Complete and utter camera novice seeks advice

[FunBusMk2]

Ive lurked here for ages and admired a lot of work here. It's got me thinking about how pathetic my compact digital is with regards to image quality and what can be done.

I'm getting married this year and the Honeymoon is Hong Kong and Bali - amazing places which deserve decent photos to remember it all by. I love how you can have the light traces in photos and focusing on close up objects with the background out of focus. I'd love to be able to take a picture of a totally random object but make it have presence in the image. I don't want a point and shoot but do at the same time!

I don't want to get really serious - just a really nice camera which will give me better quality images. Budget? No more than £300 and am willing to go second hand. Any help advice and so on gratefully received as I am new to it all.

[-Pete-]

Congratulations!

It might help to know what your current camera is?

[Comacchio]

Canon G12?

[FunBusMk2]

My current camera is a Kodak compact that the missus has. The one previously was a Sony - the dark blue limited edition thing which was new in 2004!

[dibbly dobbler]

If you don't want to 'get serious' then perhaps not an SLR so how about a Canon S95 or S100 ?

[sneaky schnell]

FunBusMk2 said:

Ive lurked here for ages and admired a lot of work here. It's got me thinking about how pathetic my compact digital is with regards to image quality and what can be done.

I'm getting married this year and the Honeymoon is Hong Kong and Bali - amazing places which deserve decent photos to remember it all by. I love how you can have the light traces in photos and focusing on close up objects with the background out of focus. I'd love to be able to take a picture of a totally random object but make it have presence in the image. I don't want a point and shoot but do at the same time!

I don't want to get really serious - just a really nice camera which will give me better quality images. Budget? No more than £300 and am willing to go second hand. Any help advice and so on gratefully received as I am new to it all.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I am hoping to get married this year too (but it might end up being next year).

Anyway, if I can offer a little advice, I would suggest a high end compact, a fairly basic SLR or one of the newer breed of mirrorless cameras. I won't get too technical but most of the mirrorless cameras look like slightly larger compacts but have interchangeable lenses. Most of them also have larger sensors which result in them being able to take better photos than compacts.

Look for cameras which have additional manual controls. There is often a dial with PASM (or similar).

If you want to be able to create light trails you need a tripod (or any stable surface) and to be able to control the shutter speed (using the S part of the PASM referred to above). This will allow you to control how long the shutter stays open while the camera will still do everything else automatically. For example, a car is about to pass you at dusk with its lights on in front of a beautiful old building. You press the button and the camera will take the shot. The resulting photo will have the light trails from the car but everything else in the photo will be stable and clear (as long as the camera does not shake). Lovely and easy to do.

Having certain objects in focus while other parts of the photograph are out of focus is referred to as contolling your Depth of Field (DOF). In order to make this work you need a camera with a fairly 'fast' lens. Fast means a lens with a large aperture (how wide the lens can open) and 'fast' lenses usually have an aperture number of F2.0 or less. To control this set the PASM dial to A and set the F number to be as low as possible. The camera will sort out the rest. However, most compact cameras' lenses are not up to this standard (and a larger sensor does help with this sort of thing). Some cameras in their portrait mode will attempt to do this but with mixed success.

An added benefit of a fast lens is that it will be able to operate in lower light without a flash than other lenses. This is great for indoor photos and if you want to be discreet taking photos of locals at night-time street markets.

I know you claim to be a novice and I hope the above advice is not so simplistic as to be patronising. I'm not sure what camera to recommend as I am not up to speed on cameras within your budget. You will also need to consider that you don't want anything too cumbersome as you will be travelling.

I recommend you pop into a good camera shop and tell them exactly what you require. If they are good, they will steer you in the right direction. It might be worth spending a bit extra as a good camera will pay for itself and (hopefully) you'll only ever have one honeymoon.

[natben]

Lumix TZ20 good zoom, manual settings, great video, small light and easy to use.

[milk2sugars]

£85 above your budget but this is a nice entry level DSLR..

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-canon-eos-1100...

[FunBusMk2]

Thanks for all the brilliant advice. I will head to a camera shop but wanted to gain a little more knowledge before I did.

Someone mentioned a DSLR being too much too soon and I think you're right, I'd not get the most out of it.

[Synchromesh]

FunBusMk2 said:

Someone mentioned a DSLR being too much too soon and I think you're right, I'd not get the most out of it.

I don't think that would be the case. If I were you I'd sink 300 quid into a second hand entry-level DSLR.

For example, a few months ago I paid £320 for a second hand Canon 1100D (Canon's cheapest DSLR) off eBay. It was only a few months ago and had done less than 200 shots, and I saved over 100 quid.

There's something about using an SLR that allows you to get more out the experience. Perhaps it's the optical viewfinder, the lack of shutter delay, or just the feel of the thing. You can always start off by leaving the thing in Auto (in fact I do a lot of the time) and then start experimenting with Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority to get the desired effect. Then, once you know what you're looking for you can start to get new lenses and grow into the camera.

The only real compromise is the size really, as it's obviously not pocketable, which means it can be too tempting to leave it at home.

In my opinion, the difference between the image quality of a £200 compact and a £300 DSLR is much greater than that of a £300 DSLR to a £3,000 DSLR.

[Pulse]

I'd go for the Sony HX9. It looks like it'd fit your requirements well, and looks like a pretty fantastic camera to me.

Failing that, if you want more control, a Canon S95 can be had for £230 now.

[Pulse]

It's actually £230 elsewhere (Comet, Jessops, Currys). Bargain! I'm planning on nipping out in the next few days to get one based on the reviews.

[Elderly]

Pulse said:

It's actually £230 elsewhere (Comet, Jessops, Currys). Bargain! I'm planning on nipping out in the next few days to get one based on the reviews.

Those stores seem sold out.
Amazon appear to have them at that price but I'm not sure that they are not Channel Island
supplied and that's no good for me as I can reclaim the VAT.

[Pulse]

Elderly said:

hose stores seem sold out.
Amazon appear to have them at that price but I'm not sure that they are not Channel Island
supplied and that's no good for me as I can reclaim the VAT.

Comet has them in stock. I spoke to them earlier (local store). Jessops will also have them in store, I'd have thought.

Back in November, you could pick it up for £190! (£230 with £40 cashback)

[Elderly]

M3donuts said:

They are not sending from the Channel Islands - the price includes VAT and this is confirmed just before you commit to make payment

Great 1st post (for me) M3donuts - thanks.

ETA. Hmmmm. I've just gone through Amazon's process of registering my VAT number with them
and they will confirm my status in 1-4 working days.
They won't give a VAT invoice out without going through this process.

Edited by Elderly on Sunday 29th January 10:52

[Elderly]

M3donuts said:

No worries

Your are in luck anyway as it's not in stock until the 3rd Feb anyway according to the page on Amazon

Wrong link - the S95 is in stock, Amazon have already verified my VAT number and I've ordered one

[rottie102]

There you go - a perfect option for you :

http://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku=SDIGSONNEX5DS1...

Second hand but with 12 months warranty

[Simpo Two]

M3donuts said:

I am VAT registered...

I'm not sure honeymoons are legitimate business expenses...