beginner camera questions

[Amy152]

Right now I don't even own a camera, but I really want to get one for 2 reasons.
1. To take pictures of my friends and family while we're out having fun, so I need something fairly portable.
2. I have a real interest in nature photography and I would like to try to start taking some shots and learning about everything that's involved.
I've been doing research into photography for a few months now for work and I've gotta say I'm still super confused. I think the best way for me to understand is to just go out and start playing around with different things.

So I need a camera, and I've had my eye on the Canon SD600, but while I was looking up prices on amazon I came across this package for the Canon A630:

Canon PowerShot A630 8.0MP Digital Camera with All Manufacture's Supplied Accessories,
Opteka .45x High Definition² Professional Wide Angle Lens, Opteka 2.2x High Definition² Professional Telephoto Lens, Opteka High Definition² 3 Piece Filter Kit - UV, Polarizing and Fluorescent Filter, and Lens / Filter Adapter,
Kingston 2GB Secure Digital (SD) Card, Merkury Ultra High Speed Card Reader / Writer, and ImageRecall CD - Digital Image Recovery Software,
Opteka 90min AC/DC Charger with Four AA 2700mAh Rechargeable Batteries, LCD Screen Protectors, and Opteka Tabletop Tripod,
Opteka 5 Piece Pro Camera & Lens Cleaning Kit, 53" Deluxe Video/Camera Tripod, and Canon PSC-65 Deluxe Soft Case

The link to the page is: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Megapixel-Digital-Accessory/dp/tech-data/B000IZSP3G/ref=de_a_smtd/103-4777625-5179033[/ame]

I'm really just wondering about the extra lenses (or lens adapters?) and filters, what they'd typically be used for and if they'd help me while I was learning about all this stuff. Or if I'd just be better off going for the cheaper, smaller SD600 and playing around with the different features and then later (when I have more money) getting a good DSLR.

 

[shingfan]

my opinion....if you are looking for portability....then you shouldnt invest too much money into it getting all the different accessories...because that would defeat the soul purpose of portability........save the money for a DSLR later on if you are going to get any accessories (filter and lenses) for a P&S.....

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm really just wondering about the extra lenses (or lens adapters?) and filters, what they'd typically be used for and if they'd help me while I was learning about all this stuff

I would suggest starting without all of those extra 'lens adaptors'. It will be much more simple to just learn with your camera...and to learn to work within the limitation of your camera. Those things can be fun...but they also degrade the image quality.

Whatever camera you get...I suggest getting one that at least has 'Aperture Priority' and 'Shutter Priority' modes. These are modes that will allow you to adjust your camera and learn about photography.

 

[Amy152]

How can I tell if the camera has those modes? Does it just mean a manually adjustable Aperture & Shutter Speeds?

Oops! I forgot to add Thanks for your responses, I truly do appreciate being able to get advice from people here who understand this stuff so much better than I do.

 

[Big Mike]

Does it just mean a manually adjustable Aperture & Shutter Speeds?

Pretty much.

You can check and compare the specs of all digital camera HERE