Discussion
Folks, I am out of the UK most of this year and taking a lot of photos on my travels.
I'd like to move up to a more adaptable digital camera that will allow me to take
action shots, arty shots (perhaps with the use of filters?) as well as the ability
to take good shots in very low or poor light, so a good flash or low level light
ability is a must.
It also needs to have a very good zoom!
Can anyone recommend a good 'package' for about £500 or do I really need to be
spending more?
I think I have a good eye for a shot, but need to start to get to grips with
settings to get the best from a new camera.
Could anyone start me on my way who has seen a good deal in the shops recently
on a camera that fits the above requirements?
Thanks in advance.
I'd like to move up to a more adaptable digital camera that will allow me to take
action shots, arty shots (perhaps with the use of filters?) as well as the ability
to take good shots in very low or poor light, so a good flash or low level light
ability is a must.
It also needs to have a very good zoom!
Can anyone recommend a good 'package' for about £500 or do I really need to be
spending more?
I think I have a good eye for a shot, but need to start to get to grips with
settings to get the best from a new camera.
Could anyone start me on my way who has seen a good deal in the shops recently
on a camera that fits the above requirements?
Thanks in advance.
If you just want to dip your toe in the water of more sophisticated cameras then the Fuji S9600 is worth looking at. Get yourself a small tripod and a couple of 2GB Compact Flash cards and you're up and running. Apart from having a zoom that starts at a proper wide angle and good low light performance its particularly suited to someone like you on the move as it uses AA batteries and as the lens is fixed you won't have to worry about dust removal or keeping a bagful of lenses with you.
If you want to go the SLR route, which would be more expensive but would produce better, results you should try out the lower end DLSRs and see which you find feels best in your hand and easiest to control. A Nikon D40X body at £420 with an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX IF ED lens at £250 would probably be a good buy for you. Alternatively a Canon EOS 400D body at £425 with EF-S 17-85 f4-5.6 IS USM lens at £440 would be another good combination but at noticeably more cost ! A cheaper alternative would be to team one of the above bodies with a Sigma 18-125mm F3.5 - 5.6 DC lens at about £180.
If you want to go the SLR route, which would be more expensive but would produce better, results you should try out the lower end DLSRs and see which you find feels best in your hand and easiest to control. A Nikon D40X body at £420 with an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX IF ED lens at £250 would probably be a good buy for you. Alternatively a Canon EOS 400D body at £425 with EF-S 17-85 f4-5.6 IS USM lens at £440 would be another good combination but at noticeably more cost ! A cheaper alternative would be to team one of the above bodies with a Sigma 18-125mm F3.5 - 5.6 DC lens at about £180.
For £500 I bought a Pentax K100D (came with the 18-55mm kit lens) and added a Sigma 55-200mm lens for telephoto pics.
I wanted decent image quality and flexibilty for my £500 and I'm as pleased as punch with my gear.
The Pentax K100D also has 'in body' shake reduction to reduce blue in low light situations which is quite handy (though its no substitute for decent technique / tripod).
I wanted decent image quality and flexibilty for my £500 and I'm as pleased as punch with my gear.
The Pentax K100D also has 'in body' shake reduction to reduce blue in low light situations which is quite handy (though its no substitute for decent technique / tripod).
te51cle said:
If you just want to dip your toe in the water of more sophisticated cameras then the Fuji S9600.Get yourself a small tripod and a couple of 2GB Compact Flash cards and you're up and running. Apart from having a zoom that starts at a proper wide angle and good low light performance its particularly suited to someone like you on the move as it uses AA batteries and as the lens is fixed you won't have to worry about dust removal or keeping a bagful of lenses with you.
They're great for not having to swap lenses but I had the S9500 (principally the same camera) for a month before I sent it back to Fuji for a refund. They're absolutely pants in low light. Some of the other Fuji S range are great but this top end 'bridge' is lacking is so many ways. Plus it's one of the heaviest of its type on the market - not good for travelling. Maybe look at something like the S6500 which has fewer pixels but still a reasonable zoom and the benefit of AA batteries too.
I too would go for a cheap DSLR, and consider purchasing something in the US. I would however also consider the following very useful when travelling for that amount of time:
-Decent Waterproof camera bag / holdal that will cope with monsoon rains. I use Lowepro AW stuff and it's great - plus the waterproof covers can be used as an extra layer of security. I've also added cable ties to the plastic clips in case someone tries to snatch it.
-Portable storage device (mini hard disk with card reader or iPod with camera adapter). Going to internet cafes to back up photos onto CD's is a pain, and unreliable. It's not feasible to take enough memory cards and this is a cheaper way to do it.
-2nd Camera (cheap digital compact) Great for nights out when you don't want the DSLR and is a backup for the main camera. Use different memory cards and battery types for redundancy in case something breaks.
-Spare Charger if using camera specific batteries as opposed to AAs etc. I had my canon charger blow up in Uganda and was stuffed without it. You will be connected to 3rd world power supplies, which will at somepoint be a generator (esp during a blackout). The power spike kills many, many chargers!
I'd go for an Entry level DSLR (D50 or 400d), plus a spare chunk of cash for the extras if you can. Avoid compacts if you can, but if you do go that route make sure the lens goes wide enough. You want 28mm equiv on 35mm if possible. Most compacts don't go very wide and will be noisy at high isos due to the smaller sensors.
-Decent Waterproof camera bag / holdal that will cope with monsoon rains. I use Lowepro AW stuff and it's great - plus the waterproof covers can be used as an extra layer of security. I've also added cable ties to the plastic clips in case someone tries to snatch it.
-Portable storage device (mini hard disk with card reader or iPod with camera adapter). Going to internet cafes to back up photos onto CD's is a pain, and unreliable. It's not feasible to take enough memory cards and this is a cheaper way to do it.
-2nd Camera (cheap digital compact) Great for nights out when you don't want the DSLR and is a backup for the main camera. Use different memory cards and battery types for redundancy in case something breaks.
-Spare Charger if using camera specific batteries as opposed to AAs etc. I had my canon charger blow up in Uganda and was stuffed without it. You will be connected to 3rd world power supplies, which will at somepoint be a generator (esp during a blackout). The power spike kills many, many chargers!
I'd go for an Entry level DSLR (D50 or 400d), plus a spare chunk of cash for the extras if you can. Avoid compacts if you can, but if you do go that route make sure the lens goes wide enough. You want 28mm equiv on 35mm if possible. Most compacts don't go very wide and will be noisy at high isos due to the smaller sensors.
Thanks for the replies folks, just about to sit and digest them as I've not been able to get on line since I posted.
As for my travels, six weeks so far, but just in Europe. I do have a trip to America coming up and then there is
Dubai where I have brought many electrical goods before due to their low prices.
I'll be back with more questions later, thanks again!
As for my travels, six weeks so far, but just in Europe. I do have a trip to America coming up and then there is
Dubai where I have brought many electrical goods before due to their low prices.
I'll be back with more questions later, thanks again!
Ok, giving close consideration to the Fuji S9600 and going to view one in the next day or so.
Anyone got any comments good or bad about this camera?
There appears to be a good selection of filters and effects lenses, but what would you guys
recommend to avoid or buy?
Finally, I've never had any photos of mine commented on, so is there anything about these
p&s shots that you see that could be improved with the aid of, say the S9600, filters and
more forethought on my part?
And yes, sadly the lens is damaged, another reason for the change.
All comments welcome - thanks!
Anyone got any comments good or bad about this camera?
There appears to be a good selection of filters and effects lenses, but what would you guys
recommend to avoid or buy?
Finally, I've never had any photos of mine commented on, so is there anything about these
p&s shots that you see that could be improved with the aid of, say the S9600, filters and
more forethought on my part?
And yes, sadly the lens is damaged, another reason for the change.
All comments welcome - thanks!
Edited by Cuban on Saturday 12th May 09:21
Can't help you with the bridge cameras I'm afraid (SLR user)
As for your pics, they are a reasonably good set, however a few small things would can be improved.
1st shot:
I like this shot, however (and this is personal taste) I don't like the slanted shot, I think it would have looked better if the bridge was vertical.
2nd shot:
Small criticism regarding the angle, but it works better for this shot as the road is curved, the shot would have been better using a wider setting and getting the whole of the 2nd car in.
3rd shot:
This i think would have looked better cropped with the top 1/3 being the trees and the other 2 split between the road and car.
4th shot:
I don't think this works as well slanted and i would have tried to get the shot so the 4x4 wasn't in it.
5th shot:
I like this and think it works well, it would have worked far better if the car was clean though!!
6th shot:
I like this and think it works, the only criticism is the wheel on the far right
7th shot:
I think this would work far better as a panoramic style shot being cropped off at the top of the cars aerial
8th shot:
I'm afraid i don't think this works, it's far too cluttered
9th and final shot:
I like this, again the level is a bit off, this would have looked far better with the green car closer and dominating the shot.
All the above is of course my own opinion, best of luck with the camera and holiday
As for your pics, they are a reasonably good set, however a few small things would can be improved.
1st shot:
I like this shot, however (and this is personal taste) I don't like the slanted shot, I think it would have looked better if the bridge was vertical.
2nd shot:
Small criticism regarding the angle, but it works better for this shot as the road is curved, the shot would have been better using a wider setting and getting the whole of the 2nd car in.
3rd shot:
This i think would have looked better cropped with the top 1/3 being the trees and the other 2 split between the road and car.
4th shot:
I don't think this works as well slanted and i would have tried to get the shot so the 4x4 wasn't in it.
5th shot:
I like this and think it works well, it would have worked far better if the car was clean though!!
6th shot:
I like this and think it works, the only criticism is the wheel on the far right
7th shot:
I think this would work far better as a panoramic style shot being cropped off at the top of the cars aerial
8th shot:
I'm afraid i don't think this works, it's far too cluttered
9th and final shot:
I like this, again the level is a bit off, this would have looked far better with the green car closer and dominating the shot.
All the above is of course my own opinion, best of luck with the camera and holiday
Many thanks for taking the time to reply George - I really appreciated your comments.
These were not staged photo shoots that I had control over, more just 'grabbed moments'
and all were taken with a p&s (Kodak EasyShare DX6490 ) with no lens changes or effects
available to me, so over all, I'm very happy.
I loved your comment about the wheel - I'd not even noticed it
so I'll be
looking for things like that in the future.
Your comments about 'cropping' was perhaps of most interest to me.
How much post shot 'adjustments' do people do?
These were 99% shown as shot and simply sized down for show, but your point about
panoramic views via cropping has me wondering, should I be doing this?
Once again, many thanks for your comments.
Having been fortunate to have met many fine professional photographers over the years,
it seems odd that it has taken until now for me to be bitten by the bug, but I guess it's
never too late to start?!
I'm going to put some of my favourite shots on line at www.aauk.biz/cuban but will go
back and dig out some of my older images. Most if not all are technically flawed, but
they were moments in time and serve as a reference on how to improve when I get
the new camera.
These were not staged photo shoots that I had control over, more just 'grabbed moments'
and all were taken with a p&s (Kodak EasyShare DX6490 ) with no lens changes or effects
available to me, so over all, I'm very happy.
I loved your comment about the wheel - I'd not even noticed it
so I'll be looking for things like that in the future.
Your comments about 'cropping' was perhaps of most interest to me.
How much post shot 'adjustments' do people do?
These were 99% shown as shot and simply sized down for show, but your point about
panoramic views via cropping has me wondering, should I be doing this?
Once again, many thanks for your comments.
Having been fortunate to have met many fine professional photographers over the years,
it seems odd that it has taken until now for me to be bitten by the bug, but I guess it's
never too late to start?!
I'm going to put some of my favourite shots on line at www.aauk.biz/cuban but will go
back and dig out some of my older images. Most if not all are technically flawed, but
they were moments in time and serve as a reference on how to improve when I get
the new camera.
gf350 said:
Thanks for that, but being realistic, I'd best take one step at a time and go for an
intermediate set up like the Fuji 9600 and see how I get on from there.
Cuban said:
gf350 said:
Thanks for that, but being realistic, I'd best take one step at a time and go for an
intermediate set up like the Fuji 9600 and see how I get on from there.
That Fuji 9600 does lood very nice but a 350d / 400d would be a good choice as well.
They are very small and light for an SLR and if you decide to buy more lenses, a bigger flash or memory cards etc then you can still use them if you decide to upgrade.
Theres some good deals on the 350d as well
www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod4.html
or £50 cashback from canon for a 400d.
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