Cameras? Any suggestions? - Page 1

Hello All.

After having a lot of pics printed from my sd card on my mini cam corder, I am very disappointed with any quality at all that is supposed to be there.

I'm not much of a picture taker, never have been but, would still enjoy looking at a pic that did not look washed out, distorted, grainy, etc. 

Can anyone please direct me to the best method for picture taking for a novice who just wants an easy point and shoot?  And, of course (not too costly).  Thank you in advance! 

To take pictures of the Shelter dogs to put them online,  We purchased a Cannon Power Shot A550 !!   

EASY to use,  Great Zoom Capacity,  Quick Snap,  meaning no Delay time which is rare for digitals...

and I think it was just over 130.00 or so,  maybe 160.00 can't remember off hand.   PHOTO QUALITY IS GREAT !!!

Good Luck

"Can anyone please direct me to the best method for picture taking for a novice who just wants an easy point and shoot?  And, of course (not too costly)."

Can you give a price range?  Cameras today come with a wide range of features and prices.  An adequate digital camera from a reputable manufacturer (Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, etc) can range from $100 - $300 and up.  If you want to research various models, dpreview.com ( http://www.dpreview.com/ ) is a good place to start.  One hint - high megapixels are nice, but the longer the lens (10x or longer, as opposed to 3x, for example) the easier it will be to fill the viewfinder with the dog, and not the backyard he's in.  When you are shooting your dog, you should try and fill the viewfinder with Rover to the best of your ability.  The only reason to look for 10 to 12 megapixel cameras would be if you routinely enlarge prints to over 8x10 inches.

For really decent dog photography, I would encourage you to invest in a digital SLR camera.  A perfectly adequate model can be purchased today for around $550.00 (the Nikon D40 kit).

The reason?  With an SLR, there is almost no "shutter lag", which can cost many good dog shots.  Also, you can use different lenses for different situations.  Let's say your dog doesn't do well stacked.  If you have a camera with a telephoto, you can catch him or her from across the yard, instead of having to walk up to him, causing him to move.  If you want to catch the action at your training club, a "fast normal" lens can freeze your dog just as he hits that sleeve.  In addition, depending on the brand and model digital SLR, you can purchase a remote shutter release that will allow you to set the camera up, hold the dog and shoot the photo all at once!

Regards,

Micky

Thank you Echo.  I'll have to look into that.

I'm just tired of being disappointed with the quality of the photo.

Melli's EOS Rebel does an awesome job. Granted, they aren't cheap, but WHAT A CAMERA!

SS

I like Olympus brand cameras for both the ease of use, quality and for the included editing software that makes it really way too much fun to play with pictures, crop, edit, fix, etc.

I  believe that my folks have the cannon that echo mentioned and they love it and it takes great pics.

Fanatic,

Listen to MickyD since the advice given is perfect.  All depends on the money you want to spend.

Personally however I'm partial to the Canon EOS Rebel XTi for the same price as the Nikon <grin>  (It's a relgious discussion between Nikon and Canon similar to "are West German or DDR lines better?")

Also make liberal use of the forums and reviews at http://www.dpreview.com!  TONS of great advice.

Scholty

Thank you all. 

And yes Micky D, you're right.  I negelected to put price range in there.  My apologies.  The range you're speaking ($500-$750) is in my ball park for something good that I can really work with.

Von Symphoni,

That's sort of what I'm looking for; i.e. something I can mess with, crop, etc.

Thank you all.  I'll be putting it on my Christmas List!!!!

I would have to agree with mickey as well...I use canon products and shoot with a Canon 20D for all of my shelter pictures...they also have a cheaper series like the Nikon with has less doohickeys on them called the Digital Rebel Series.   Here are some of the shelter shots I took with my Canon :

The picture quality just ends up being great and you are able to do alot more with the lenses and the filters (or in .RAW)

For point and shoots though I tend to use Pentax, though my most recent pentax is not nearly as good as my old one was...I like to have alot of saturation, sharpness and contrast, and my little canon PaS has been doing pretty good for that....but it definetley cant do what the SLR can....those are definetley worth the inestment.

~Cate

Don't forget good photo editing software.  There's a lot of fixin' that you can do even if you have only a so-so camera (like mine!)

Now you see her...

Now you don't...

Also notice how the false pink tint to the picture was corrected.  Adobe Photoshop Home 4.0.  $99

A better investment, IMHO, than an extra $100 in a camera!