Need Camera Advice!

[keahgirl8]

Hello all! I need your expert advice! I am thinking of buying myself a nice camera, because I'd like to get more into photography. I don't know anything about the subject, but I'd like a nice camera that will take great, high-quality pictures and is easy to use. I know nothing about the technical terms, so all these reviews I read are not helping me! Can anyone give a recommendation?

 

[goofymom/pop]

I am sure you will get loads of help here, but we need a little more info. if you don't mind sharing.

Digital or Film?

Price range?

Point and Shoot? Point and Shoot plus manual settings?

What kind of pics do you want to take?

How much do you think you will zoom?

There are lots more little things, but I am off to church so I will check back later on.

 

[keahgirl8]

I knew you would ask that! Ummm...

I haven't decided yet on digital or film. I can probably get a nicer film camera for cheaper than a digitial camera, am I right? I need something $200 or less. What is the advantage to Point and Shoot plus manual settings? I'm just now getting into this, so I'm not really sure what I want. There's so much info to look at! I just want to take pictures of scenery when I go on trips and family. I want a decent amount of zoom, but I don't really need toooo much. I know it sounds like I have no idea what I'm talking about! That's because I don't! I hope you can help me despite the little amount of information I can give you! Thanks for your help!

 

[goofymom/pop]

Well it sounds like you would be happy with a point and shoot and that you would mostly use the Auto setting anyway (most of us do). I have been looking extensively at the Canon Power Shot line A410 and A510 they are both reasonably priced under 200.00. They offer some zoom, but not a ton. Settings for portrait, sports, macro and such, where the camera selects the settings for you. They both have good reviews online. My daughter wants a new camera and prefers its digital, of course "Santa" cannot afford more than $150 this year, due to helping with room and board at college for her. So I think I will watch for a sale on the Canon's. Remember that you will need a SD card for the camera too. I believe these models come with a 16mb card, but in the best resolution thats not many pics at all. Only a dozen I think.

another thing I did was go to google and type in the name of the camera and just read whatever reviews I can get my hands on. dpreview.com also has a great site with all kinds of information on every kind of camera imaginable.

Good luck! and let us know what you decide.

 

[ndelaware]

CNet.com is also a great site for camera info. I would recommend going digital. While film is probably still the best medium in the hands of a professional or an acomplished amateur photograher, you can't beat the value of digital. You can take 100 pics, load them on your computer, see what works for you and decide to print them, save them on your computer or just delete the bad ones. No paying for out of focus or too dark/light pictures.

 

[keahgirl8]

Thanks for the advice! What size card would I need? About how much do they cost?

 

[Lachesis00]

512 or 1 gig would be a good start. I wouldn't go hirer then 1 gig as they say you could loose all your photos rather then just some.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

keahgirl8, don't laugh , but here's a link which can help you get started in learning what type of camera would best suit your needs. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=125707&path=0:3944:133277:3959:125586:125608:125707