Digital Photography

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Some good points there Fred.
I wasn't trying to make out you could give anyone an expensive camera and they will take amazing photo's. I was trying to make a point that by default a decent camera will outperform a cheapo one because it was made to cater for things to be created and not just "point and shoot".

 

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I agree. There are places and types of photography where autofocus probably has a place, such as sports photography, but for other types of photography I don't think I would trust it either. I've never even owned an autofocus camera.

I also agree on the keeping the other settings on manual. Why would anyone want to let the camera set the DOF by setting the aperture for you? That's one of the most important parts of making a really high impact photograph. I got good enough at figuring DOF in my head, as my camera's didn't have a DOF preview button, that I could picture in my head how far in front and behind the subject of focus would be "in focus" for the different f-stops.

A "full auto" camera is nothing more than a point-and-click camera, imho. It's for taking snapshots, not serious photography.

 

I wasn't interested in didgital photography until i read this thread! lol

I never realised that it was all so interesting - i'm gonna take a closer look. In your opinion guys could i get a decent camera for about £500? As i know nothing and would just be starting out would this be overkill?

 

You could easily get a very good digital camera for £500. If you wanted a digital SLR then you would need to add some to that for a decent lens and a few addons. eg, a new Nikon D50 can be had with an 18-70mm lens (very good lens btw) for £582 from Jessops, which is a very good price at the moment.

If you prefered to go with a more compact non SLR there are plenty of very good camers now that offer most of the quality & functionality and also have very good zoom lenses on them. They look almost as big as an SLR but you can't change lenses etc..

 

I will take a look. They conveniently have a website for me to look at. Cheers guys.

 

I have yet to find one that has lenses will stop down below f8 either. That's a pretty big drawback to creative photography.

 

I was admiring a Nikkor 28-70mm lens in Jessops yesterday, f/2.8 throughout the whole zoom range, a snip at £1400 pounds.

Probably pick it up for £800 in Honk Kong, grrr :

 

I believe that there are times when a point and click, autofocus and autoexposure come in very handy.

For example, if someone offers to take a picture of you and your loved one at some memorable spot, no point in handing them a manual camera

Also, for taking photographs of kids or animals that refuse to sit still and are running around

Then there are the shots where you can't look through the viewfinder because you are holding the camera above your head to get the right perspective.

My wife was recently given a Sony point and click (DSC-W7) it is a 5.1 mega pixel thingy for her birthday, that is about the size of the palm of your hand. This camera can be operated manually and it has settings for just about every conceivable situation. The quality of the pictures can be outstanding.

One day I would like to get a digital SLR that can take my Pentax Spotmatic F lenses

 

Quite right Pete. A good automatic point and shoot camera is very useful for a lot of conditions.....

 

Would love to have a Dslr but finances dictate at the moment that it is not possible so will have to make do with my Fuji for now


although i have seen some cracking stuff done on this website with my model and the previous S5000

www.s5000.net on the message boards

Idealy i would like the Nikon D70 or even the D50 as it is quite a bity cheaper

I know someone who is getting the new Nikon D200 soon so should be able to let you know what that is like and by all the reviews i have read so far they are positive

 

I found a really good digital photography site. It has some really good technical forums, lots of product reviews, and a lot of really talented people on it.

It's called Digital Photography Review.

 

Very in depth reviews there. Too in depth in most cases as they focus on the minutest detail and technicalities. Has a good reputation though. Suppose it depends on what you want from a review.

The forums can be hit and miss on there. There is quite allot of 'I have model x and it's 10 times better than model Y', yer but my dad could beat your dad up and his camera's better so there!

Far too partisan to be useful in many cases IMO. The forums that is.

 

Actually, I have found the forums there to be quite useful. I'm doing some long-term planning for getting back into photography and have been asking hardware questions. I have gotten very good responses, but the way I've used the forums are to go the specific forum for the camera I'm interested in and ask questions concerning that camera. Used like that the pro's on that site are a very good resource.

I gotta laugh though because two of the guys that have been the friendliest and given the best advice were the last two I would have expected to help. They were at each other's throats in a discussion of the merits of a couple of camera's and how to judge the merits of the different types of sensor's used.

They were basically each insinuating the other was an idiot on that thread, but away from that discussion there was no hint of discord and they were friendly.

I think you just have to take a lot of "this is better than that" type of discussions that get heated there as differences of opinion from people who are very good at what they do. You will find the same thing happen on any subject where people are very knowledgeable and there is more than one way to accomplish things.

 

Yes!

Also a Fuji S5500
and also from scotland!

 

Hey thought I would ressurect this, been on a recent spending spree camera wise and just got kitted up with a Nikon D200 and a 18-70 3.4-4.5 ED DX lens, also picked up a manfrotto monopod and tripod and a few heads whilst I was over in the states, Im looking to get hold of the 18-200 VR DX ED lens at some point as its a rather nice lens as well as a SB-600 or the like

If anyone uses flickr here i have set up a certforums group for us to share photos and photographic discussion


http://www.flickr.com/groups/certforums/


'I must say that the dSLR does offer more variety in when/where you can take a great photo, my S7000 was very much a point and shoot with many manual and advanced SLR type settings (Appeture priority, Shutter priority etc) but it still suffered from shutter lag and poor depth of field, as most P&S do due to the nature of the sensor

im very pleased with my current purchase and how my photos are starting to turn out, I feel there is plenty of scope to improve my understanding of photography in general, and my technique with this new camera, understanding more about how digital photgraphy works has also really helped improve my photos!

knowing your camera is also key
being able to adapt for the shot as the situation presents itself is a great advantage, many P&S cameras have the features, but they hide them under layers of menus, its far cheaper to make a menu than it is to have a switch on the body of the camera for a perticular task, but being able to switch the metering, autofocus and motor drive with the flick of some buttons for that perfect shot of a soaring bird that just showed up in your landscape composition! means u spend more time taking the photos and less time setting the camera up to take the photos

 

Nice stuff, Phoenix, and thanks for resurrecting this thread!

My loving wife gifted me with a Canon 20d on Christmas. I've added the 18-55mm, and the owner/admin of Da Lan Tech sent me his old 60mm 1:2.8 Macro lens to use until I get something else. I've been having a blast, especially since I'm a newbie to the photography thing. I had a Quantaray 70-300mm (EF mount -- from my EOS) that's supposed to work, but ends up reading ERR on the display at odd times. When I get some extra $$$, I'm getting something that'll work.

Check out his gallery but beware ... he loves bugs! He's very talented, and lives in an area that I could even shoot a nice picture

 

Interesting to see this thread pop up again.

When, and if, I'm solvent enough to buy a camera my first choice will be whatever Sigma comes out with in their dslr line. If they never release another one then I'll really have to do some research again. That Foveon sensor is amazing and if it gets updated it is going to blow any Bayer sensor camera of similar pixel count out of the water. Foveon definitely has a better idea....

 

the problem at the moment is the Foveon currently performs pretty poor in low light conditions, especially with longer exposures, and a direct comparison MP to MP is somewhat difficult due to the differing natures of the sensors

the last Sigma DSLR was about 3.2 MP, which they liked to tout as 10.6 but its not as simple as multiplying 3.2 x 3
however its not as simple as just saying its a 3.2MP camera

would be an interesting development if they brought out another one..

 

I haunted a couple of Sigma user forums for a while, and I have to say after looking at the Sigma user's pictures, listening to their arguments for the Foveon, and their technical understanding of digital photography as most were either professional or highly experienced amatuers, that I came away convinced that the Foveon sensor, despite the problems with low light, is an outstanding innovation. I also think that the next incarnation of it from Sigma, if it comes, will address things like the low light issue.

If I had the money I would buy an SD10 even though it's 3 year old technology by now. The Sigma guys from the Digital Photography Review site were taking small sections of digital photos, blowing them up to much large sizes and showing the comparisons with 10 mp Bayer sensor photographs of the same scene taken with the same settings and lenses, and the results from the Foveon were every bit as good as those from the 10 mp Canon's and Nikon's. In some instances they were better.

They were blowing up the sizes until you could see jaggies on diagonal lines, and at equal resolutions I would take the Foveon over a 10 mp Bayer any day.

I never did do much low light shooting when I was active in photography any way so the low light limitation really doesn't bother me.

 

Hmm... I may be a n00b, but that seems a bit of overkill -- if you create a testbed *that* far out of normal practice (is digitally blowing up pictures to that magnitude common?), aren't you revealing limitations that will never be reached? I did a fair amount of research, and asked a lot of stupid questions, and came to the conclusion that as long as the CMOS is decent quality, the glass is where it's at.

That said, I agree on Sigma quality, at least for lenses. They produced the Quantaray as a budget lens, and that was an outstanding lens for my EOS SLR. Sigma will probably be my next choice for a telephoto lens, barring any input I get from experienced digital shutterbugs. I love shooting nature and scenery, and my lens selection now is anything but optimal for this.