Thursday, May 28, 2009

buying a (slr?) camera

you asked me what I suggest for buying a nice camera... Well... I have some experience (bought loads of them myself) :P
But the main issue is.. what you wanna do with it... I own a Nikon D70s, D80 and D90 camera; which are Single Lens Reflex camera's (you look through the lens by using a mirror and a pentaprism).
pro: You can buy as much lenses as you wish, each with their own price and possibilities
pro: you get a cam that always works, responds very fast (to capture the fast moments) and no issues with batteries or so.con: they are heavy (also depending on the lens you put on)

con: lenses can be expensive
con: to get great pictures in low-light conditions (indoors) you must spent more money then some cheaper compact camera's
con: heavy!

Nikon, Canon, Sony or Olympus ? (my tip is to go to the shop, hold them in your hand and choose the one which feels good to you, in quality things are almost the same)

Compact camera's:
con: less control on focus / exposure (no special effect photos)
con: not expandable

pro: no dirt in the camera (fixed lens)
pro: small and light !pro: newest nice to haves are implemented (smile detection, taking movies with them as well etc etc)

I don't know your experience in photography so it's my general story i tell to people; If you like some details, feel free to mail me your questions, i'll try to answer them :)

my buying tips if you want to buy a SLR:(between the steps several years can pass.. (to save some money ;) )

1) Nikon D60 / D90 / D5000 /D700 (depending on budget) + 18-105 VR kit lens
2) external flashlight: SB-600 /SB-900 (for great indoor pictures, flash using the ceiling)
3) Nikon 50 mm 1.4 (about $50, great great lens)
4) Nikon 70-300 VR telephoto lens
5) Sigma 10-20 mm for Nikon

If you like you can see very nice reviews of almost every SLR and Compact camera's out there @ dpreview