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General => General discussion => Topic started by: jnufcuk on 18 June 2012, 14:50
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Been using my dads Samsung nx5 for cars meets etc but want to get something for myself :)
Something that is easy to use but with the right lens etc will take sweet pics :smiley:
Am I best of getting a brand new one or looking 2nd hand?
Guessing Nikon or canon? Think I prefer the Nikon, my sister has one and I really liked it :cool:
Looking to spend say up to £500 plus new lens and any other extras
Will mainly be for car meets, holiday then odd wedding, family occasions etc.
Thanks any tips welcome :smiley:
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I'm looking for a new camera too for about that budget. I have a Nikon D40x which I'm going to sell and get a Nikon D5100 which is £520 on line at the moment.
I looked at second hand, but most seem not to fit my bill - needs to be Nikon, and have HD video capability. Used ones seem to be the older generation which lack HD video.
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Seen a few hd but think I would prefer to pay a lil extra and know that I've got a brand new one for piece of mind :smiley:
Think my sister has the d40, good camera. But same as u would like something new.
Will pop into jessops or somewhere tomo but would be nice to have a rough idea of a few models to look at :smiley:
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2 year warranty on Nikon too
needs to be Nikon, and have HD video capability.
Just FYI Only the D800 and D4 offer full movie control, IIRC the D7000 has a sort of workaround, Nikon are a little behind canon in terms of video control at the moment (on the comsurer models). This is only a factor if you're going to want to use manual exposure mode on video e.g. not let the camera decide the exposure.
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Me personally I'm not too fussed about hd video, got a recorder for that so just want a good camera which is easy to use in manual mode :smiley:
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nothing wrong with 2nd hand cameras for decent suppliers.
ive found www.mpbphotographic.co.uk to be very good for used gear and they offer trade in's
i wouldnt reccomend the d5100
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Why do you want an SLR?
Do you really want an SLR?
I've seen some fantastic snaps from this recently:
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/fujifilmx10
pro-ish-bridge cameras have come a long way lately.
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Why do you want an SLR?
Do you really want an SLR?
I've seen some fantastic snaps from this recently:
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/fujifilmx10
pro-ish-bridge cameras have come a long way lately.
I want one because I've always been into photography and since getting into the car scene in the last year or so I have seen some cracking pictures and family have said I should go into photography, so I want to get my own one so I know I always have it and can use it more then hopefully get better :smiley:
Do I really want one? Yes :grin: otherwise I wouldn't have asked :kiss:
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Ahhh the world and it's wife are great photographers these days and may be turning pro. :grin:
If you want to 'go pro' then yes, maybe consider a DSLR, but have a look at this and another think:
http://philipbloom.net/2011/09/19/sonynex5n/
Bear in mind you can get things like EF lens mounts for that.
Would I buy an SLR if I was buying a camera right now?
Tough call.
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just been looking at the nikon d3100, seems to get good reviews and a decent price at £379, so can get another lens around my budget. Going to go to jessops tomo see if i can have a play with it :smiley:
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Ahhh the world and it's wife are great photographers these days and may be turning pro. :grin:
If you want to 'go pro' then yes, maybe consider a DSLR, but have a look at this and another think:
http://philipbloom.net/2011/09/19/sonynex5n/
Bear in mind you can get things like EF lens mounts for that.
Would I buy an SLR if I was buying a camera right now?
Tough call.
Have shot on SLRs since I was a kid and I wouldn't have it any other way. An SLR seems to fit right for me and is consequently more stable and comfortable to use. It is also handles a lot quicker than any compact with fast switch on and operation times and dedicated buttons for most common operations.
I have a D80 that is 3 or 4 generations behind the current crop but it still gets good results and showing hardly any wear with a shutter count of 15,000. (See the website on my sig for examples).
Lastly the sensor size gets you nice shallow depth of field when you need it. Compact/bridge sensor sizes won't let you do this (4/3 format excepted).
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I'm going to go for the nikon d3100. Know some friends who had the d3000 and said it was so easy to use etc etc so going to go for the newer one. And thought it would be more £££ but seems a good price.
Thanks people :smiley:
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My old man got. 3100 free and he loves it and i can see why as they are very user friendly...
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D5100 shop around you can get them for under 500 now with the kit lens. Not sure there's much extra compared to a D40, would you not be better spending that mula on a fancier lens?
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Picked up a d3100 yesterday!
Was swaying towards the new 3200? But @ £600 it seemd alot, for something i may not like! Or get into!
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Picked up a d3100 yesterday!
Was swaying towards the new 3200? But @ £600 it seemd alot, for something i may not like! Or get into!
Good isn't it :wink: what lens u get with it? £600? Must have got a few bits with it lol
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Haven't really played yet :laugh:
No only one lense! Lol
Iv got a 55-110?
Will have a read through the manual later and have a play :evil:
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Haven't really played yet :laugh:
No only one lense! Lol
Iv got a 55-110?
Will have a read through the manual later and have a play :evil:
55-110?
The kit lens is more like 18-55mm.
Now get snapping, and when you're not out snapping do lots of reading up on things to try/try to avoid.
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18-55mm! thats the one :wink:
took 100's of pics of things laying around, and out of them all, theres only one worth keeping :laugh:
want to "try" some light trail pics! just got to figure out how to slow the shutter speed down! :undecided:
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18-55mm! thats the one :wink:
took 100's of pics of things laying around, and out of them all, theres only one worth keeping :laugh:
want to "try" some light trail pics! just got to figure out how to slow the shutter speed down! :undecided:
LOL - welcome to your new hobby. You will take better pictures than you thought possible in a very short amount of time with your new camera.
Practice makes perfect. I thought I had the hang of mine after 200 shots - wrong! I could actually use it competently after probably 1,200. And completely comfortable with it at 5,000. It has done over 15,000 now and still going strong.
It's summer, find an excuse to get out to an event (or go for a walk by the sea) and get snapping. You will get good shots on your first trip and get to know it - you just need to get out there.
Good luck.
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yeah! its all new to me!
plenty of reading done today! and its getting dark! might take a little trip out for some long exposier shots!
plenty of walks! manly with the horses! :rolleyes:
(http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/tobe1990/DSC_0132.jpg)
Todays effort. :lipsrsealed:
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I like it!
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Me too. The fineness of texture in there just wouldn't get captured by a compact - even a 'prosumer' one.
Good capture. (http://www.bandit127.com/oof_stuff/images/thumbs-up.gif)
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really happy with the camra tbh! as a beginners camra etc! very nice! had a play on fatherinlaws - nikon d7000! but was out of my price range!
but hes got lots of nikon lenses! so i would have been a tit not to get a nikon tbh :rolleyes: :lipsrsealed:
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Get to know the camera with the kit lens for the moment. Give it a while before you try different lenses.
You need to learn about composing and exposure before venturing into other more complex stuff.
The exposure triangle is key to capturing the image. 3 things control it, ISO (how sensitive the camera is to light), shutter speed (how long the shutter is open for) and aperture (aka f-stop, how wide the diaphragm is open, this controls the rays of light getting to the sensor).
ISO - basically the higher the number (eg 1600/3200) the more sensitive the sensor is to light, ie use a higher ISO for dark scenes and lower ISO (eg 100) for bright scenes. But the higher the ISO, the more "noise" appears in the image as white specs. Noise can be removed by software but doing this too much can make a photo look soft. So the key thing is to work with as much available light as possible. Daylight is the nicest, but avoid the midday sun as it's rather harsh. Photos of people taken outside in the mid to late afternoon will have a nice warmth to them (Different sorts of lights give different colours, but now you're getting into a more advanced subject:white balance). And avoid the on-camera flash as much as possible.
Shutter speed - measured in fractions of a second, so 1/8th is slow going up to 1/60th, right up to 1/1000th this is very fast. The slower the shutter speed the more likely you are to get blur and camera shake. If you want to take a photo to show blur (ie like light trails) you need a tripod to eliminate camera shake and a shutter speed of at least 2 seconds or more to capture the lights as they move. If you want to freeze action, ie like a footballer going for a kick, you'll need a faster shutter speed, over 1/120th probably.
There are lots of variations in between, where you might want some blur but not too much, or you want to shoot a moving car to show speed but without blurring the car.
Aperture/F-stop - this is slight more complex to understand. The lower the f-stop (eg f2.8), the wider the hole in the diaphragm to let light in, (so this is better for dark scenes)
and the higher the f-stop (eg f16), the smaller the hole. (So if it's bright, you can put up the f-stop to let less light in).
BUT (big BUT), aperture affects "depth of field" (DoF) so this has to be considered every time you change the aperture.
Depth of Field is an expression of how much stuff in your shot is in focus.
If you have a high f-stop, then you will have lots of stuff in front and behind your object (that you focussed the camera on) in focus. (This is good for landscape shots)
A lower f-stop will give you a "shallow depth of field", so only the object itself that you focused on, will actually be in focus, everything in front or behind will be out of focus.
A bit of reading:
Exposure triangle: http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography (http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography)
About Aperture http://digital-photography-school.com/aperture (http://digital-photography-school.com/aperture)
About ISO http://digital-photography-school.com/iso-settings (http://digital-photography-school.com/iso-settings)
About Shutter speed http://digital-photography-school.com/shutter-speed (http://digital-photography-school.com/shutter-speed)
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I've had by Nikon D40 for a few years now. I mainly takes shots indoors of family and pets, like the one of your dog above. The best investment I've made to date has been a Nikon SB400 flash.
Got it for around £90. Its tiny, and allows you to bounce flash of the ceiling, which gives you really good results (much better lighting, but the outright sharpness does go down a bit).