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Category: New Answers

Photography Question 

Josh milnik 		 

best Digital camera for serious amateur


I use my camera mostly during trips to take pictures of urban and nature. Also likes to take pictures of flowers. So far I did blowups only for a few pictures. I take my pictures very seriously, but still on the hobby side. My current digital camera has a high speed (feature that I like in the not so good lighting situations), 35 to 90 mm equivalent lens. I want to upgrade to digital camera (DSLR, SLR like?) with range of 28 to 300 mm equivalent (for SLR I understand it means 2 lenses). What is my choice?


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April 11, 2006

 

Christopher A. Vedros 		  There are LOTS of cameras that fit your description.

A good way to narrow things down some would be to tell us how much you are looking to spend.


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April 11, 2006

 

Josh milnik 		  I will put the limit for the camera, lenses and maybe the additional memories at about $1000.

Thanks


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April 11, 2006

 

Bob Chance 		  JoshL

From the menu bar on the left of your screen, click on 'Reveiw'. From the drop down list, click on "Digital Camera Calculators".
You can choose either to answer the questions in written form or by selecting pictures.
Either way, you can put parameters on your search such as the price range you want to stay within.
Mind you, most SLRs' are sold body only and you have to buy lenses and accessories seperate. I'm not sure if BPs' site gives it's prices that way or not and what is currently on thier list may not be up to date as far as actual price, but it should be close enough to give you an idea.
You can even narrow your search to specific manufacturers.
For example, BP give an est. price of 1395.00 for the Canon 20D, body only.
However, BH photo list it for 1099.
Sigma does make a 28-300mm for under $400.00.
As far as remaining within your budget, I don't know how sophisticated a camera you're looking for buy you may be hard pressed to find a DSLR camera and lens combo of that nature for under a grand. If you can find any, the Canon 10D is going for under $600, so it is possible to get the body and the lens of specified focal length for the price.
Also, BPs' site does a pretty good job of listing the camera main specs. For further info check the manufacturers website for model specific info.
A good source for pricing would be B&H photo. Myself and several others that I have read about have dealt with them and find them to be a reputable company.
www.bhphoto.com

Good luck
Bob


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April 11, 2006

 

Josh milnik 		  Thanks Bob. I checked and it seems that in my price range I can go only with entry level SLR. Now, if I assume that I will not need to use different lenses as long as I have the 28 to 300 mm range covered, what do I miss in terms of performance and quality if I go instead with an SLR-like like the Canon Proshot Pro1 or the Fuji S9000 Z?

Thanks


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April 12, 2006

 

Bob Chance 		  Josh:

I checked out the Powershot Pro 1 @
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=9823

Pretty impressive list of features including a zoom that's equivalent to a 28-200mm zoom on a 35mm. Plus 8 megapixels and the ability to move the focus point in the viewfinder.
It took some doing, but I did find this camera at PC Connection for $700.00. I remember looking at one last year and they were just under a grand then.
I didn't read anything about a flash thoug, I'm assuming it does have one built in and hopefully at least a PC sync for an external unit. I suggest this because most built in flashes are not very powerful.
Anyhow, I don't see this particular camera advertised too many places anymore, including Circuit City which is where I was looking at it last year.
You may want to find out what the deal is there. It may have been discontinued even though it's still on Canons' site.

Bob


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April 12, 2006

 

Bob Chance 		  I'd check around some more if I were you. Although it sounds like it has some impressive features, and it does, some of the reviews I've read on the Powershot Pro1 are disturbing. Most regarding slow focus, no assist beam for low light focus and bad noise at the ISO 200 & 400 settings. Check out:
http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/rating_getprodrev.php/product_id=2301616/id_type=M

Bob


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April 12, 2006

 

John Rhodes 		  Josh, I would highly recommend the Canon Powershot G6. This is a high-end digital camera feature packed--full manual control. There is a nice accessory teleconverter as well as a wide angle lens converter. I used this camera for a year and was very satisfied. I sold the camera to get the Nikon D70 mainly to be able to have a wider choice of lens. I can tell you however, I do miss the G6.

John


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April 12, 2006

 

Brendan Knell 		  Josh, If you're going to look at some like DSLRs, I would reccomend checking out Sony's DSC-F828. It doesn't quite have the zoom you're looking for (only 28-200mm), but it's a great camera otherwise. My only major gripe with it is that it has a digicam sized sensor, so with high ISOs it has some problems with noise.


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April 12, 2006

 

Brendan Knell 		  PS. I forgot to mention that it's about 850$ at B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=350540&is=DEMO&addedTroughType=search


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April 12, 2006

 

Jim M. White 		  Josh,
Check out the Olympus E-Volt E-500 two lens kit. For $849.00 with a $100 rebate you can't go wrong price-wise. This 8 MP camera is designed from the ground up for the half frame sensor so the 150 lens gives an effective 300mm equivalent. Read all the reviews you want but I have shot with it and it is sharp! Good luck.


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April 12, 2006

 
- Sherry Stricklin Boles

BetterPhoto Member
Contact Sherry Stricklin Boles
Sherry Stricklin Boles's Gallery 		  Josh, I got a DSLR (Nikon D50) and two lenses at B&H for under $1000. And my friend gets excellent photos using a FinePix S9000 (point-and-shoot)...which costs even less.


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April 13, 2006

 

Josh milnik 		  Thanks a lot for everybody. I am out of town this week, so I will be able to use you information only next week. Thanks again.

Josh


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April 17, 2006

 

Josh milnik 		  Thanks a lot to everybody. I really appreciate your input. Meanwhile, I have decided to go with the Canon XT (flexibility in the future with lens selection, image quality, shooting speed).I am looking right now for a lens that will cover 28 to 300 equivalent (18-200). I saw Sigma, Tamaron so far. Any recommendation?

Thanks again


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April 22, 2006

 

Josh milnik 		  Did some research over the weekend, looking for lenses for the XT. Seems that the Sigma 18-200 might be a solution, but it seems it have some problem focusing at the 200 end. Maybe the solution is to buy a 18 to some 100- 125 for the main one to carry while traveling and another for higher zoom to be used specifically for nature (animals,etc). Any suggestions?

Josh


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April 23, 2006

 

Bob Chance 		  Josh:

Everyone would love to have a single 'all in one lens' but the fact of the matter is, there is good reason most pros and serious ametures steer away from wide-angle to telephoto lenses.
Lens aberrations are different between the two. And as good as optics have become, there is probably still not a lens out there that can properly and completely correct for aberrations in a wide-tele lens.
Hence, your images are either going to suffer at the wide-angle end of the zoom, which is most likely, or the tele end. But it really depends on how scrupulous you are of your images.
Another thing to consider also is the speed of the lens. Or, it's largest aperature. If you plan on doing a lot of low-light, no-flash photography a zoom may not be your best bet. Generally, the fastest zooms are only f/2.8, though there may be an exception or two.
If speed is not a consideration, then I would rather opt for a wide-normal or a wide-small telephoto and then get a second longer zoom.
I have two lenses for my Canon, the 17-85 and the 100-400mm. Pretty much covers just about anything I generally shoot. Of course, if I'm indoors I generally use the flash. But if I'm ever shooting someplace where they don't allow flash photography, I might be in trouble. Like say, a church wedding.

Bob


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April 25, 2006

 

Josh milnik 		  Bob,
Thanks. It make sense that a lens that will cover the whole range will have to compromise too much. I am looking now to buy 2 lenses to cover my desired range.

Josh


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April 26, 2006

 
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