EJ3

Hello,

l was wondering if anyone on here is interested in photography, either as a hobby or perhaps professionally, and can offer some friendly advice.

I've maintained a healthy interest for a couple of years now and l currently have a Nikon Coolpix P100 camera which l very much enjoy. However, l am considering upgrading my camera as l aspire to develop my knowledge and take a greater scope of photographs. The features l like about my Nikon is the 26x optical zoom, full HD video and good battery life. l much prefer cameras with internal batteries which plug in to charge rather than ones which take a couple of AA's.

Ideally, l would like to have greater clarity and colour in my photos as well as being able to take quick shots of movement (children playing, etc) without the blur l get now.

l am interested to find out which brand and type of cameras people have and which ones they would recommend to me? l have just started to properly research alternate cameras but l am struggling to narrow my options and break down some of the technical terms in online reviews.

If anyone has suggestions l would appreciate your insight.

Alfresco

I should be receiving my Panasonic FZ1000 today.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 Review: Digital Photography Review

I own professional Canon DSLR gear, but for my day to day travel camera, this will be it.

Rave reviews and gold award.

EDIT: It has just arrived.

Bob

dpreview.com Has a camera finder tool I think, where you tick the features you're interested in and then it pulls up the ones that hit the specs.

Really going to be down to budget...DSLR is the way to go if you want all those controls and budget, but then you lose the convenience of being able to carry it in your pocket etc.

I've been playing around with a few Samsung touch screen ones and think they're worth a look. Bit of a gimmick and the lower end ones seem a bit slower to respond, but they offer a lot of nice manual controls that are quite quick to get to and control and a lot cheaper than a DSLR.

Though saying that, if I were to get another camera, it would probably be a Canon, more because I'm used to them, have used loads over the years and the UI has become second nature and I know how to use the manual features on the point and shoot cameras pretty well.

AdobePinon

Yeah, DSLR is the way to go if you have budget, don't mind the bulk, and are willing to tackle a pretty good learning curve. Many newbies to DSLR get disappointed because the camera won't do what they expect in auto mode. Depending on what you want to do, you may also have to spend a good chunk of change on a lens too. You're also not going to get anything approaching a 26x zoom.

You might also want to spend some time honing your processing techniques on the computer. Color and clarity are two aspects that can be improved a lot after the fact.

Chapmandan

Dabbling amateur here - i got a Nikon D5100 a couple of years ago.

I find the Digital Photography School quite good for info Digital Photography School - Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials
HTH

Anian

Most ok photographers with a point and click camera suddenly become really bad when they get a DSLR. Not sure exactly why, but I know that I take a lot more bad shots with my DSLR than I ever took with my compact camera, while my good shots are so much better.

MMcD

+1
Exposure's the key....once you've begun to experiment with the DSLR manual settings - there's no going back.......

I love Canon cameras. The Rebel series is the newbie DSLR (they refer to them as EOS cameras) and a good place to begin. But if you're already familiar with Nikon settings - maybe best to stick with them. (I'd been using Power Shots so opted to remain with Canon)

EJ3

Thank you for your insight, Alfresco. This camera appears to be very impressive. A friend of mine also owns a Panasonic Lumix and will be upgrading to one which is wifi enabled very soon.

Thank you for the link, Bob. I have the budget for a fairly decent DSLR but upon reflection I'm really not sure I need such an advanced one simply for the reason that it is within my price range.

Yes, if I do decide to purchase a DSLR it will certainly be a good learning curve. You make a good point about processing photographs on a computer as this is something I have never actually done. Do you use a specific program? The more responses I read here lead me to conclude that I am definitely closer to the amateur photographer category

The Digital Photography School is a very interesting resource and it confirms further that I still have a lot of techniques to learn which some may consider basic.

I have a gut feeling that this would be me if I were to have a DSLR at my fingertips! I have asked some family members which cameras they currently use and theirs are not the highly advanced ones which I had assumed. They have good cameras but obviously know how to use them more effectively.

EJ3

I completely agree with you. I'm sure I could understand and experiment with improving the quality of my photographs if I honed my skills with my current Nikon. I think my focus will be educating myself on how to improve my picture quality and computer editing as oppose to upgrading my camera... although it is still fun to look at what is on the market...

EJ3

Alfresco- I forgot to add that your photographs are absolutely stunning. I enjoyed your gallery very much. Thanks for sharing!

Alfresco

Thank you so much!

Bob

Photoshop, it really is the benchmark. Saying that, you usually get Lightroom or some such knocked down version with most cameras these days and they'll do most of what you're looking for, for you.

If you've never use an Adobe product, it can be a bit of a steep learning curve, but there are a lot of good tutorials to go over the basics...most advanced features you'll never need or understand how they work, as it's also used by a lot of other industries so don't worry about it if you have a look at a copy and feel over whelmed.

AdobePinon

Lightroom is what most people use. Bob is right about Adobe having a learning curve - their interfaces have never been described as intuitive.

I think you have a good plan. If you can learn how to use pretty much every setting on your current camera, you'll be not only better at photography in general, but you'll be in a better place to know what you really want in a new camera.

BTW, IMHO the only difference between pro and amateur is one tries to get paid. There are a lot of elitists in the photography world, but there are plenty of lousy 'pro' photographers out there. Both groups use similar equipment but the pros try to write off the hardware as business expenses and are more likely to buy more expensive equipment. But, for example, there are plenty of amateur birders who will drop $12k on a lens because that is what they need for their hobby - I choose to try and get lucky with cheaper gear.

sir_eccles

To a certain extent photography is like golf. Many people are convinced that the more they spend the better their game will be. That's the driver Tiger Woods uses after all. Then when it gets to things like Leicas it's just about penis size. All you need is something with good glass and the ability to go fully manual. Then take pictures. The good thing about digital is you can take as many as you want. The bad thing about digital is you can take as many as you want. Slow down think about the shot, composition, settings, breathe, relax, press.

Alfresco

In order to photograph fast moving people like children playing etc... you need a shutter speed of 1/250 sec minimum in order to freeze the action and not get blur. Set you camera to a minimum shutter speed accordingly.