Very Lost. Need guidance on what camera to start off with.

[rylryl]

Hi. I'm very new to the whole photography scene. Just had an interested in photography recently. But... I seriously have NO idea at all on how to begin.
Firstly I have no idea whats the difference between DSLR and SLR? So what category does a digi cam falls in.
And what camera should I start off with for someone who knows nuts abt taking good pictures?
It will be great if you guys could intro me to any sites or books that I can at least read up about the basic knowledge I should have to start out with photography.
TIA for all the help!

 

[viewwing]

Ah... i'll start off with a simple item for u...

SLR = Single Lens Reflex (uses film)
info here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-lens_reflex_camera

DSLR = Digital SLR (uses sensors)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera

And well... if you have just started on photography, u can always browse through all the threads in this forums to have some knowledge... as for cameras... it would be budget base... personally if you have no one to guide u (unless some one here becomes ur personal tutor) its not wise to dive straight into DSLR... u might be overwhelm with the many functions of the camera and kill ur interest totally... else u can also join in the outing organise by the nice pple in CS

if you want to u can start with a "prosumer" camera which has pretty good auto functions and pictures are pretty nice too. lightweight as well... with wide angle and super telezoom... all in one...

nightmare bro has this really good thread in the sticky here do spend some time its good.

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

Welcome to the club! :bsmilie:

 

[Teegongkia]

Hello rylryl,
To begin with, the main difference between DSLR and SLR is the former is digital SLR. Regarding which camera to start with depend on yourself. Have to ask yourself whether it going to be a hobby for life or you are someone who gives up on hobby easily. Photography isn't a cheap hobby....to get addicted to this hobby means burning a big hole in your pockets most of the time.

I encourage you to start off with a PNS camera. Try playing with a PNS camera till the stage whereby you feel that this is a hobby that you going to stick to for a long long time then you might reconsider switching to DSLR cameras.

Regarding sites to find out more on cameras --->>>CLUBSNAP...
Thats all i can help...have fun.....

 

[Flintz]

May I suggest to start with "Prosumer" one instead of diving straight into true "SLRs". With Prosumer, with the "SLR-like" functions, start to learn about photography. Starting with "SLR" will be a bit painful if your hand is not familiar with the camreas.
Flintz

 

[lsisaxon]

Hi. I'm very new to the whole photography scene. Just had an interested in photography recently. But... I seriously have NO idea at all on how to begin.
Firstly I have no idea whats the difference between DSLR and SLR? So what category does a digi cam falls in.
And what camera should I start off with for someone who knows nuts abt taking good pictures?
It will be great if you guys could intro me to any sites or books that I can at least read up about the basic knowledge I should have to start out with photography.
TIA for all the help!

How about buying some books to read up first? ;p Kinokuniya should have a section on photography and you can pick up some of the more basic ones to browse. Once you feel comfortable, then you can put in some money to buy a camera. If you're thinking prosumer, I would rather you go straight for a cheaper DSLR like the Nikon D40 to kick start this interest. ;p

 

[ortega]

Hi and welcome to the club

the stickies are a good place to start, lots of information

have fun!

 

[mrhobbit]

first he thinks a PNS is good enough..........then after that he thinks that a prosumer is better........then in the end after shooting for awhile, he thinks that the DSLR is the best....

welcome to the club of BBB!
shhhhhh he doesnt know what has hit him yet!

for the TS, i found that having a mentor or shifu really helps, because he/she can see the photo and evaluate what went wrong and whatnot.

at least, that wass what worked for me;p

 

[sherchoo]

Do you have any camera with you at all?

Getting a camera depends very much on your budget. Normally I would always advise to start small. For a super fresh beginer, I would not advise to jump into (D)SLR. It could proof to be quite overwhelming and interest killed with too much technicalities. If you already playing with some P&S cams, then you may then venture further into the world of (D)SLR where the buying fun never stops.

 

[rylryl]

Heyy. a big thank you to everyone who gave me those suggestions. really appreciate it lots.
seriously i think i will go read up all the stuff u guys have suggested. cos there are so many terms that i dont understand!!
I didnt know there was so much stuff relating to photography. hhaha.
Completely lost now. gawdd!

 

[rylryl]

Do you have any camera with you at all?

Getting a camera depends very much on your budget. Normally I would always advise to start small. For a super fresh beginer, I would not advise to jump into (D)SLR. It could proof to be quite overwhelming and interest killed with too much technicalities. If you already playing with some P&S cams, then you may then venture further into the world of (D)SLR where the buying fun never stops.

hi sher,
yupp i have a family owned digi cam. but the thing is i dont know what functions it has. all i do is snap away. i never venture what functions it has to offer. ahah. cos i dont understand how it works at all. now i want to get one myself. so i was thinking what cam i should get. cos there are so many models out there in the market. i dont wan to end up getting one and regret. so is a digi cam classify under DSLR?

 

[rylryl]

PNS and prosumer whats the difference?

 

[night86mare]

hi sher,
yupp i have a family owned digi cam. but the thing is i dont know what functions it has. all i do is snap away. i never venture what functions it has to offer. ahah. cos i dont understand how it works at all. now i want to get one myself. so i was thinking what cam i should get. cos there are so many models out there in the market. i dont wan to end up getting one and regret. so is a digi cam classify under DSLR?

1) photography has nothing to do with having a dslr OR a prosumer. there are people here who produce great shots with f30s, 850is, etc.. of course having a better camera will give you more freedom to do what you want to do.. but if you do not understand the technicalities - which SHOULD come in time if you're purely interested.. then start off with your family digital cam.

2) photography has everything to do with producing pictures. they can be beautiful, they can mean something to you. for me, i'd like to think that a hobbyist would want to focus more on the beauty aspect.. pictures that one can be proud of, pictures that one can show other people and make them go wow. but that's me. this can be a very bad habit where you just dump photos which MIGHT have a lot of meaning to you but are not pretty.

but we digress. so what is an eyecatching photo have everything to do with? being shot with a dslr? being shot with a mark 3? being shot with an l-lens? not really. a great photo has everything to do with COMPOSITION. start with that, read up on it, practise with any camera.. and everything else will follow.

3) yes, there is a lot to read up on technicalities. many techniques, many equipment, many lenses which you can get, buy to make that picture which was previously relatively impossible due to limitations. but you can always start simple, and slowly, work your way up the food chain. there are people who would argue that photography is like putting a newbie driver into a sports car.. he can probably maximize it if he wants to. what they neglect to mention is that the sports car analogy is probably wrong because it is more like a james bond car, a lot more tricks up its sleeve than just plain moving fast along the road.

4) relax. you have only, all the time in the world. and if you don't, well, at least relaxing will help you enjoy it. there is no reason taking up a hobby just to add stress to your life.

cheers and welcome. any camera will do at first, then when you're talking about higher end models which will help you do more, do your research on good review sites like dpreview and imaging resource (google please). you can either jump straight to dslr (which will cost more to buy AND maintain, regardless of what people are going to tell you) or go via the prosumer route. you might even stay at prosumer, there's nothing wrong with it. basically, there isn't much RIGHT or WRONG in photography.

hope i helped.

 

[night86mare]

PNS and prosumer whats the difference?

now, if you had read my thread, there are a few differing points.

essentially, a prosumer tends to try to emulate the workings of a dslr. the main difference between a dslr and a prosumer would be the sensor size AND the fact that you can change lenses with dslr, but not with prosumer. these 2 points would affect many other things, like image quality.. but everything else stems from this.

now, between pns and prosumer, the line blurs. i had not included it in the sticky, i think.. because there isn't really a clear differentiation between high-end pns and prosumer.. i guess in today's context we can label it as prosumer being high-end pns camera.

there are many types today, i guess, it depends on whether you want to classify certain models as prosumer or pns. for example, the ricoh gx100? (pardon me if i get model number wrong) seems to only have fixed 28mm lens (it's just a term, don't worry about it if you don't know what it means. basically there is NO zoom).. but it would be considered by some to be a prosumer.

the canon g9, should be prosumer. it can shoot in raw, it has full manual function (meaning you can control all aspects of photography, like shutter speed, aperture value).. but the zoom range is not as great as that of a canon s5 is, for example. and canon s5 is is definitely designed to be a prosumer.

i don't know if that answers your question, but to me, there is no answer to that question.

 

[ilario]

I would say learn slowly, at a pace that you are comfortable with. A compact point and shoot camera is good for, well, point and shoot. It does everything for you so you get a "finished" picture all the time. The whole camera is also one piece, no area for upgrade. Thus this kind of camera is probably only good for very general shots in a party, birthday etc.

But when u wanna shoot birds, shoot water freezing, fast action, artistic/unusual shots, a DSLR will allow you to build a system catered to your needs specifically, especially being able to change lenses. Lenses can be very specific in use; telephoto(zoom very far, captures small number of subjects, eg one bird) or wide angle (captures more scenery/subjects, eg a very big group of people).

What i would recommend is, after playing with ur compact camera and learning more about the nature of photography, you can either get a "Prosumer" camera which is more or less like an upgraded version of a compact camera with more flexibility.

If you want to go straight to a DSLR, be sure to know the brands, their features, range of lenses, prices and decide on ur own needs.

Hope this helps!

 

[DeSwitch]

Getting a 2nd hand camera may be a cheaper option to start. You can get a 2nd hand DSLR and just use the P mode which works just like the Pns for a start. When you get the hang of it, you can explore other modes. This will save you some cost in the long run. Choosing a camera (a system rather) also depends on your area of interest. Will you shoot more on the wide angle range like landscape or the tele range like birds or somewhere in between like potraits? Also consider your Budget.

I started by looking at magazine, how the photos capture my attention and den i began to ask question (to myself) how did the photographer get this kind of results. I read a lot of photography related books but most of the time I get more confused. That was a very slow process until I found CS. I read the posts here and began to understand terms like DOF, shutter speed, ISO, aperture and how they relates to the outcome of your photos. And the most important lesson I learnt is that I need to pratice a lot. so you have to go out either alone or with friends to shoot. any subject is good for pratice. Ask questions and post you works. you will learn a lot this way.

Now and then there will be free introduction courses offered to Newbies to get them to know the basic of photography. look out for them.

Oh before I forget, Photography need lots of passion and patience.

 

[theRBK]

library has plenty of books on the topic... and its free

 

[coolsigg]

hi sher,
yupp i have a family owned digi cam. but the thing is i dont know what functions it has. all i do is snap away. i never venture what functions it has to offer. ahah. cos i dont understand how it works at all. now i want to get one myself. so i was thinking what cam i should get. cos there are so many models out there in the market. i dont wan to end up getting one and regret. so is a digi cam classify under DSLR?

for a start, i wld recommend that u read up the family digicam manual first.

learn how to use it and see if photography is for u. happy shooting!

 

[sherchoo]

for a start, i wld recommend that u read up the family digicam manual first.

learn how to use it and see if photography is for u. happy shooting!

Reading thru this thread, I think this is the best advise yet.