Beginner Photographer

[SBS]

I've begun my search for a great camera, but, as a relative novice, have become quickly overwhelmed by the wide variety of options and suggestions. Does anyone here at Notes from Spain have any suggestions for a decent camera for a novice photographer such as myself?

The only real conclusion I've come to is that I'd like to go with a 35mm camera, but I am open to suggestions here, as well. Aside from that, I'd be very appreciative of any advice given. The plan is to try it out on my trip to southern Italy and Sicily next Spring.

Thank you,

Steve

[Ben]

The first place I always look for a new camera is http://dpreview.com/ - I look to see if one I'm interested in has one of their 'in depth' reviews, and if so, if the concluding page gives it a 'highly recommended' rating - anything that gets 'highly recommended' on there is worth buying!

One that you might like is the Canon 1000D (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos1000d/page34.asp) or if you can stretch to it, the Canon 500D (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos500d/page29.asp)

Those links go to the conclusion pages of the reveiws, both get the highly recommended tag. I'd go for those as I've always been a Canon person, but Nikon have similar models which no doubt get similar accolades - really it comes down to maybe going into a shop, holding a Nikon or Canon in your price range, seeing which one feels best for you, checking the review on that site, and taking the plunge.

All of them will take amazing photos these days, so don't get too lost in all the product reviews and forum comments on other photo/review sites!

[SBS]

One camera I've been looking at is the Panasonic DMC-FZ35/38. It seems like a reliable investment, although the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS closely compares, it seems.

[Pippa]

I am a Nikon person, but this summer I bought a Panasonic DMC-FX40(Lumix) which I believe it is similar to the one you say and I have to say the quality is superb.

[Garry Knight]

The only real conclusion I've come to is that I'd like to go with a 35mm camera

35mm cameras are film cameras. If you want to go that route, fine, but digital cameras have come so far that they're just as good, if not better. There are a great many well-known professional photographers who made the switch a long time ago and won't go back.

I agree with Ben's recommendations as they're both very good cameras. If you want something that will allow you to go further than those, you could look at the Canon 40D which is a slightly older camera aimed at the so-called "prosumer level" buyer, i.e. people who want very good quality. Since the 50D and 70D were released, the 40D has come down quite a bit in price.

However, either of Ben's recommendations would be perfectly adequate. It's the lenses that make the big difference. And now I feel that I should explain a bit more...

If you get a digital SLR camera like the Canon ones we've recommended, they work with interchangeable lenses. And you use the different lenses for different purposes, e.g. portraits, landscapes, close-up shots, very long distance shots, etc. Some of the lenses are so-called 'primes' - that is, they only have a single focal length and so they don't zoom. Others are zoom lenses that are fine for landscapes and close-up portraits, such as the Canon 18-55mm lens. Yet others are for medium-to-long-distance telephoto work, or candid portraiture, such as the Canon 100-400mm lens. When you buy a digital SLR, you can buy just the body then get the lenses you want afterward, or you can go the recommended route and get a kit containing the body plus a general purpose zoom lens such as the 18-55mm.

If you don't want the bother of changing lenses, you could go for either a point-and-shoot compact camera, which works out most of the settings for you and all you have to do is aim it and press the button, or you could get what's known as a 'bridge camera', which has a fixed lens like a compact camera but also allows you to change a great many settings manually. Compact cameras tend to have small zoom ranges such as 3-5x, whereas you can get bridge cameras that have up to around 24x zoom. This allows you to take a landscape shot then zoom right in on one feature right in the distance.

One of the best sites for checking out cameras, lenses and the like, (in my humble opinion) is Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/), which not only reviews the cameras but also shows you sample photos taken by them. Google searches for 'compact camera', 'bridge camera' and 'DSLR' will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the dfiferent types. It's worth checking out the Wikipedia articles on the 3 types as well, just to get an overview.

[SBS]

Thanks for all the help. I've been having a great time browsing around through all of your recommendations.

[Ben]

I guess the big questions are, do you want interchangeable lenses, or something you can pocket... and what's your budget!