-Scott-
Part of things
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
Posts: 549
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Its always somthing that has interested me, but iv never known where to start. Seeing some of the amazing pictures on here, and other sights has made me want to do it.
The thing is though I don't know what the best camera would be. I want something I can use from being a novice up to somthing better. However, my budget isnt the biggest.. £200 really is the maximum i can spend, and i know this wont get me the best.
I want a digital camera too
is the more megapixels a camera have the better? or is there a limit before you cant see a difference
iv seen a few cameras on websites, on has 12mp, but theres a cheaper one that has 14.1mp
I'm a little confused about it all Any advice?
thanks in advance
Scott
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Keep calm and carry on
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megapixels don't really dictate quality as such, just dictates how large you can make the image before it pixelates.
You looking a serious camera ie. an SLR? or just a decent compact?
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First thing first, ignore all the megapixel curse word. My little 1mp Sony point & shoot takes far better snaps than my 5mp phone. I don't mean a slight difference, I mean different league.
Point & shoot is the way to go based on your comments. You can get great shots from a point and shoot, they are dead easy to carry around unlike big SLR's and nowadays some of the better ones come with manual functions that allow you to control what you take once you start to understand about apertures and shutter speed etc...
Before you get into all of that though, you just want to concentrate on getting good shots which 99% of the time is all down to composition: "your eye for a shot"
How you take a photo will make it look good/bad no matter what camera you have. Get the composition correct and your most of the way there.
So....I would suggest looking at point & shoot cameras that have a good 'optical' zoom (ignore any figures that mention digital zooom!) with the option to control them manually. Spend as much as you can on something like a Canon or Nikon point & shoot (Panasonic Lumix are also very good)
If you are prepared to go second hand, you can pick up an awesome camera that will do you proud as a beginner and also as you branch more into manual settings. Something like a Canon G9 is what I would recommend all day every day based on your comments above.
You can pick them up for around £200 for a tidy, looked after second hand one....and it's the camera that a lot of pro's use when they don't want to lug around their massive SLR's. Picture quality will be second to none and you can really grow into it as you develop your skills. I really want to buy my GF one because she is starting to see the shortfalls of her little point and shoot and she can't get some of the sort of shots she wants to. The Canon will be perfect for her.
Hope that is of some help? Best of luck and let us know how you get on.
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Oh, and if you fancy it, Area 52 will be running a 'Photography Workshop' sometime in the near future.
Professional & very well known car photographer Bryn has offered to help run a workshop where people will be given hands on advice about getting the most out of their own cameras. All skill levels welcomed from complete novices up to confident amateurs. This is not an 'SLR only' workshop, people with point & shoot cameras will be encouraged to come along and marvel at the kind of shots they can actually get from their kit.
Composition will be looked at along with lighting, vehicle shots, finding locations and even setting up rig shots etc...and everything will be demonstated using real budget techniques that everyone has access to.
Doncaster might be a long way from Bristol but regulars come from Barnsley, Sheffield etc...so you might be able to come along with one of them for the weekend?
Just an idea that Bryn & I were discussing over a brew or two while enjoying the sun in my garden yesterday.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,714
Club RR Member Number: 34
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PhotographersDez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
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what bruce says.
ive always really got on with fuji finepix cameras though- their 'psuedo DSLR' range. as have a lot of other people on here I know who take some damn good pics. I'm currently using a s5600 that I got s/h but essentially brand new still in the box without a mark on it for about 65 quid off ebay. a couple of decent sets of rechargeables and a big memory card or two and its all ive ever needed, but admittedly I'm not very good!!!
i tend to take more 'factual' pictures to document what I'm doing rather than arty stuff, but i do try to make things look good if i can. if i can make it down to brizzle to learn a bit off bryn/et al, ile certainly make the trip.
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Last Edit: Oct 8, 2010 0:54:15 GMT by Dez
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I'm no photographer, but I have managed to get some good pic's with my 12mp Kodak Z1285 compact (sorry not car related) Point n click Custom settings Think it was sub £200 to (present a couple of years ago) Edit, some retro related:
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Last Edit: Oct 8, 2010 7:37:54 GMT by joem83
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Oh, and if you fancy it, Area 52 will be running a 'Photography Workshop' sometime in the near future. * very interested* -Scott- - I'm like you, I've always wanted to get into photography but haven't had a clue where to start. After some excellent advice from Mystery Machine and various other keen snappers on here, I got the push to actually buy a camera; I bought a 'bridge' camera - a Fuji Finepix S5700 second-hand for £50 on eBay. I still have a hell of a lot to learn, but even just putting it on auto and using it as a point-and-shoot brings up some impressive results. I'm also really enjoying fiddling with the macro settings, but need to read the manual, I think... Click here for a thread with further info and advice.
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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I'd go with Dez and Dbizzle and get a Fuji 5600 or the like, it's mid way from point and shoot to DSLR and as the guys have said, on budget. Don't worry about getting the latest model as people were taking good pictures five years ago, on what we considered to be cutting edge cameras at the time. Just buy one of them. Bruce has as ever nailed the advice on the head, all I would add would be to consider buying an old film camera and trying that out. It might sound odd, but if you go on a photography course these days you still use film cameras and darkroom techniques... Aperture, exposure and all those other settings have become buttons that people can't comprehend. A film camera explains these much easier. Plus you don't get shutter frenzy, with a digital camera it's all too tempting to just shoot until it looks right, deleting tens of pictures afterwards. With a film camera you have to think about every shot, I handed one of my professional cameras to somebody the other week and they held it at arms length, then asked why the screen on the back wasn't working? Because it doesn't, you have to use the view finder to compose a shot. A film camera can be inexpensive (see below), you'll get far more lenses and potential from your photos and learn more. The first films I shot, I sat down and made a note of every setting on every frame so I could analyse them when developed. Just something to consider ;D cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-AE-1-Program-35mm-Film-Camera-bag-flash-lenses-/170546740247?pt=UK_Photography_Film_Cameras_ET&hash=item27b560bc17Like Bruce says at some stage we will have an A52 photography weekend when we can all have a go at some different stuff and hopefully get everybody to go home with some amazing images that they took, but more importantly understanding how they took them
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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-Scott-
Part of things
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
Posts: 549
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Thanks for all of this guys one more thing, when you say point and shoot, do you mean a normal digi cam? oh, and I googled the Fuji and it came back with this, is this the one you mean? Bryn, my dad has the camera! cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-AE-1-Program....=item27b560bc17he wont let me any where near it though
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Last Edit: Oct 8, 2010 11:32:18 GMT by -Scott-
Keep calm and carry on
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oh, and I googled the Fuji and it came back with this, is this the one you mean? This is the S5700 I bought:
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I am a Canon Fanboi.
I use a EOS400D for my "proper" days out and carry a Powershot S90 for days wghen I don't want the bulk. There is a review on my blog, and plenty on the net. Great little compact. My wife just bought a Canon IXUS 105 compact which is a super camera for the money. Simple to use, very compact, great results.
Again, pixels is no thing to go by, in fact some of the 14MP cameras give worse quality shots than do 12 MP or 10 MP because they are just feedng distortion into the iimage because you can't get that level of data out of the optical sensor!
If I only had one camera I'd go for a "bridge" one not a compact as you get better optics and larger sensors in them (usually)
You can take awesome photos on a cameraphone. Its composition, having the eye, the creativity which counts as much as the equipment.
I'm interested in the A52 photo day too!
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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-Scott-
Part of things
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
Posts: 549
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Sorry for the daft questions, but whats a "bridge"?
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Keep calm and carry on
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I believe its to 'bridge' the gap between digital compacts and DSLR's.... This is proving to be a useful thread; I'm in the market for one myself
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Last Edit: Oct 8, 2010 14:12:32 GMT by Maxxxer
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I have two cameras, My old trusty Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30 point and shot which i highly recommend, It gives great, clear photos and only cost me £80 3 years ago from Sainsburys and it's perfect for nights out, car spotting etc and it takes a handy SD cards which i just take out and stick in my card reader in my PC.
My 'best' camera is a Canon EOS 450D which is fantasic and i love using it but I'm still learning how to get the best of it, Seth gave me a few handy tips the other week but I'm a bit of a slow learner sadly!
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I believe its to 'bridge' the gap between digital compacts and DSLR's.... yeah. Like the Finepix model in this thread
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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PhotographersBrian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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I have two cameras, My old trusty Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30 point and shot which I highly recommend, It gives great, clear photos and only cost me £80 3 years ago from Sainsburys and it's perfect for nights out, car spotting etc and it takes a handy SD cards which I just take out and stick in my card reader in my PC. Lumix compact cameras are brilliant. This was taken at the NEC (notorious for crappy lighting) on a hand-held Lumix which cost me £150 three years ago, it's only 5mp...the actual image is 2.5x the size of this one. Can't recommend them highly enough. Keep an eye on the local free press for DSLR bargains....one of my mates has just bought a used-once Nikon D40 with standard kit lens etc etc for just £120...half what I paid for my D40 2 years ago. It's an absolute entry-level DSLR in every sense but I absolutely LOVE mine. Still a beginner, but learning all the time. ;D
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2nd hand Canon G9 or G10..its a genuine compact..retractable lens..macro lens..14.7mp..nice weight to it..built like a brickhouse..ive so far talked my mum and friend into buying them..and its what the profis use as a back up camera..
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75 Daimler XJ6-S2-SWB 71 Jaguar XJ6-S1-SWB Fiat 500D Custom Cars in NZ.I'm in flippin Germany!
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-Scott-
Part of things
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
Posts: 549
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Keep calm and carry on
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