Dslr or slr... hmm

[lasershot]

Ok, first let me say hi!

Anyways, I'm a newbie to photography who wants to jump on the train of this hobby. I can't decide though which type of camera to buy, digtial or film!

I was considering film because the cameras cost a lot less, but then I thought about the long run where I would be buying all that film. So Now I thought about digtial where I could buy a nice camera and finically not have to pay as much in the long run...

So what do the guys and girls at TPF say?

 

[DSLR noob]

Either way, the lenses will be the biggest investment. Even in the super expensive digital meduim, lenses can cost more than your camera. I'd go digital just because of the convenience of not having to go and get things developed (unless you own a darkroom). And not having to buy film. Also instantly seeing your image in the rear LCD so when in manual, you can keep tweaking the shutter and aperture settings for the same picture, till eventually you learn what to for any situation. It can be a great learning tool for instant improvement.

 

[lasershot]

Ya, I had looked at several brands lenses, very expensive lol

Any recommendations on a good camera for dslr?

 

[DSLR noob]

Some more popular cameras

Pentax- k110D/ K100D/ K10D
Canon- 350D/ 400D/ 20D/ 30D/ too expensive beyond that
Nikon- D40/ D40x/ D50/ D70/ D70s/ D80/ too expensive beyond this
Sony- Alpha A100X (2 new models coming soon)

I listed Pentax first because the lens selection is hugely vast, their kit lenses are said to be superb (smooth like the good ole day, and don't feel cheap), and they are relatively cheaper than other SLR manufacturers.

Then I'd look into the Sony because it has a ton of bell and whistles for a body. Lens compatibility is very good from what I hear, and later on she could splurge on some Ziess glass.

Canons and Nikons are said to be the top, and they have a huge line of support from the market. IF she has an old Nikon or Canon film SLR (canon has ot be made after 1987) her lenses could be compatible.

That is taken from another thread that I posted the list in. here is some extra on used cameras.

Used:
Pentax- any of the *ist cameras
Nikon- D50 and D70 (some Nikon fans fill in here)
Canon- EOS 3, EOS 10D, Digital Rebel (300D), Digital Rebel XT (350D), EOS 20D

 

[lasershot]

I had looked into the Pentax brand but I was told that there lens line was rather small, or are they a fairly decent company?

I had googled the D70 Before but could never find it, only the D80. A few on that List I have to look at...

 

[xfloggingkylex]

I had looked into the Pentax brand but I was told that there lens line was rather small, or are they a fairly decent company?

I had googled the D70 Before but could never find it, only the D80. A few on that List I have to look at...

Pentax is a great company. Their line isn't quite as readily available as canon or nikon, with an acclaimed 24 million lenses fitting their DSLRs, I think the line is big enough

And the D70 was replaced by the D80, so you'd have to buy used more than likely.

 

[lasershot]

I was thinking of starting out with an SLR-Like camera instead just to make sure Im serious with this stuff...

Any recommendtions on this one?

 

[Don Simon]

If you're not sure how serious you are about photography, I recommend a film SLR. I know a lot of people would recommend starting with digital because you can immediately review shots on the LCD and in theory learn faster this way... but on a basic practical level, digital cameras (especially those 'slr-like' cameras as opposed to dSLRs) lose value fairly quickly. If you bought one and then decided you weren't all that interested in photography, you would have spent quite a lot on the camera before realising this. With a film SLR the initial investment is not so high.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

I was thinking of starting out with an SLR-Like camera instead just to make sure Im serious with this stuff...

Any recommendtions on this one?

I'm a big fan of Fuji Finepix S series of SLR-style point and shoots. My girlfriend has a 4MP S series and it takes pretty good pictures for a point and shoot.

I'd buy a cheap used camera off of ebay or overstock.com

You dont want to spend 500 dollars on an SLR style point and shoot and then realize that you love photography, because with that money you could have bought a DSLR. Go cheap and if you like it, upgrade sooner rather than later.

 

[lasershot]

I would get an SLR, but I'm just not sure how the film cost will be in the long run... plus I can't see the pictures right after I take 'em.

I have browsed through overstock but I couldn't find anything good so then I checked ebay and I found several good cameras new and never opened, the only thing about them is that they're kodak's and I have a friend who hasn't had the best experiences with them...

Slr bodies are no doubt cheaper but Idk...

 

[xfloggingkylex]

you can buy packages with 8 rolls of film for not that much money, a decent SLR body will cost you 100 bucks and then the lens. Get the company you want and you can use that lens on your digital should you decide to go that route. Of course if you are just learning about aperture and everything it can be hard to use film since you have to wait and see, and there is no EXIF data

I bought a minolta Dimage camera for 200 bucks on overstock and it was great. Thats what got me into photography and I eventually upgraded to a DSLR. Just depends what you want to do.

 

[lasershot]

Im really pushing towards the idea of a digital camera because then I can see were I made my mistake as soon as I take the picture.

Any ideas on good cameras like this and a place to buy um?

Sorry, I just can't make up my mind. lol

EDIT: I looked at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=422514&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Its the Panasonic Lumix DMC-F27, It looks like a decent camera so I decided to ask what you folks had to say bout it!

 

[Mike_E]

Lasershot, you want to stick with cameras that have glass lenses (this paragraph is Just an FYI) and look at optical zoom because digital zoom is just in camera cropping and degrades the final photo when printed to size.
Fuji makes some nice P&S cameras as well as Canon. Nikons are good although they may be rebranded Fujis, I'm not sure.

If you are Just getting started, I would suggest a P&S that has some manual control. Film cameras are going for a song these days but the lag time between taking the photo and getting it developed is going to be frustrating to say the least!

The first thing you need to learn is composition and the other first thing is seeing the light. You can learn composition with a cardboard cutout. but seeing the light as shown through a camera requires a camera. It also requires seeing the resultant photo (print or lcd/monitor image to see the relationship between what you have seen and how it comes out. Which leads to digital cameras.

The learning curve is rather steep if you want to do this right so a P&S will help you by taking some of the complexity out of the equation.


Start here for composition... http://www.vividlight.com/articles/1305.htm

and start here for light... http://www.vividlight.com/articles/604.htm

mike

P.S. go ahead and subscribe.

 

[lasershot]

Thanks for the advice mike!

So do you think the Panasonic one would be a good camera to get started with?

 

[Alpha]

Point and shoots are in a completely different category than real cameras. They're specifically designed to be as automated as possible. As such you don't have nearly as much room to play in learning. I would highly caution against using a P&S (or should I say PoS) to gauge an interest in photography. The lack of manual features makes it very difficult to understand the level of control you have with pro and semi-pro cameras.