I am a novice that is into photography. What kind of camera should I purchase?

Question

I've always wanted those black thick cameras, sort of like the ones paparazzi has (lol!). With a digital screen, but I don't want a typical digital camera. The lens doesn't have to be at all fancy (but decent). I want focusing where I can choose which "area" to sharpen and which area to blur. I want angles and distortion, not just flat boring pictures. I would like to spend under $1,000. The cheaper the better of course, cheap but with great quality. Does anyone know what kind of camera I should buy?

Answer 1

If you want one of those "black, thick cameras," but you are a novice, get a Nikon D50. It has a few "consumer friendly" automatic modes that make it very easy to use, but still offers total photographic control when you are ready to take charge. The "kit" lens is a decent lens optically, but you might want to upgrade to the Nikkor AF-S 18-70 f/3.5-4.5G ED DX lens for a bit more range and a lot more durability. When you are ready to add lenses, the sky is the limit with Nikon. Then, when you upgrade your camera, you will have a nice, useful collection of lenses.

Get a 1 GB memory card, such as the Sandisk "Ultra" for decent write speed.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d50.htm

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_d50.asp

This will be well under your $1,000 budget.

Answer 2

This seems like you just want it for show. If your going into serious photography get either the Canon XTi or the Nikon D50. I hope you know what your getting into once you get one of these "big black thick" cameras. The pictures on those cameras, which are called SLRs, are only as good as the person using the camera. Read up on how to use the cameras or you can be lazy and use automatic features, that would be a waste of money. Let me lay this out for you how much I've spent on my Canon Rebel XTi:
-The camera and lens kit- $800ish
-Lens Filters-$20
-Memory Card- $70 (1GB)
-Camera Bag- $20
-Spare batteries-$15
-Books and Magazines on Photography -$70
-28-105mm lens- $200
-Speedlite EX580- $400
-External Battery Supply- $120

This aint cheap. If you have that money by all means you can cut corners but I like photography so much that I want to be prepared for the perfect shot. Many different ways you can do it too. Just get the body and lens kit and add on later, and so on.

Fancy lens... their all basically fancy because they allow more light and adjust to your will. But just get the lens kit, its a good starter. The distortions you have to learn, angles I dont get what your asking.

Im telling you though do NOT get an SLR if you just want it for casual everyday pictures, I mean theyll come out nice and all but you wasted a few hundred bucks just to get it. If your not going to use manuel features on the SLR thats money wasted. Get a Canon S series or A640. Both take excellent pictures and its realitivily cheap compared to SLRs.

Answer 3

I agree with Koko - A Canon XTi (400D in some markets) or a Nikon D50 (maybe a D80 if you can swing the money). Add to that a book called "The Digital Photography Book" by Scott Kelby. I'd also recommend taking a photo class at your local community college.

In photography "cheap" and "quality" are usually at opposite ends of the scale. The better you get the more critical you get and good lenses cost significantly more than low end lenses.

Answer 4

A good starting point for beginners is a Digital compact, such as one of these:
Fuji Finepix A500
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/fuji_a500.html

Fuji FinePix F30
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/fuji_f30.html

The next step up is a camera which fits inbetween a Digital Compact and a Digital SLR (I guess a bit like what in film camera terms would be called a "rangefinder").

The best 2 of these (in my opinion) being the:
Fuji Finepix S5200/S5600
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/fuji_s5200.html

Olympus SP-500uz
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/sp500.html

And then we get to the Digital SLR's (like the Paparazzi use)...... the best basic ones for the average amateur photographer being the Nikon D50/D70s/D80 Range
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/nikon_d50.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/nikon_d70s.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/nikon_d80.html

Along with
Pentax K100D
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/k100d.html

Canon Digital Rebel XTi/400D
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/rebelxti.html

After that comes the ultimate camera any amateur photographer will need, the NIKON D200
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/d200.html
Though that's still over $1000

As you're just starting, you'd probably be best off with the First 3 Fuji cameras I suggested
- Fuji Finepix A500
- Fuji Finepix F30
- Fuji Finepix S5200/S5600 Zoom

Answer 5

I advise you to take a photography course first.
Then, you will be better informed on what is appropriate for your need!

Good luck!

Answer 6

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