Advice on Buying a Quality Camera

[travelbug]

I'm hoping you guys can help me please.

I'm looking for a camera to take ametuer and everyday photos. However, I'd prefer to start with a smaller more compact camera, since I don't want to carry a bulky camera. I've been contemplating skipping the digital cameras for an SLR. Is that wise if I've not had much exprience?

Price isn't an issue, since I prefer to buy a quality camera.

[Jenny]

I recently deceided to get an SLR in addition to having a digital camera for a few reasons, quality of photos from the slr and always good to have a back up camera.
After a fair amount of research and reading reviews I narrowed it down to the Nikon D60 and Canon EOS 400 or 450 (difference is live view in the manual mode). They are both around £500 which will give you a decent enough camera. I got the EOS 400 and I have absolutely no regrets. The photos are amazing.

We bought ours in John Lewis, as they had the best high street prices.

[aka_lol]

I don't know if it's possible to look at a photograph and know if it was taken with a Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Sony, Olyumpus or Sigma. I really don't know if people could normally do it but I wish I could. The quality of a photograph largely depends on the photographer (knowledge and creativity) and luck :)

A Pentax K20D or K200D DSLRs with a prime 50mm, f1.4 lens isn't too big to walk around with.

Anyway, here is a quick guide to deciding on a DSLR:

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-dslr-camera/

and here is a guide to choosing a point-and-shoot:

http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-choose-digital-point-and-shoot.html

and this:

http://akalol.wordpress.com/2007/05/13/aka_lols-respones-to-how-to-choose-a-digital-point-and-shoot-by-mike-johnston/

[Jenny]

When I stated the quality of the photo, I meant the quality of the prints...I find the canon eos 10mp camera photo prints are better quality than my sony cybershot 7mp prints when i enlarge them. :)

[travelbug]

Thanks for that in the meantime! :D

[rudeboy]

slr pics are infinitely better but what are you really intending to do with the camera?
if you dont want bulky, then slr is not the way to go...
canon powershot series are great cameras and are easy to use...
if you want a little more advanced point and shoot, go with the canon s5...

[aichiban]

for DSLR, anybrand or make is ok for current level

for compact, choose a any latest model will do

there, simple 8-)

[perijove]

I'm hoping you guys can help me please.

I'm looking for a camera to take ametuer and everyday photos. However, I'd prefer to start with a smaller more compact camera, since I don't want to carry a bulky camera. I've been contemplating skipping the digital cameras for an SLR. Is that wise if I've not had much exprience?

Price isn't an issue, since I prefer to buy a quality camera.

I'm a novice myself but I think that before moving on to a DSLR you should start with a compact point and shoot and get the feel of things.

Since you say price is not an issue you should opt for a high end point and shoot with high optical zoom (10 and above). These days it's even possible to get one with a zoom as high as 18(Olympus 560 uz, Fuji S8000fd and Panasonic DMC FZ18):

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0707/07072402panasonicfz18.asp


The high zoom cameras are very DSLR like in appearance, and they still have the small size of a compact point and shoot, not small enough to fit in your pockets but small enough to carry in your jacket.

The DSLRs might have features that you'll never care to use, and the removable lenses may require expert care.