Camera help - Now with thanks & pics!

[EH 370z]

Hi all I know some of you are in to photography, so I need some advice!

 

My Missus wants to move up from decent digital cameras to a decent digital SLR camera

She finds that she isn't getting decent low light shot she wants and some other " not quite what expected" scenes too.

 

Not wanting spend daft money but any suggestions would be great, saw that Nikon 1 advistised is that any good??

Thanks in advance

T

[ChrisS]

Depends what you mean by daft money.

This is a good site for reviews. http://www.ephotozine.com/reviews/digital-slrs-32

 

I got a Canon Eos 550 about 6 months ago and love it.

 

You know the answer............ research X 10 till your sure and then go to a shop to handle them.

[Neilp]

if dslr's are a bit too pricey then look at some bridge camera's. Although not quite dslr they have large lenses and work similarly to dslr. The processors are still slow and nowhere near as quick as a dslr

[SteveRS]

Depends what you mean by daft money.

This is a good site for reviews. http://www.ephotozine.com/reviews/digital-slrs-32

 

I got a Canon Eos 550 about 6 months ago and love it.

 

You know the answer............ research X 10 till your sure and then go to a shop to handle them.

 

+1 i think i paid about £850-900 for my 550D but that can as a package with an extra lens etc

[Dblock]

1000d or old 400d or 40d with kit lens and a niddy fiddy. Im not sure on Nikon numbers and lenses.

 

If she isnt getting good low light performance a Dslr with a cropped sensor will be much better than a bridge and with a lens like the 50mm @f1.8 you will get decent low light shots.

[captain]

Nikon D7000 has usable ISO6400 and goes up ISO 25600.........

[Dblock]

Nikon D7000 has usable ISO6400 and goes up ISO 25600.........

 

Surely if you needed to use that you would get a faster lens or a FF camera.

[RaptorUK]

Nikon D7000 has usable ISO6400 and goes up ISO 25600.........

 

Surely if you needed to use that you would get a faster lens or a FF camera.

Agree

 

Cheapish Canon and better fast lens I've had Canon since they went digital have a 30D now a bit battered but good quality, you could buy a second hand 350d and get a good fast lens here are some pics taken with a 450d.

http://horses-r-us.org.uk/portfolio/index.html

[manphibian]

Nikon D7000 has usable ISO6400 and goes up ISO 25600.........

 

Surely if you needed to use that you would get a faster lens or a FF camera.

Agree

 

Cheapish Canon and better fast lens I've had Canon since they went digital have a 30D now a bit battered but good quality, you could buy a second hand 350d and get a good fast lens here are some pics taken with a 450d.

http://horses-r-us.org.uk/portfolio/index.html

 

I'm sure i recognize that TT, were you on the TT Forum?

[Stew]

I'm loving my new Sony NEX-5N. It might not be fancy enough for her though.

[RaptorUK]

Nikon D7000 has usable ISO6400 and goes up ISO 25600.........

 

Surely if you needed to use that you would get a faster lens or a FF camera.

Agree

 

Cheapish Canon and better fast lens I've had Canon since they went digital have a 30D now a bit battered but good quality, you could buy a second hand 350d and get a good fast lens here are some pics taken with a 450d.

http://horses-r-us.org.uk/portfolio/index.html

 

I'm sure i recognize that TT, were you on the TT Forum?

 

 

YES

[EH 370z]

Thanks for the help guys.

I will print this lot off and find some pictures on what you are talking about

As you will have guessed I know NOTHING about cameras, and at leastt now I have something as a point of referance

 

Cheers

T

[captain]

Nikon D7000 has usable ISO6400 and goes up ISO 25600.........

 

Surely if you needed to use that you would get a faster lens or a FF camera.

Agree

 

Cheapish Canon and better fast lens I've had Canon since they went digital have a 30D now a bit battered but good quality, you could buy a second hand 350d and get a good fast lens here are some pics taken with a 450d.

http://horses-r-us.org.uk/portfolio/index.html

 

Faster than 35mm 1.8??

 

If you buy me a 1.4 lens I'll use it but it'll cost you £1400.

 

ISO is about flexibility and then the ability to print/view to decent sizes. It's also about being able to take pictures any time - any place. For instance, the picture below is our hotel room on a recent visit to Paris. Hand-held Sigma 10-20mm lens at 10mm, the Nikon selected 1/60s, F4 and ISO 3200. As good as the 30D was, I don't think it could take this picture:

 

 

In the end it's all about budget. Tell us what you've got and that should allow us to give you some advice.

[EH 370z]

Merci Capitaine

 

Few questions though.

1/ Bit worried out the picture yo have posted, those marks on the bed sheets look very CSI

2/ What does ISO stand for?

3/ I was not wanting to spend much more than £500, my wife is fickle, lets see how she gets on, before we roll out the big guns!! Its mainly zoom and as mentioned low light pictures she is struggling with etc.

 

Seriously though, many thanks with this

[captain]

Merci Capitaine

 

Few questions though.

1/ Bit worried out the picture yo have posted, those marks on the bed sheets look very CSI

2/ What does ISO stand for?

3/ I was not wanting to spend much more than £500, my wife is fickle, lets see how she gets on, before we roll out the big guns!! Its mainly zoom and as mentioned low light pictures she is struggling with etc.

 

Seriously though, many thanks with this

 

1. It was a brothel in Montparnasse. Stains FOC.

2. In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you’ve probably seen them on films – 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.

 

In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is noisier shots.

3. I'd go 2nd hand Nikon or Canon off e-bay. Does £500 include lenses?

[Stew]

I went for the 5N as I wanted a good quality image, fast shutter speed and decent zoom however I didn't want the size of a DSLR....I also wasn't sure how I'd get on with all the settings at fisrt.

[EH 370z]

I'd go 2nd hand Nikon or Canon off e-bay. Does £500 include lenses?

 

Yes, I am not spending a fortune in case she does not get on board with this, like the piano, yoga, horse ridding, fying lessons, shooting etc, ......well you get the picture (so to speak!)

[captain]

I'd go 2nd hand Nikon or Canon off e-bay. Does £500 include lenses?

 

Yes, I am not spending a fortune in case she does not get on board with this, like the piano, yoga, horse ridding, fying lessons, shooting etc, ......well you get the picture (so to speak!)

 

You've got a choice then. If she understands f stops, ISO, bracketing etc then get a 2nd hand Nikon D200 or Canon 40D for £275-£325 and a 2nd hand 50mm 1.8 lens for indoors and a 18-70mm 3.5-5.6 for outside. Should get it all for about £500.

 

If she is more "point and shoot" then go here and research because it's not something I'm up on:

 

www.dpreview.com

 

The "point and shoot" will be slower but for 95% of shots will match the SLR.

[ds2000]

I've had my Canon 500d for 2 years now and absolutely love it. I've learnt alot, taken some great shots and have really got to grips with it - I still have plenty to learn and it does take time

[EH 370z]

Right, my head is starting to hurt now.

 

What is the differance between a digital SLR and a "Bridge Camera"?!?

[RaptorUK]

EOS 30D Rome this year

The Colosseum by Raptor_Uk, on Flickr

[Stew]

Right, my head is starting to hurt now.

 

What is the differance between a digital SLR and a "Bridge Camera"?!?

 

 

An SLR is bigger and offers all manual adjustments.

A bridge is better than a compact but is usually simpler than a DSLR. An 'intermediate' I suppose.

 

I was all set to buy a Canon 550D but I realised I wouldn't have time to learn all about it..... Opted for the NEX-5N as it offered some cool features in the camera (usually need to do photoshop to get the effects) and all the benefits of the DSLR that I was looking for personally.

 

Oh and as a DSLR owning mate said to me when he saw my camera - 'it's ace, does everything and you don't look like a total d*ck with a huge camera'

 

Best get her down to jessops to have a play lots of different ones and see what she likes.

[EH 370z]

Good call

 

Thanks again

T

[EH 370z]

Right folks

 

Took all the advice, and went into Jessops with either a Cannon EOS550D or a Nikon D3100 in mind.

 

40 minutes later I had bought a Nikon 1 J1......!

 

The reason being that’s it does everything the other two does but without all the esoteric knowledge required to set it up. Plus Beverley has the attention span of a gold fish, and would beat me with it if she get frustrated with all the manual functions

 

http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/product/digital-cameras/nikon-1/nikon-1-j1

 

Paid £600 for the J1 with a twin lens upgrade. I have to say that the bird in the shop was very good and even showed me some pictures that her friend had taken with the J1 and speaking as a Camera geek, she was extremely impressed with the sorts of pictures that where taken with very little set up.

Thanks again for all you guidance I will update you on any progress!!

T

[Stew]

Similar to my 5N. Same reason for choosing too!