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A new digital camera

A new digital camera

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Or rather my first. I usually don't ask for help around here, but I figured since there are so many photographers around you may give me a hint of what to look for.

I know the more megapixels the better. But what's all this about autozoom and focus stuff? What's good and what's not? How do I take a picture? Do I simply press the large button at the top? Is there a large button at the top of every camera? Am I a good photographer?

Seriously, a few hints of what to look out for would be nice. 🙂

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Originally posted by stocken
Or rather my first. I usually don't ask for help around here, but I figured since there are so many photographers around you may give me a hint of what to look for.

I know the more megapixels the better. But what's all this about autozoom and focus stuff? What's good and what's not? How do I take a picture? Do I simply press the large button at the top? I ...[text shortened]... m I a good photographer?

Seriously, a few hints of what to look out for would be nice. 🙂
It's not true that the more pixels the better, If you are never going to print larger than a normal photograph and you are not likely to crop your shots then anything over 3.2 Megapixels will be a waste.

You need to supply more information on what kind of camera you want and the kind of things you want to shoot. For example, if you want a good camera that is also fast for shooting things like your children (if you have any), a DSLR is really the only way to go. A DSLR is really the right thing if you want to look at photography more seriously too. However, if you want to take holiday snaps and things like that then a point and shoot is what we are looking for here. Even in the point and shoot sector there are cameras for the enthusiast and cameras for looking stylish and colour coordinated.

So, a little more info on your requirements would be useful.

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Originally posted by stocken
Or rather my first. I usually don't ask for help around here, but I figured since there are so many photographers around you may give me a hint of what to look for.

I know the more megapixels the better. But what's all this about autozoom and focus stuff? What's good and what's not? How do I take a picture? Do I simply press the large button at the top? I ...[text shortened]... m I a good photographer?

Seriously, a few hints of what to look out for would be nice. 🙂
Forget Didge, get yer self a Kodak Brownie and be a real professional.

Right kids. 😉

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My two bits of advice:

1) Go for the largest optical zoom you can afford
2) If it is a point and click type make sure you do not just have an LCD screen get a view finder too. Otherwise when the sun is shining strongly you can not see what you are taking a picture of.

Mat

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Go to http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/digital-camera-selector.cfm
The whole site is generally good.
Click the help for each criteria

1 edit
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Originally posted by Mat Kelley
My two bits of advice:

1) Go for the largest optical zoom you can afford
2) If it is a point and click type make sure you do not just have an LCD screen get a view finder too. Otherwise when the sun is shining strongly you can not see what you are taking a picture of.

Mat
I've got a 5 MP with 4x view that has LCD and 'peep hole'. I've never really had a problem seing the LCD screen. Most of my pictures are taken with the camera over my head or stretch out. An LCD is a MUST in my mind.

P-

As an after thought, if it is sunny, and you can't see your LCD... you might try to position your shadow on the screen. The conditions seem perfect that if the sun is behind you and you can't see the screen that chances are your skull or chest is casting a shadow nearby.

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Originally posted by Mat Kelley
My two bits of advice:

1) Go for the largest optical zoom you can afford
2) If it is a point and click type make sure you do not just have an LCD screen get a view finder too. Otherwise when the sun is shining strongly you can not see what you are taking a picture of.

Mat
Well, some people prefer wide to zoom (I know I do). Also with long zooms, you have to consider with image stabilisation or without.

I'd definitely agree with the whole viewfinder thing though. I never use the LCD for composition but that may be because none of my digital cameras offer that feature.

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personally i first make sure it has both a lense and a flash,
hope this helped,
Maz

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Originally posted by stocken
Or rather my first. I usually don't ask for help around here, but I figured since there are so many photographers around you may give me a hint of what to look for.

I know the more megapixels the better. But what's all this about autozoom and focus stuff? What's good and what's not? How do I take a picture? Do I simply press the large button at the top? I ...[text shortened]... m I a good photographer?

Seriously, a few hints of what to look out for would be nice. 🙂
I have heard Carl Zeiss optics are key but would have no idea if it is or not.

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Originally posted by dan182
I have heard Carl Zeiss optics are key but would have no idea if it is or not.
Carl Zeiss make extremely good lenses for SLR and DSLR cameras. However, a high quality bit of glass on the end of a digital camera is no guarantee that the sensor electronics or the image processing don't make it worthless.

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Originally posted by Wheely
Carl Zeiss make extremely good lenses for SLR and DSLR cameras. However, a high quality bit of glass on the end of a digital camera is no guarantee that the sensor electronics or the image processing don't make it worthless.
I assume you are saying that you are better off with Carl Zeiss optics.

1 edit
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Originally posted by dan182
I assume you are saying that you are better off with Carl Zeiss optics.
On a DSLR or SLR almost certainly. However, on a point and shoot then it's not really the deciding factor though it won't hurt of course.

You can't say that because a point and shoot has a Zeiss lens on it that it is better than one with a Olympus lens. You can only really say that the lens is unlikely to be a problem.

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Originally posted by stocken
Or rather my first. I usually don't ask for help around here, but I figured since there are so many photographers around you may give me a hint of what to look for.

I know the more megapixels the better. But what's all this about autozoom and focus stuff? What's good and what's not? How do I take a picture? Do I simply press the large button at the top? I ...[text shortened]... m I a good photographer?

Seriously, a few hints of what to look out for would be nice. 🙂
I got my mum a Canon IXUS 800 IS, which is absolutely superb if you just want to point and click. The IS stands for Image Stabilisation which allows you to take better shots in low light conditions.

It really depends on what your skills are. Do you want to be able to manually set the aperture/time values? Or do you not even know what that means?

By the sounds of your second paragraph, it seems that the simpler the camera the better, so I'd give the 800 IS a glowing reference for you. Let me know your price range if that one is a bit steep, and I'll recommend something cheaper.

D

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Originally posted by Wheely
It's not true that the more pixels the better, If you are never going to print larger than a normal photograph and you are not likely to crop your shots then anything over 3.2 Megapixels will be a waste.

You need to supply more information on what kind of camera you want and the kind of things you want to shoot. For example, if you want a good camera tha ...[text shortened]... tylish and colour coordinated.

So, a little more info on your requirements would be useful.
I think I may want to crop a lot, seeing as often when I take a picture I realise that there's only a part I'm really interested in when seated in front of a computer screen.

At least that's how it is now taking pics with my mobile. Of course, the images are so low quality that all I really get when cropping is distortion. 😠

I'm a complete novice in photography, but I've thought a long time about taking it up as a hobby. So I guess I want a good camera that will be useful even when I'm past the most basic skills of photography.

Thanks for your reply. 🙂

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Originally posted by Mat Kelley
My two bits of advice:

1) Go for the largest optical zoom you can afford
2) If it is a point and click type make sure you do not just have an LCD screen get a view finder too. Otherwise when the sun is shining strongly you can not see what you are taking a picture of.

Mat
Now see, these are just the terms I don't get. What's optical zoom? If there's an optical zoom, what other kind is there? I feel so stupid just buying a freaking camera. 😕

View finder?

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