dibbly dobbler]

Grant76 said:

Thanks very much much for taking the time to reply guys.

It would seem Canon or Nikon would be the ones to go for..

Had a look on Pixmania to see what they had around my price range. They have a Canon eos 550d down from £900 to £608. Would this be a good camera for a beginner?

Short answer is 'yes'

I got a 450D a year ago (before which time I knew almost literally nothing about photography) and I love it. I've had a great time learning (some of!) what to do and I have to say being able to post up on here and ask for help and feedback has made a tremendous difference. Go for it - you'll have a blast

[dblack1]

Simpo Two said:

Grant76 said:

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

First thing to do is analyse your photos and work out what's wrong with them. Throwing money at new kit won't necessarily help and could make it worse.

Post some with your thoughts and we'll have a look.

X2

what do you use now?
If you aren't shooting moving objects, it might be smart to buy a good tripod first. Can you tell us what kit you have, and show us some pictures? This way we will have a better idea of how we can help

[muppetdave]

Simpo Two said:

Grant76 said:

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

First thing to do is analyse your photos and work out what's wrong with them. Throwing money at new kit won't necessarily help and could make it worse.

Post some with your thoughts and we'll have a look.

How about as a starter get hold of a secondhand Eos 350/400D or something and a few good starter books. I'd say just get the books but point and shoots don't let you make enough changes to settings to really get a grip on what you're doing, so start with something a little cheaper and work out where you want to go with your photography

[dblack1]

muppetdave said:

Simpo Two said:

Grant76 said:

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

First thing to do is analyse your photos and work out what's wrong with them. Throwing money at new kit won't necessarily help and could make it worse.

Post some with your thoughts and we'll have a look.

How about as a starter get hold of a secondhand Eos 350/400D or something and a few good starter books. I'd say just get the books but point and shoots don't let you make enough changes to settings to really get a grip on what you're doing, so start with something a little cheaper and work out where you want to go with your photography

some of the higher end point and shoots (Like the Nikon CoolPix P series of cameras) allow for easy changes of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed and some other stuff too. Thats a big part of the reason why I asked what equipment he had, so we could get a better grasp of what his physical shortcomings are as a general photographer. While I dont know about getting a used camera (some people wont buy used stuff, I wouldnt buy a used camera body, but lenses are a different story), switching to an SLR could be the learning experience this guy needs.

[Lucas CAV]

dblack1 said:

muppetdave said:

Simpo Two said:

Grant76 said:

To be absolutely honest I'm not too sure. Just feel at the moment the pictures I take are very much hit & miss.

I do realise that most of that is down to me as I'm not really that sure what I'm doing. So I'm looking to learn how to improve my pics & would like a better camera to do so

First thing to do is analyse your photos and work out what's wrong with them. Throwing money at new kit won't necessarily help and could make it worse.

Post some with your thoughts and we'll have a look.

How about as a starter get hold of a secondhand Eos 350/400D or something and a few good starter books. I'd say just get the books but point and shoots don't let you make enough changes to settings to really get a grip on what you're doing, so start with something a little cheaper and work out where you want to go with your photography

some of the higher end point and shoots (Like the Nikon CoolPix P series of cameras) allow for easy changes of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed and some other stuff too. Thats a big part of the reason why I asked what equipment he had, so we could get a better grasp of what his physical shortcomings are as a general photographer. While I dont know about getting a used camera (some people wont buy used stuff, I wouldnt buy a used camera body, but lenses are a different story), switching to an SLR could be the learning experience this guy needs.

Nothing wrong with used camera bodies.

A secondhand d70 or d80 will do more than he needs!

[Thorburn]

One thing I would say - if you get an SLR don't go throwing out your point and shoot.

I got a 350D years ago and promptly gave my dad my old Ixus.

Problem was I never took the SLR out with me unless I was going out specifically to use it - they're too big and bulky to rely on.

I'd consider what you're aiming to go out and do with the camera - are you going to try and do 'arty' close ups of flowers, or lots of epic landscape photography? If so an SLR might suit you. If you want something for taking quick snaps of family or nights out, then maybe a higher-end point and click with some advanced features like some of the Canon PowerShots makes more sense.

[Grant76]

Morning guys, thanks again for all the help!

The camera I currently have is a Sony DSC - N2, which as I said earlier in the thread I find the quality of the pics to be very hit & miss.

The one thing that perhaps puts me off an SLR is indeed the size as mentioned above, I'm a bit concerned that due to this I'd end up not taking it whereas with a smaller camera I'd be more likely to take it out more often. This is why I started looking more seriously at the Sony Nex 5.

The pictures I mostly take are of family, friends and nights out (we have a baby girl now which tbh has been the prompt for improving the pics) Also like taking some landscapes etc from walks & cycling. However from lurking around this forum for a while, in particular the random pics thread, I would love to improve my skills (wouldn't Be Hard!!) in landscapes.

Cheers

[Simpo Two]

I'm afraid 'hit and miss' isn't going to help - other than finding a camera with a setting for 'Reduce Hit and Missness'

[Grant76]

Simpo Two said:

I'm afraid 'hit and miss' isn't going to help - other than finding a camera with a setting for 'Reduce Hit and Missness'

Very good!!

As I said earlier I do realise that the fault probably lies with me. Really would like a better bit of kit to learn & hopefully improve on. Would quite like a new toy for Christmas too...

I'll try to add in a couple of sample images for you

[Grant76]

Couple more