 Sarah cordes |
The right camera Hi, my names sarah and I'm 14 years old and love photography. I know this question I am about to ask has probably been answered a thousand times, but I'm gunna ask it anywayz. I am just starting out and I want to buy myself my first good camera in the springtime. My limit is about $500. I basically want to explore with it,I love photographing people mostly,but many other things as well.Any advice on a certain camera\store\website that I can look into would be great! Thanks for any comments.
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John P. Sandstedt |
A tough question because it begs the film vs. digital question. If you want to learn how to take a good photograph, go with a film camera [SLR] that has controls you can adjust. Entry levels cameras are available from Nikon [N60] and Canon [one of the Rebels.] I'm sure Pentax and Minolta have them available also, I'm just not up on the Model Names. You can get one of these for under $300, which allows you some money for one or more lenses, a flash and a tripod. You'll incur costs of film rpocessing, but I think it's worth it because you'll be able to learn the most. Digital cameras may be too automated to allow you to do any real experimentation. And, then there's the fact that you'll need a computer, imaging software and a decent printer. All digital pictures must be massaged to some degree before they are printed; a computer monitor's resolution is so bad that it's difficult to really draw comparisons between the creen and a good print. Go to a good library and get a good book on photography. Look for one of the many by Joh Hedgecoe. Don't look to a course, unless it's one available at your school. Generally they're expensive and designed to "feed" the instructor more than the student. Yes, I know they are a lot of course offered on betterphoto.com - each of these seem focused on a single subject and, frankly, are expensive because of their limited focus. Take as many pictures as you can [and can afford.] Be ruthlessly critical as you judge them against the guidelines provided n whatever book[s] you read.
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Kerry L. Walker |
Online camera stores, such as Adorama and B&H are great sources for camera equipment but I don't suggest you buy there. When you are just starting out, you need to make sure to find a camera that feels right in your hands. Just make sure you get a camera that can be used on full manual as well as automatic. A manual focus camera might even be a good choice. I own several cameras and only one is auto focus, and I use it on manual focus almost as much as I do on auto. Remember honey, a camera is only as good as the photographer using it.
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Sarah cordes |
thanks for the comments. I know, I have been studying hard on the website, I want lessons but there is none in my area!
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Shauna Linde |
Just a quick suggestion here- when I first started getting interested in photography I was in your same boat. I took a class in high school where we borrowed Pentax K1000 's (unless we had our own SLR no digital back then!). I enjoyed the class to much that I asked my parents to get me a camera for Christmas. They went with the instructors suggestion to look at Pawn shops for a beginner's camera. The K1000 runs around $100 (maybe even less) and is a GREAT starter. It allows you to really learn everything about apertures, shutter speeds and such before you venture into the land of digital (if you want to).
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Sepehr |
just make sure you get a brand w/ almost every accesory you may ever need. while you may not need it now, but down the road you will probably be using the same brand because you are used to it and to avoid major system changes later just beacuse their camera system has a certain item you want/need. just start w/ one of the top names now (i.e. canon, nikon).
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