I Need Help With A Camera

[H-Townballer]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and I'm getting settled in. Well anyway back to my question I currently have a FujiFilm digital camera and well its a piece of crap I mean it served it purpose back in 03 when I bought it and now that I am a better photographer I need a better camera and well it has to me some basic requirements one a reasonable price range for a senior in high school haha and take some damn( I hope I can say that) good shots at night as well as day If you guys can help me with that I would be extremely grateful

[Heights2Bastrop]

Digital is the only way to go. I wouldn

[editor]

Since you're working with a high school budget, I'd say take a look at the Sony line of digicams. You're not ready for a DSLR yet, and Sony has a wide range of prices and features, plus the quality of the pictures is usually very very good.

[Gary]

It's very difficult to beat Sony's digicams in the affordable class. Remember that if your going to get into alot of night shots, it's essential to have manual adjustment of your exposure and Fstop. Don't forget a decent tripod.

B&H Photo/Video is a great place on the web to look at cameras, there reliable and all have US warranties.

bhphotovideo.com

[H-Townballer]

Do you guys think this would be a good one? Price seems reasonable and its digital

Cybershot DSC-H1

[sevfiv]

i have a fujifilm that i bought a couple years ago, and it serves its purpose well (it is a workhorse and all beat up though...).

does your high school budget include your parents' money? heh

[H-Townballer]

This money includes chirstmas money, general pay from Best Buy, what little savings i have and the selling of the orginal camera.

[sevfiv]

Cybershot DSC-H1

that's not too shabby, though i would highly recommend SLR.

and you can finance it for 13 a month! heh

or...you could go all out and get this...

[editor]

I'm not sure he's ready to SLR just yet. I think he'd be better off with a digicam for the next couple of years then go SLR/DSLR when he's a junior in college or so and has a better idea of what he wants to accomplish with it.

If you do go the SLR/DSLR then the equation gets much more complicated, and Sony's no longer in the picture. Of course, then you're talking about spending at least $800 just to get started.

[editor]

Do you guys think this would be a good one? Price seems reasonable and its digital

Cybershot DSC-H1

The H1 is a very good camera, but might be a little bulky if you're going into college. You might consider something that you can more easily throw in a jacket pocket.

This is the camera I mainly use these days, and verily doth it rock.

[Gary]

The H1 is a very good camera, but might be a little bulky if you're going into college.  You might consider something that you can more easily throw in a jacket pocket.

This is the camera I mainly use these days, and verily doth it rock.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah that F828 is a good camera. I had heard some bad things about the 4 color capture until I used a friends last month, it ruled.

I just picked up the new Nikon D70S and took some shots yesterday with fantastic results. Theres virtually no moire on bright line shots, and the color rendition is the best I've seen so far in a mid level DSLR.

[H-Townballer]

Thanks guys, I torn between the DSC-H1 for its price and the DSC-F828 cause its just a nice camera.

[editor]

I guess it really all depends on what you plan to use it for.

Do you have any idea of the kinds of things you'll be shoowing and what you'll do with the results?

[texas911]

For that price, get the Canon S70. Its 8MP and has some pro features, uses the cheaper Compact Flash card and is made of metal. And has a Canon lens.

[editor]

The Sony camera are made of metal, as well. They are very well built and the F-828 feels like a tank.

CF cards were cheaper than memory sticks years ago, but that myth persists. The F828 has two card bays -- one for compact flash and one for memory stick. In theory you could have 40GB of storage on board at once. I bought a 2GB CF card and a 2GB memory stick from ZipZoomFly at the same time I got my camera and the price difference was less than five dollars.

The Canon S70 is only 7.1 megapixels, not 8.3 like the Sony F-828.

The Canon S70 lens is only 28-100mm. The Sony is 22-200, so it has a much wider range.

The Canon S70 ISO range is only 100-400. The Sony goes to 800 in auto mode, and 2000 in manual.

The Canon has a Canon lens. The Sony has a Carl Zeiss lens. Many professionals will take Zeiss glass over Canon glass any day.

Checking DPReview, I'm unable to find any "pro" features the Canon has that the Sony doesn't.

That said, the Canon does have one advantage -- It is much much smaller, which is probably a big plus for a new college student.

I don't think you'll go wrong with either camera, I just wanted to point out that the Sony cam is slightly better than the S70.

My wife has a Canon and the picture quality is excellent. I much prefer its images to those made by Nikon gear. Nikons seem to produce pictures that are warmer than real life. Sonys seem to make pictures that are cooler than real life (must be the RGBE thing). Canons are right down the middle. Film-wise, I'd say they're closer to Fuji film than Kodak.

[Gary]

My wife has a Canon and the picture quality is excellent.  I much prefer its images to those made by Nikon gear.  Nikons seem to produce pictures that are warmer than real life.  Sonys seem to make pictures that are cooler than real life (must be the RGBE thing).  Canons are right down the middle.  Film-wise, I'd say they're closer to Fuji film than Kodak.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is correct. Nikon is known for it's warmer tones while Sony is much cooler with more blues. I personally prefer the more red tone of Nikon but that's me. Canon's will tend to be a little softer than both Sony and Nikon but not at the sacrifice of picture quality.

Remember that megapixel value is highly overated after crossing the 6mp boundary. Once you pass that 6mp level your lens is everything, it can make the difference of night and day.

[YakuzaIce]

I am really thinking about splurging and getting a good digital or DSLR. I already have an SLR which I love, but it is a pain in the a** to get stuff scanned to get it online. Especially with my scanner broken.

So what would you all recommend? I am thinking at least 6+ MP. I am considering a Cannon rebel digital 6.3 MP for 700. Is it worth it to go up and get a DSLR?

[editor]

Is it worth it to go up and get a DSLR?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

You'll be amazed at the flexability of an all digital system. You'll think of things to shoot and ways to manipulate the images that you never though of before.

For example: I never did much nighttime photography because it's more than a little pain in the ass with film. Since I went digital, I've had the freedom to experiment and see what work and what doesn't and develop my own techniques because it's all pretty much free (no developing costs) and with the instant results I can make hundreds of adjustments in one sitting to get the look I want. Now some of my clients specifically ask for nighttime shots because of what they've seen from my digitals.

I've had my latest digital camera for year now. In that year I've taken roughly 13,000 pictures. 13000/24x$5.00=$2,708.33 That's a rough estimate of how much it would have cost to process all of those pictures. In that sense, the camera has more than paid for itself in development costs.

It's also paid for itself in real terms because I've gotten assignments with it that I wouldn't have otherwise.

A company in Germany really really really needed pictures of one of their buildings in New York like yesterday (I specialize in gotta-have-it-yesterday stuff). So I flew to Newark airport, hopped a train into Midtown and did about 40 preliminary pictures. I went to the Starbucks across the street, popped the Memory Stick into my palm pilot and sent them a few of the shots so they could see what I was doing. After 15 minutes of reading a newspaper and watching people walk by they e-mailed me back saying that the pictures were great, keep shooting, and can we buy the electronic rights to them, as well? So I kept shooting for the rest of the day, got back on the train, got on the plane and came home. Put the images into my computer, did a little color correction, burned a DVD and the next morning dropped a package in the FedEx bin down the block -- assignment completed.

To me, THAT's the power of digital.

[texas911]

I was comparing the S70 to the DSC-H1.

I also advocate going with a DSLR. Go with the body that you have lenses for, ie, if you have a film Nikon SLR, go with a DSLR from Nikon, you'll save money.

I've had a DSLR for a while and its liberating to say the least. Just shoot shoot shoot, don't worry about film processing or expense. Plus if you have kids, it so much better as the shots are near instantaneous, no delay like the digital point and shoots.

I also like to stay with companies that are good film camera companies, like Nikon and Canon.

[editor]

No question that if you're going DSLR go with Nikon or Canon. Even Minolta and other camera companies have DSLRs now, but Nikon and Canon are the gold standard.

But does a high school student need a DSLR? He's on a budget, and lenses get very expensive very quickly.

[YakuzaIce]

I am thinking of Cannon. Just wondering sorry if this is noob question, but I do not have that much experience with digital, but could you use SLR lenses on DSLR? Or do they make more expensive ones that are interchangeable? Probably not... I have a Nikon SLR right now with around 6 lenses. But I bet this is just wishful thinking.

[editor]

If you already have a Nikon, then you should stay with that line. I'm virtually positive that Nikon DSLRs will take all Nikon lenses. Hopefully someone here can correct me if I'm wrong. If you already have the glass, and are happy with it, then it's a no-brainer.

The internet is full of thousands of web pages with people in Canon v. Nikon flamewars. In my opinion, the differences aren't enough to warrant switching once you've already made the kind of investment you already have.

[texas911]

Heck yea you can use those Nikon lenses. Are they for the autofocus SLR, if they are then they work seemlessly with all Nikon DSLRs. Nikon only has aps sized sensors though so there will be a crop on your lenses, bad if you like wide anlges but good because the center of the lens is usually better than the outter edges. The D70 is one heck of a DSLR, for not that much. I'd highly recommend it for a beginnger.

BTW, don't be scared of DSLRs, Nikon and Canon make their DSLRs feel and perfrom just like their film cameras, you even set the ISO manually, of course you can change ISO picture to picture instead of film to film! In fact, when I let people use my DSLR, they try to look at the LCD monitor on the back to frame a shot, and I have to tell them to use the view finder! DSLRs only use the LCD monitor for playback!

[Gary]

I am thinking of Cannon.  Just wondering sorry if this is noob question, but I do not have that much experience with digital, but could you use SLR lenses on DSLR?  Or do they make more expensive ones that are interchangeable?  Probably not...  I have a Nikon SLR right now with around 6 lenses.  But I bet this is just wishful thinking.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah I just switched from a Nikon N80 (film) to a Nikon D70s. Not only does it accept ALL of my Nikor lenses, it also accepts my Tamron and Sigma lenses as well.

I looked at the Canons but they had bad balance to me (front heavy) and felt unatural in my hands, but that's just me. The Nikon was much more rugged with superior construction in comparison to the Canon.

I've taken quite a few shots since getting the camera last month and the results are nothing short of spectacular. The auto focus is very good, and with a 1 gig card I'm getting right at 300 pics, and that's on the JPEG FINE setting. Oh and the pics are free ha ha, I say free! This was the most liberating thing of all, no more film or development cost.

Although different photographers prefer different cameras you should look at the D70s. It's a truly fantastic camera and I would recomend it to anyone, you won't be sorry.