planted Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Just a question....my daughter is really interested in, and quite frankly BUGS me about a camera. I don't know where to begin. I would be soo grateful for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Just a question....my daughter is really interested in, and quite frankly BUGS me about a camera. I don't know where to begin. I would be soo grateful for any advice. I'm no photog but I recently perchased one of these on eBay along with an 8GB card. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10965645 Takes hi-def video as well as still photos, you didn't mention how old she was but kids today seem to pick up these new gadgets pretty quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planted Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 Thanks so much for your response. She is 13, and has grown bored with her Sanyo 7.1 mega pixels thingamajiggy. She's actually quite good with a semi-pro camera a friend let her borrow. But, I am totally lost with what to buy. BTW, did I hear you recently received good news?? Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Thanks so much for your response. She is 13, and has grown bored with her Sanyo 7.1 mega pixels thingamajiggy. She's actually quite good with a semi-pro camera a friend let her borrow. But, I am totally lost with what to buy. BTW, did I hear you recently received good news?? Peace When my son was 8 or 9 he started making stop animation videos lol, he's 11 now but I haven't had much contact with him in the last 15 months due to his mothers ignorance. If it looks like something they are really interested in I would get it for them, never know they may make a career out of it some day. I did get good news about my CT scan and just one last treatment on Tuesday thanks for asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planted Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 Geeze sorry to hear about the separation between you and your son. He'll make his own choices someday. And you'll be there!! Be well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TypeO Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I'm not a professional photographer, even though I take photos for my job. Of course it depends on how much you can afford to spend, but the digital SLRs are a good start for someone serious about photography. We use Canons here at work although I've heard Nikons are a big deal as well. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS or Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi are both awesome starter cameras - although they run over $500 new, you can get refurbished units for a few hundred dollars from companies like Adorama.com and others. And refurbished are generally good purchases as they usually come with some type of warranty, as opposed to buying a used camera off ebay where you have no idea what you might be getting. It's a camera she can learn how to shoot professionally with, as far as learning and understanding how to shoot in full manual mode, where you set your own shutter speed, aperture value and ISO speed. There is also a full auto mode to get started where the camera makes the best adjustment based on lighting conditions, as well as multiple auto modes for differing conditions like low-light, sports, and others. Additionally there are semi-auto modes as you learn more about the various values so that you may want to control the shutter speed, and the camera matches up the rest. Also, they allow shooting in RAW format, which is like a digital negative that allows you to have more control over adjusting the final image on the computer, as opposed to being limited to the quality of the initial shot. It's a pretty versatile system, and produces fantastic results. Definitely a great start for a serious beginner. And if you have the money, an extra zoom lens (200 or 300 mm) is a great addition to allow her even more versatility. A 300mm zoom could run as much as the camera (upwards of $500), but again, refurbished is a great way to get started at a greatly reduced cost. Beginner's tip - purchase a second battery unit to keep charged so you always have a back-up. Also, memory cards are so reasonable, go big with 16 or 32Gb cards instead of 2 or 4 Gb cards. RAW images take up about double the space of jpg images. A second memory card is recommended as well, better to have it and not need it than the other way around. Bottom line, for well under $1000 you could get her set up with everything she needs (including accessories like memory cards, extra batteries, backpack, etc.) to learn serious photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reswati Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 My girlfriend studies photograpy and is recently using a Nikon D-90 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikonD90/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brspled Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Some very good advice from TypeO. I'm not a professional photographer either, it's a hobby. I have a Canon 40D, I'm very pleased with my camera and the set of lens that I have (so far 6 sets.... I'm becoming quite adicted to photography, methinks ) . But a Canon XSi is a very good camera, I'd definitely go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonzoLikeDrumer Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I was into photography in the 1980's, working in a dark room and using a modest Minolta (don't even remember the model #) with a 35mm, a 145mm telephoto and a wide angle that I can't off hand remember the focal size of, all manual operating stuff. Yeah I know, nothing to do with today's gear and all the advice given above is good but, there is the aspect of what's going on behind the camera too! Like a good guitar player can make an inexpensive guitar sound good, as he knows how to play it. A good eye for shot's can make the difference between an average picture and a picture that has meaning or will not be too boring to a general audience! Have the kid do a lot of research on the subject (this is true for anything really). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I was into photography in the 1980's, working in a dark room and using a modest Minolta (don't even remember the model #) with a 35mm, a 145mm telephoto and a wide angle that I can't off hand remember the focal size of, all manual operating stuff. Yeah I know, nothing to do with today's gear and all the advice given above is good but, there is the aspect of what's going on behind the camera too! Like a good guitar player can make an inexpensive guitar sound good, as he knows how to play it. A good eye for shot's can make the difference between an average picture and a picture that has meaning or will not be too boring to a general audience! Have the kid do a lot of research on the subject (this is true for anything really). So true ! It's becoming a lost art. Time to get my old 35mm out again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TypeO Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Some very good advice from TypeO. I'm not a professional photographer either, it's a hobby. I have a Canon 40D, I'm very pleased with my camera and the set of lens that I have (so far 6 sets.... I'm becoming quite adicted to photography, methinks ) . But a Canon XSi is a very good camera, I'd definitely go for it. I use a 40D here at work - I love it. Although we've had it a couple years now and I can probably justify a new camera. I'm thinking the new 7D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brspled Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I use a 40D here at work - I love it. Although we've had it a couple years now and I can probably justify a new camera. I'm thinking the new 7D It looks like this new 7D is amazing.... I have only read fantastic reviews about it.. I also love my 40D, it's a very good camera. And although I have had it for a year now I only use it as a hobby, so I can't justify buying a new camera right now... But new set of lenses are always on my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonzoLikeDrumer Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 So true ! It's becoming a lost art. Time to get my old 35mm out again Cool bean's dude! I wish I still had some of the picture's I made in Photography class back in High school, those where the good old day's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TypeO Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 It looks like this new 7D is amazing.... I have only read fantastic reviews about it.. I also love my 40D, it's a very good camera. And although I have had it for a year now I only use it as a hobby, so I can't justify buying a new camera right now... But new set of lenses are always on my list. That's the good part about working for the government - they'll cough up the bucks for quality. The cool part about the 7D is full HD video at 1920 x 1280! Although we already have a Canon XH A1 HD camcorder, that's still pretty hot to have HD capability without breaking out the camcorder! I just wish I had the money to have all this equipment at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Yes! But I don't use digital. I'm old school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planted Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 I'm not a professional photographer, even though I take photos for my job. Of course it depends on how much you can afford to spend, but the digital SLRs are a good start for someone serious about photography. We use Canons here at work although I've heard Nikons are a big deal as well. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS or Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi are both awesome starter cameras - although they run over $500 new, you can get refurbished units for a few hundred dollars from companies like Adorama.com and others. And refurbished are generally good purchases as they usually come with some type of warranty, as opposed to buying a used camera off ebay where you have no idea what you might be getting. It's a camera she can learn how to shoot professionally with, as far as learning and understanding how to shoot in full manual mode, where you set your own shutter speed, aperture value and ISO speed. There is also a full auto mode to get started where the camera makes the best adjustment based on lighting conditions, as well as multiple auto modes for differing conditions like low-light, sports, and others. Additionally there are semi-auto modes as you learn more about the various values so that you may want to control the shutter speed, and the camera matches up the rest. Also, they allow shooting in RAW format, which is like a digital negative that allows you to have more control over adjusting the final image on the computer, as opposed to being limited to the quality of the initial shot. It's a pretty versatile system, and produces fantastic results. Definitely a great start for a serious beginner. And if you have the money, an extra zoom lens (200 or 300 mm) is a great addition to allow her even more versatility. A 300mm zoom could run as much as the camera (upwards of $500), but again, refurbished is a great way to get started at a greatly reduced cost. Beginner's tip - purchase a second battery unit to keep charged so you always have a back-up. Also, memory cards are so reasonable, go big with 16 or 32Gb cards instead of 2 or 4 Gb cards. RAW images take up about double the space of jpg images. A second memory card is recommended as well, better to have it and not need it than the other way around. Bottom line, for well under $1000 you could get her set up with everything she needs (including accessories like memory cards, extra batteries, backpack, etc.) to learn serious photography. Many thanks for taking the time to respond....lots of good info. Wish me luck. It's getting harder to please her these days, being 13 and all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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