Best camera to capture distant background

[Sly_Knight]

I was by the Hudson river yesterday night and the view of the city was BEAUTIFUL.

I took out my phone to take a picture but it looked absolutely nothing like I was seeing with my eyes. It came out blurry, small and just pain ugly (see below)

So, I've decided to learn a little bit about photography and invest in a camera for future pictures. My budget is around $500. Can anyone tell me what type of camera I need to capture a distant background or point me in the right direction?

 

[480sparky]

It's blurry because of two things...... particulate matter in the air (water vapor, dust, smog etc), and you moved your phone when the shutter opened.

The particulate matter in the air you can't do anything about unless you want to wait for better weather. Moving the phone, however, is something you can correct. Lean how to hold your phone steadier. Click here.

And welcome to the nuthouse!

 

[Derrel]

Most smartphones have fairly wide-angle lenses, which make foreground objects or people look BIG, and make distant things look small. Almost any "regular camera" with a normal to short telephoto lens can make background objects look larger.

 

[KmH]

It 's about a lot more than the camera.
Digital Photography Tutorials

Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Auto Focus-S DX NIKKOR Zoom Lens 24.2 MP Digital SLR - Black

Or you can spend a bit less by getting a refurbished camera:
Nikon D3300 24.2 MP Digital SLR with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Zoom Lens, Certified Refurbished, Black

 

[photo1x1.com]

I was by the Hudson river yesterday night and the view of the city was BEAUTIFUL.

I took out my phone to take a picture but it looked absolutely nothing like I was seeing with my eyes. It came out blurry, small and just pain ugly (see below)

So, I've decided to learn a little bit about photography and invest in a camera for future pictures. My budget is around $500. Can anyone tell me what type of camera I need to capture a distant background or point me in the right direction?

Hi there, and welcome to the forum!
I´m now here for a few months and most people recommend the D3300 Kit that Keith above mentions for your price range. Also looking at comparison sites as dpreview.com, this camera seems to be a very good value for the money. One other camera you might want to consider is the Sony a6000 if you are looking for a smaller camera with high frames per second continuous shooting (many images per second - for example for sports photography). The latter is older though and therefore has more noise when you shoot at higher ISO levels in low light situations.

 

[KmH]

The Sony a6000 is not a DSLR type camera. It is a Mirrorless Interchangable Lens Camera (MILC).

Nikon offers a much broader selection of lenses than Sony offers, mostly because Nikon has been making cameras way longer than Sony has.

Also note that the Nikon D3300 uses a Sony Exmor image sensor - the IMX193 (24.2 MP)
The Sony a6000 uses the Exmore IMX210 (24.3 MP) also used in Sony's a5100.

Sony took over Konica/Minoltas camera and film business in 2006.
It was a couple of years later before Sony started producing cameras designed by Sony.