Photography... camera help!

Best Buy is where we got my mom's. They even had a payment program.

RowanTheRed said:

I was once a professional photographer. So I'm going to ask you a few questions to see if I can help you out. These are the same questions I ask all my family and friends when they ask me about what camera to buy.

1) Do you want a point and shoot camera or a dsl (digital single lens reflex) where you can change the lenses?

2) if you want one that you change the lenses, will you be setting it to AUTO mode or will you be manually adjusting the settings?

3) how will you process the pictures you take? Will you take them straight to a print source like Wal-Mart, or an online printer like shutter fly. Or do you plan to download to a computer and doctor them up there first?

4) This is the most important one, are you going to read all of the directions that come with cameras if you are wanting a dslr or will you just wing it?

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What I'd like to see is a DSLR for us oldsters who grew up with film. IOW all the manual settings are set up just like they are on an SLR; Dials on the camera body for 'film' and shutter speed, rings on the lens for aperture and focus. And of course all visible while looking through the viewfinder*. The auto settings can be on a menu since they're all presets anyway.

*For those of you who don't remember viewfinders they were something you looked through, and you could see what you were going to shoot even if the sun was behind you of how bright it was was shining.

FlyWheel said:

What I'd like to see is a DSLR for us oldsters who grew up with film. IOW all the manual settings are set up just like they are on an SLR; Dials on the camera body for 'film' and shutter speed, rings on the lens for aperture and focus. And of course all visible while looking through the viewfinder*. The auto settings can be on a menu since they're all presets anyway.

*For those of you who don't remember viewfinders they were something you looked through, and you could see what you were going to shoot even if the sun was behind you of how bright it was was shining.

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My Nikon has all of that. I have a dial to change the ISO, and options for full manual mode like with my film nikon, or I can choose a priority setting like aperture or shutter speed. I can even do bulb setting for long exposure times. Oh, and I do not have a screen on the back to view the photo before I compose it and take it, I actually have to look through the view finder!

Here's a photo from July 4th several years ago using the bulb setting

The entry level DSLR can be purchased at Sam's Club, Best Buy, or any local camera shop.

One additional important thing to do when you decide on a new camera is to go some place that you can put your hands on it. Whether it be a Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, or any other brand, actually being able to pick it up and play with one and get a feel for menu setup, button location, and general feel in your hands is more important than you might think. When my wife and I bought our first DSLR, we had a Ritz camera close by with a ton of different models. We were able to go and play with them in the store, and ultimately settled on a Nikon D50 (It's been a while obviously). From the perspective of features and usability, the Nikon and the Canon Rebel we were looking at were practically identical. The button layout on the Nikon, and overall feel of the camera in our hands, and the menu system were the reason we finally went with the Nikon. I've shot both Nikon and Canon since, up and down the range of both models from entry level to pro, and I still prefer my Nikons.

When you start looking at feature sets, you'll find that in a given range (entry level, for example, or mid level), most cameras do the same things within the range from different makers (so an entry level DSLR from Nikon or Canon will more or less have the same features and typically will do one or 2 things better than the competitors in the space), so more or less any of them you choose will likely suit your needs. It's down to things like how much extra lenses cost, how is support, if you drop it, can you get it fixed nearby or do you have to send it out, etc...

Find a place locally that you can put your hands on some of the gear and go play. Best Buy, Walmart, or if there's a local camera shop, all of them will usually allow you to touch and play. As for where to buy, I try and support local Mom and Pop shops if I can, (provided the markup isn't insane compared to online) and if not, I'll hit B and H or Adorama and comparison shop online.