djbenny1
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2013
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- United Kingdom
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Hi guys! :wave:
About Me
I'm Ben, 23 from Northern Ireland.
Believe it or not, before the age of 20, I never really actually owned an actual standalone camera (apart from a very early Polaroid digital which I kind of bought as a "toy" in my youth!). After a number of years taking all my photos on my various phones and always wanting a bit more, and ahead of a 3 month trip to Belgium, I went about looking for a decent camera.
I didn't want to be one of these people who go from using their iPhone thinking they're David Attenborough and then jumping over to a £1000 DSLR, so I went with something that I thought would enable me to learn with the intention of moving to more serious stuff later if I wanted to, and also that in the event that I couldn't be bothered going any further, it was still a decent point and shoot.
After hours (probably weeks) of research, I finally settled on the Fuji HS20.
That was just over a year ago.
I've taken a LOT of photos in that time - every time I go on a trip, the camera comes with me in its own little bag and honestly it has been a fantastic servant. Has been a joy to use and with the manual controls I don't think I could have chosen a better camera on which to learn the basics.
Alas, however, I feel the time has come for me to think about moving on to bigger and better things. I love what my HS20 produces, but for me they're ALWAYS lacking detail. Always "blurry" if you like, except for perhaps macro mode. I'm still learning all the time, but just last week I feel I had my best day out with my camera yet and produced what I feel are some of my best shots in the last 14 months.
I shot said pictures in 8MP, but I still think they're very blurry and I will definitely try full 16MP next time I'm out with similar settings depending on conditions.
I would really appreciate it if you guys could take a look at my photos and honestly let me know what you think. My family and friends all tell me they're great but I guess it's kind of like X Factor where all manner of eejits show up because they've been told they're good by family and friends I'd like the opinions of some real enthusiasts like yourselves!
Everything I've ever shot and kept on my camera is right here:
Flickr: djbenny10's Photostream
Question
So guys, I currently use solely my HS20 - my first real camera and I feel like I'm kind of reaching the limits of what I'm able to do with it (hopefully by looking at my photos on my Flickr above you will be able to either agree or disagree. I follow the Flickr group for the particular camera pretty closely and I feel like the shortcomings I experience are pretty much there in all the photos that I consider to be great shots. Those are:
1) A general lack of detail at 100%
2) Pretty bad in general at long focal lengths making it not really worth using
3) Dull colours (though this can be tackled by increasing the DR in settings)
4) Inability to play around with focus outside of macro
So, my question is.... would upgrading to a Nikon D5100 solve all these problems for me?
I've done a fair bit of research on the SLRs and feel that for the money I would have available, the D5100 is the best I could get (currently £400 all in including an 18-55mm VR lens - I've already got a good bag and memory cards). I would probably look to get at least 1 more lens 55-???mm in the future, but certainly for the period after purchase I could make do with just the one as I think I use that range most.
I'm particularly interested to hear from anyone who has upgraded from a similar bridge camera to a similar DSLR and what differences you noticed!
Thanks in advance,
Ben
About Me
I'm Ben, 23 from Northern Ireland.
Believe it or not, before the age of 20, I never really actually owned an actual standalone camera (apart from a very early Polaroid digital which I kind of bought as a "toy" in my youth!). After a number of years taking all my photos on my various phones and always wanting a bit more, and ahead of a 3 month trip to Belgium, I went about looking for a decent camera.
I didn't want to be one of these people who go from using their iPhone thinking they're David Attenborough and then jumping over to a £1000 DSLR, so I went with something that I thought would enable me to learn with the intention of moving to more serious stuff later if I wanted to, and also that in the event that I couldn't be bothered going any further, it was still a decent point and shoot.
After hours (probably weeks) of research, I finally settled on the Fuji HS20.
That was just over a year ago.
I've taken a LOT of photos in that time - every time I go on a trip, the camera comes with me in its own little bag and honestly it has been a fantastic servant. Has been a joy to use and with the manual controls I don't think I could have chosen a better camera on which to learn the basics.
Alas, however, I feel the time has come for me to think about moving on to bigger and better things. I love what my HS20 produces, but for me they're ALWAYS lacking detail. Always "blurry" if you like, except for perhaps macro mode. I'm still learning all the time, but just last week I feel I had my best day out with my camera yet and produced what I feel are some of my best shots in the last 14 months.
I shot said pictures in 8MP, but I still think they're very blurry and I will definitely try full 16MP next time I'm out with similar settings depending on conditions.
I would really appreciate it if you guys could take a look at my photos and honestly let me know what you think. My family and friends all tell me they're great but I guess it's kind of like X Factor where all manner of eejits show up because they've been told they're good by family and friends I'd like the opinions of some real enthusiasts like yourselves!
Everything I've ever shot and kept on my camera is right here:
Flickr: djbenny10's Photostream
Question
So guys, I currently use solely my HS20 - my first real camera and I feel like I'm kind of reaching the limits of what I'm able to do with it (hopefully by looking at my photos on my Flickr above you will be able to either agree or disagree. I follow the Flickr group for the particular camera pretty closely and I feel like the shortcomings I experience are pretty much there in all the photos that I consider to be great shots. Those are:
1) A general lack of detail at 100%
2) Pretty bad in general at long focal lengths making it not really worth using
3) Dull colours (though this can be tackled by increasing the DR in settings)
4) Inability to play around with focus outside of macro
So, my question is.... would upgrading to a Nikon D5100 solve all these problems for me?
I've done a fair bit of research on the SLRs and feel that for the money I would have available, the D5100 is the best I could get (currently £400 all in including an 18-55mm VR lens - I've already got a good bag and memory cards). I would probably look to get at least 1 more lens 55-???mm in the future, but certainly for the period after purchase I could make do with just the one as I think I use that range most.
I'm particularly interested to hear from anyone who has upgraded from a similar bridge camera to a similar DSLR and what differences you noticed!
Thanks in advance,
Ben