16 yr. old getting in to photography

Artemis · May 16, 2004

Hmm, i agree with the others when they say going straight to a DSLR is a hard thing to do, mainly cause of the price.
Now i dont know half as much as the people here, but im gonna go for a SLR first myself.

I was gonna get a DSLR, but, the price! and the fact that apparently you can only veiw the picks after you take the picture, and cant use the screen to take the picture.
Another point is the card size, one decent sized card would cost a further £100!!!
i think anyway.

Go with a SLR mate

Heres what im getting.

Click here

SLR_GUY · May 16, 2004

Yup my Aunt is a Proffessional Photographer, she has a Nikon D100, but she keeps it as a backup to two Film SLRs. I asked her if I should go straight to DSLR, she told me to try a Film SLR for a couple of years.

I wish I had a DSLR

Ditto.

Harpper · May 16, 2004

Well, it looks like several people have already poured out useful information on the subject. Basically it comes down to knowing what you need and then buying it. The only way to do that is to actually start shooting more pictures with any camera. From your post it sounds like you haven't had much experience.

The reason why I say this is because when you have more practical experience in photography you'll know if your current camera is limiting your photography. Some people may never out grow their cameras because they they don't take as much control over their photography as they thought they might.

Digital cameras have evolved a lot over the years and there are a lot of them with plenty of manual features for most but even the high end digital cameras can be limiting. For example Nikon's 8700 is a good high end digital but its aperture stops only go from f/2.8-8 for wide angle and f/4.2-7.4 for telephoto. The Canon PowerShot Pro1 has a very similar range and for the same price you can get a Canon 300D with interchangable lenses.

Anyway for me, I already knew those aperture ranges were very limiting for the type of work I do. That's just one example and I do have more but of course, you wouldn't know them if you haven't done much shooting yourself so I'll leave it at that. I was actually fortunate enough to be able to use a handful of cameras before deciding on getting my current camera. A previous job I had gave me the opportunity to do a limited amount of photography and along with taking pictures on my own with my old digital camera I pretty much knew what I wanted.

It's good that you have decided to start out with your Dad's camera and see how limiting it is for you. If you find yourself wishing it could this or that then maybe you are truely ready to move on. There's actually a lot of people who jump straight into a DSLR and then end up using it as a point & shot camera...so what's the point? If you really don't know the benefits of going to an SLR or DSLR then maybe you should hold back until you do.

Using a film SLR is a cheaper way for you to experience the difference and would be the economical way to go. You may end up realizing that SLR or DSLR is not what you want after all. Some people only like the ideal of fully controlling their shots but in realilty they like the camera to do most of the work. There was actually someone awhile back who bought a DSLR and ended up returning it because they were overwhelmed with the learning curve. Me on the other hand, I love having more control over my pictures. The auto settings on my camera almost never gives me the type of pictures I want....but definitely learn the basics first and then find out what you really need.

markc · May 16, 2004

Aretemis, could you make those links linked text instead? It's really hard to read the posts when the scroll off the end of the screen.

Artemis · May 17, 2004

ill try mate

Oki did it

sorry

drlynn · May 17, 2004

Karalee said:
I also am thinking of venturing into the DSLR world. I currently have a minolta maxxum 5 that I love dearly, but Ive found my own personal problem with film cameras is that you cant see your images immediately thru film (I think my problem may be more that im too impatient to wait the hour for the film to be developed)

You might want to wait a couple of months Karalee. The new Maxxum Digital is scheduled to come out right away, which would save you some money on lenses, since you already have Maxxum equipment. I have already seen it advertised in a couple of ads, so it may even be available by the time you're ready to buy.

chrisdei · May 17, 2004

You might want to wait a couple of months Karalee. The new Maxxum Digital is scheduled to come out right away, which would save you some money on lenses, since you already have Maxxum equipment. I have already seen it advertised in a couple of ads, so it may even be available by the time you're ready to buy.

THanks! I have 2 Minolta Maxxums and am so excited to hear this news. Of course, I guess I should wait a bit longer for the prices to go down some as well, haha.

I want to add that my older minolta, a Maxxum 5, I got on e-bay for $100 with a nice lens. I was looking for a new lens, and the used camera with the lens was cheaper than buying just hte lens. So, there are great deals out there, that camera works every bit as well as my new minolta and the lenses and flashes, etc. are interchangeable. So, check out e-bay for sure!

chrisdei · May 17, 2004

Karalee said:
And BTW, as to walmart for prints, if your fussy like I am about your prints, I really wouldnt recommend walmart. At least the walmart where I used to get my prints done printed on cheap looking matte paper, so I would ask them first what they print on if your particular to glossy/semi gloss ect.

Just my 3 cents

I just want to say that I think all the 1 hours use matte paper. Walmart's standards for 2 day is glossy. I, personally prefer matte, but they will definately print them glossy if they are sent off, which is the only way I do it because I take so many pictures, it's the only way I can afford it :lol: