confused on what to buy

MISFITofMAGIC

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im sure there are like 60 threads a day about what camera to buy, i searched and didnt find much help.
i have been into photography for about 2 years not i have a sony DSC-t1 and a canon rebel k2. i want to get a nice entry level DSLR and i want to get it as cheap as i can.
i was looking at the fuji s5100/s5200 and its not a real SLR but it take some nice pics and has some user modes and manual modes.
im also looking at a nikon d50 its more i would get one off ebay or "beach camera" its like 550$ from them.

my skill level its probly advanced noob. i took digital photo. class at school and learned some nice basic stuff.

i just want to find a camera that i will be happy with and can get some nice shots. ill be photographing cars,people and random things.
i want to take some nice night shots and nice day shots. just basicly all around.
what is a good camera thats about $200-575
 
Well, my vote's for the Fuji S5200...I got it two days ago, given it a fairly decent run-through, and it's taken some nice shots technically, but ultimately it obviously comes down to the photographer...it can do alot, mostly everything that a higher-end cam can do, and I couldn't be happier with it.

Though with that said, my experiences with cameras is very limited, so I don't have much of a reference base to compare it to.

Also, for that price range, you could probably get a 'better' camera like a Canon Powershot S3IS or something...though for the best-at-the-cheapest-possible spectrum, I'd highly recommend an S5200
 
believe it or not, and I have no desire for a dslr, but walmart has a pentax dslr for under 600 bucks. Better that than ebay. My opinion anyway.

If I could settle for non interchangable lens, and I could, I go for one of the panasonic fz models the 20 or 30 for sure. They have the leica lens you know.

there are a lot more knowledgable people than me here though.
 
Get the Digital Rebel XT (D350), or try to find an older Digital Rebel (D300). There is a big difference between an SLR and "not a real SLR". It will cost more up front but most people will tell you that it's worth the difference. Plus, lenses for the SLR will hold their value very well. An S5200 or anything like that...will loose it's value much faster.

The biggest difference is the size of the sensor (compare them side by side at www.dpreview.com ).

Plus you already have a film EOS camera that can share lenses with a digital EOS camera.
 
MISFITofMAGIC said:
i was looking at the fuji s5100/s5200 and its not a real SLR
That's a common mistake, but it is a real SLR. It just doesn't have interchangable lenses, which has nothing to do with being an SLR. Rangefinders, TLR, and field cameras all can have swapable lenses.

SLR = Single Lens Reflex
Single lens, because the one lens feeds both the viewfinder and the film/sensor, and Reflex, because it has a mirror.

DPReview and other sites use SLR-like to describe cameras that looks like what people think of an SLR, but don't have swapable lenses, and it ****es me off, because they are a big reason this gets spread around and adds to the confusion. SLR-like should be used to describe cameras that use an LCD to show exactly what the sensor sees, but might not have a mirror for a viewfinder, just the LCD, since an SLR is the only kind of camera I know of that shows you the exact scene the film/sensor sees and also flips the image around so that it's not reversed and upsidedown (which requires two mirrors).
 
As far as I know, those SLR-like cameras do not have a mirror...they have a EFV (electronic view finder) which lets you see the image in the viewfinder and/or on the LCD screen.

Just about any digital camera could be treated as "single lens" because the image on the screen (real time preview) is coming through the lens to the sensor. They often also have a viewfinder window (no mirror)...but when was the last time you saw someone use that for composition rather than holding the camera way out in front of them? :lol:

As with most things, the labels and terminology gets confusing with so many companies and no standard. Also, the marketing wizards at these companies like to confuse the consumer.

As I mentioned, the biggest difference between what we call a DSLR and other digital cameras is the size of the sensor. (Sony makes a large sensor camera that is otherwise similar to an SLR-like camera.)
 
Big Mike said:
As far as I know, those SLR-like cameras do not have a mirror...they have a EFV (electronic view finder) which lets you see the image in the viewfinder and/or on the LCD screen.
That would make sense then. I thought that one had a mirror, but I guess I was jumping to conclusions. If it has a mirror, it's an SLR, if it doesn't, then it's SLR-like. Not having a mirror is definitely cheaper, so I could see most manufacturers not going that way.

Just about any digital camera could be treated as "single lens" because the image on the screen (real time preview) is coming through the lens to the sensor.
Single lens, yes, but not single lens reflex. A field camera is single lens.

They often also have a viewfinder window (no mirror)...but when was the last time you saw someone use that for composition rather than holding the camera way out in front of them? :lol:
Don't know. I've never used one like that, and don't really plan on it. I prefer a viewfinder. I know some of them have a viewfinder that's like the I-don't-know-what-they-are-called cameras, like a rangerfinder without the range finding. They don't see exactly what the lens sees. They have parallax error.

Also, the marketing wizards at these companies like to confuse the consumer.
Yeah, I think they are the biggest cause.

As I mentioned, the biggest difference between what we call a DSLR and other digital cameras is the size of the sensor. (Sony makes a large sensor camera that is otherwise similar to an SLR-like camera.)
That is often a difference, but not what I personally would call a defining one. But the companies do tend to put the bigger priced features together (bigger sensor, interchangable lenses, high ISO/low ISO, fast shutter, fast frame advance, etc.).

I think it's important to keep definitions clear so we know what each other are talking about. I could understand if some of these terms were new, but SLR has been around for ages. Digital didn't change what it meant.

But most everyone uses "beg the question" wrong too. I guess it's a losing battle.
 
When all is said and done, you're the one who has to work with your camera. Not someone who says 'Buy this' or 'Buy that.'

Use your present gear until you're absolutely sure that you need something else, and that you know exactly why.

The choice will then be obvious. And you'll also have some $$ set aside by then.
 
The only way something can be an SLR is if you see an optical representation of the scene as given to you by light directly, not by some screen that's been rigged up to the viewfinder. My panasonic has that and it's no where near as useful as a proper slr.. in fact as Mike said, you end up just using the LCD because that thing is soo useless, it hinders my photo taking whenever i shoot digital!
 
the sony DSC-ts has no tripod hole (night shots:thumbdown:) and there are no user modes other then the preser ones like the little flower and stuff for macro shots. its just a point and shoot to my knowing. if somone had some tricks or something i can try to get the most outta this camera id love it. and my cannon i want to mess with i just hate having to buy fild and pay to get it processed and end up liking 3 of 32 shots.
 

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