New Camera Help!! Come on girls, give me some advice

[melimitch]

So,
I'm in the market for a new camera....and I have NO idea what kind of camera to look for. I'm not quite savvy with these things...
Once I GET a camera, I can always figure it out, so that's not the problem. The problem is where to start? Which brand is better? What camera is best?

I'm looking for something at or below the $600 range. Digital, with a great quality. I take pictures of my kids and such....so I'd love to have something that is geared towards photography.

What camera do YOU suggest? What do you have? What do you like and not like about it? I need advice girls!!

[yoorah]

I have a Nikon D80 I love. I probably would have bought the D40 if I waited. D40 does pretty much everything my D80 does but its smaller and about half the price. D40s are SLR, which means there's no shutter lag. Lenses are interchangeable so it can grow with you. If you shop around, you can find one with its kit lense for about $600. You won't be able to slip it into your pocket. But once you play with a digital SLR, its real hard to go back to your point and shoot.

[melimitch]

Ahhh...see, I've been looking at this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1158323379076

A friend of mine recommended the Nikon SLR's. Is the one you have easy enough to figure out with some playing?

[scrapmo]

I just got the D40, I just set it on auto and go. The D40 is only 6mp which the camera guys say will blow up to a 16x20 (I think) and since I rarely go higher than 5x7 I like the smaller file size. Also I love my telephoto lense for sports shots of my kids, which you can always purchase later.

[Julie in Indy]

I have a Nikon D70 (it's about 2 yrs old now) and I love it. I would guess it is similar to the D80. I loved that I could use the equipment I had with my Nikon N75 (film camera). It is big but takes great pictures in all environments.

For portability, I have a Nikon Coolpix S2 - very compact and fits easily in my purse. The controls are very similar to my previous Nikons.

Good luck camera shopping!

[yoorah]

I didn't think it was too hard to figure out. I use my "for dummies" setting more than 1/2 the time. You can always just set it to auto, or any one of several pre-set features (ie landscape, portrait, etc.) until you are ready to try your own setting. There's a great review of it by Ken Rockwell you might want to check out. This site isn't letting post his URL (I guess I'm too new) but if you google Ken Rockwell and put in D40 under his search term, it'll take you right there.

[yoorah]

Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 2

Default Ease of use
I didn't think it was too hard to figure out. I use my "for dummies" setting more than 1/2 the time. You can always just set it to auto, or any one of several pre-set features (ie landscape, portrait, etc.) until you are ready to try your own setting. There's a great review of it by Ken Rockwell you might want to check out. This site isn't letting post his URL (I guess I'm too new) but if you google Ken Rockwell and put in D40 under his search term, it'll take you right there.

[mspfd]

We have a SonyT100 and it does a awesome job! My husband recommends the following site for its excellent information. Happy camera hunting!
http://www.imaging-resource.com/

[shirolives]

Get the additional warranty is a bit of side advice. I didn't get it and one grain-o-sand in my camera jamming the gears, was going to cost me $150 just to have Sony look at my camera. The camera itself cost $250+- and the warranty, which I didn't get, was about $40.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

[momis mama]

i have a canon power shot A620...

love it!

so easy to use (cause i am a ding dong/old dog)

good luck!

[Kiko]

I recently got the new Nikon D40x. It is a 10 MP SLR camera and I chose it over the D80 because of its smaller size. I have small hands and the D80 felt bulky and heavy to me. It has the same internal imaging engine as the D80. Lens for this camera are more expensive because the focus motor is in the lens and not in the camera body, so the older Nikon lens will not auto focus (but can be used in manual mode). Since I didn't have any older lenses, it was not an issue to me.

It's really a personal choice and just do a lot of reading on some of the photography user forums to get both sides of the picture (no pun intended).

[gaylestamps]

The sales personnel are going to tell you that more pixels is better... but printers have NOT caught up with the HDP (high density pixels) of the cameras on the market, and you cannot upload mega-pixel images on most webstites.

Anything that will adjust up to 6MP will be fine for years to come - you can get fairly big enlargements (8x10 or 12x14) at good photo shops, and save a lot of money by passing on the 10MP offerings.

HTH.

[STAMPIN UP CHICK]

My husband and I just went through the same agonizing process of buying a new camera! We had a bouncing baby boy (what better reason could we have right?)

The decision was difficult, but after taking about a month to research them, we got the nikon D80! I could not be happier with the camera! It is easy to use, & takes clean crisp shots (10 million times better than our cannon point & shoot). Looking back now, wish we would have gotten the nikon sooner. But, hind-sight is 20/20.

We often get our printing done at Ritz Cameras, and they are great about answering any questions my husband & I have about the camera!

[Raegan]

another great site for camera reviews: dpreview.com I love this site.

I also love my Nikon D40. Unless you are a professional photographer, this is all you really need!

[scrapmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaylestamps

The sales personnel are going to tell you that more pixels is better... but printers have NOT caught up with the HDP (high density pixels) of the cameras on the market, and you cannot upload mega-pixel images on most webstites.

Anything that will adjust up to 6MP will be fine for years to come - you can get fairly big enlargements (8x10 or 12x14) at good photo shops, and save a lot of money by passing on the 10MP offerings.

HTH.

Thats what the reviews said about the Nikon D40, they didn't chase megapixels and put the $$ into features, and if you need the 10MP you can get the DX.

[seeyoustampin]

I wish I could afford the Nikon D40 right now but I can't. Is there anyone out there that has the Canon s3 or the s5? Any other tips?