high-end prosumer cam or low-end dslr?

[Rendezvou]

hi guys... i'm upgrading my camera... will like to get some advice from u guys...

main usage of the cam is to capture land/city-scape and portraits... occasionally abstracts, still-life and macro...

there are some of my requirements (i might add more later)

• able to capture wide angle shots
• more than 13x optical zoom
• decent (at least) for night shots, better if able to capture good night shots.
• HD movie recording but not important
• fast start-up

as this is a hobby and i'm on a tight budget... so i'm looking between high-end prosumer cam or low-end dslr... please feel free post ur query (definitely im missing out some info).. appreciate all inputs... TIA.

 

[luna_sea83]

a prosumer would be good to start since you are quite tight with your budget

 

[cichlid]

How about Pentax Kx

1) body + 18-55mm $782
2) body + 18-55mm and 55-200mm $899
3) body + 18-55mm and 55-300mm $1103

I was researching for an entry level DSLR for my uncle, and it seems that the Pentax is really good, especially the high ISO performance. My uncle, who is a newbie, bought option 3.

You can consider too

 

[Rashkae]

Your "zoom" requirements will be your biggest problem. Do you even understand what it means?

 

[gundamseed84]

Fujifilm S200exr for prosumer.... new is around $600+ 2nd hand around $500

 

[ovaltinemilo]

I got a friend got Nikon P100 and she's happy with it... I think it's pretty ok if u like zoom...

 

[Akatsuki]

TS, i think u r confuse about the optical zoom part...

e.g.
24-105mm = 4.4x
18-200mm = 11x
300-500mm = 1.6x

the fact that u r mentioning about optical zoom.. i think it's better for u to try out a prosumer before progressing to a dslr

 

[Rendezvou]

a prosumer would be good to start since you are quite tight with your budget

do u have some brand and model to recommend?

How about Pentax Kx

1) body + 18-55mm $782
2) body + 18-55mm and 55-200mm $899
3) body + 18-55mm and 55-300mm $1103

I was researching for an entry level DSLR for my uncle, and it seems that the Pentax is really good, especially the high ISO performance. My uncle, who is a newbie, bought option 3.

You can consider too

thanks for the recommendation...

 

[Rendezvou]

Your "zoom" requirements will be your biggest problem. Do you even understand what it means?

TS, i think u r confuse about the optical zoom part...

e.g.
24-105mm = 4.4x
18-200mm = 11x
300-500mm = 1.6x

the fact that u r mentioning about optical zoom.. i think it's better for u to try out a prosumer before progressing to a dslr

13 is an arbitrary... i was using a prosumer cam with 10x... but sometimes im just too far from the subject...

please enlighten me on the zoom... im still new and learning.... thanks...

 

[evermith11]

I think a prosumer camera? since u need such a powerful zoom and wide angle

if you use a dslr you need to buy a wide zoom lens which is a further add on but IMO wide zoom causes barrel distortion

most prosumer camera dont have barrel distortion since its digitized zoom =/

 

[Rendezvou]

Fujifilm S200exr for prosumer.... new is around $600+ 2nd hand around $500

i might head back to fuji... was using their lower end cam pretty satisfied... but not good for some shots...

 

[hotwork77]

hi guys... i'm upgrading my camera... will like to get some advice from u guys...

main usage of the cam is to capture land/city-scape and portraits... occasionally abstracts, still-life and macro...

there are some of my requirements (i might add more later)

• able to capture wide angle shots
• more than 13x optical zoom
• decent (at least) for night shots, better if able to capture good night shots.
• HD movie recording but not important
• fast start-up

as this is a hobby and i'm on a tight budget... so i'm looking between high-end prosumer cam or low-end dslr... please feel free post ur query (definitely im missing out some info).. appreciate all inputs... TIA.

How tight is your budget? When you ask some questions you must provide details or else what you get is what you ask and that's rubbish.

 

[Rendezvou]

I got a friend got Nikon P100 and she's happy with it... I think it's pretty ok if u like zoom...

glad to head that.. i'm actually looking at it...

 

[mayhemics]

for pns cams they tend to call it 10x optical zoom and so on because the 35mm equiv is sth like 28-280. but in dslr ple dont really talk abt how many x the zoom is... you need to do some conversions so to speak.

 

[mayhemics]

suppose i go out on a limb and reckon by tight budget you mean 600-800, you can check out the comparisons of the various types of superzoom compacts at dpreview.com...

 

[night86mare]

the models mentioned here:

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=282608

are not up to date, but a lot of things remain the same.

i hope it will help you in your decision, as it is a decision you have to make on your own. advice is to think carefully what your needs are, and then go from there.

 

[tunge]

hi guys... i'm upgrading my camera... will like to get some advice from u guys...

main usage of the cam is to capture land/city-scape and portraits... occasionally abstracts, still-life and macro...



there are some of my requirements (i might add more later)

• able to capture wide angle shots
• more than 13x optical zoom
• decent (at least) for night shots, better if able to capture good night shots.
• HD movie recording but not important
• fast start-up

let's see considering u r on a tight budget i certainly don't advise u to jump into DSLR, cos once u start, there r other cost u'd realise that u need to pay... e.g dry cabinet, filter, bad, tripod, etc.... looking at ur criterials

able to capture wide angle shots - now lots of prosumer have wide angle lens 28mm and below
more than 13x optical zoom - if u really need 13x zoom, certainly prosumer is ur option, some even go up to 20x...9 DSLR lenses don't give u that wide range of zoom, the most i can think of is 18-200mm (abt 11x) but that lens will cost more that ur kit, but then again the way "zoom" works in DSLR is kinda diff from regular pns cams.
decent (at least) for night shots, better if able to capture good night shots. - this one, think DSLR will give u better noise control, but then night shot alot of time is abt good technique, a tripod together with lower ISO will give u reasonably good night shots with low noise on u prosumer
HD movie recording but not important - alot of prosumers come w HD video, most with stereo recording
fast start-up - no issue at all... how fast u need anyways? it's not like computer boot up

 

[csnap]

Probably u have to answer the following questions first:
1) What is your budget? 1 or 2 hundreds more may make a difference.
2) Is weight a considerable factor? Many > 10x zoom camera are very compact.
3) Are u particular about the image quality or convenience of taking photo is more impt?
4) For low end DSLR, do u mind getting 2nd hand stuffs? Note that most low end DSLRs do not have video function.

 

[gymak90]

Your best bet will be a prosumer. And it won't cost you much (as compared to dslr) to meet all those criteria.

You need to know what is the exact maximum focal length of your current camera. Simply by comparing the no. of X zoom will get you no where.
Say 50mm - 500mm is 10x zoom. And 10mm - 130mm is 13x zoom. Clearly the 10x zoom camera gives you longer reach.

For night shots, the problem with prosumer is their images tend to be noisy. You have to get a simple tripod or a good working flash. But don't expect the versatility of dslrs in low light photography.

 

[Rendezvou]

for pns cams they tend to call it 10x optical zoom and so on because the 35mm equiv is sth like 28-280. but in dslr ple dont really talk abt how many x the zoom is... you need to do some conversions so to speak.

ic... thanks for the info..

suppose i go out on a limb and reckon by tight budget you mean 600-800, you can check out the comparisons of the various types of superzoom compacts at dpreview.com...

yes u r right... sorry for leaving out this... my budget is around 700-800