Choosing a new camera help

[Linnie]

Okay after just spending an enjoyable hour looking through the WDW photo thread, I am inspired to want to take better pictures. Unfortunately I have an older digital camera with not very many features. I know I definitely want to stay with a digital, but I really am not that great at technical stuff so need to stay with something reasonably simple. I was especially impressed with Byron's shots, the colors and clarity are just beautiful. So all you talented people please share your advice and opinions with me please. Realistically my budget would be around $500 to start out with.

Linnie

[DebWills]

I'm partial to Canons. I think they make an awesome range of digital cameras.

I always recommend Steve's Digicam site for reviews and figuring out what you want. (don't have the url handy, so google it).

Deb

[Photographer]

High-end points and shoots would run about $400-500. In that range there's the Canon S3 IS, Sony H5, and Olympus 550. They all have features which you may not even use but they are there for when you're ready to get technical.

[WillCAD]

I'll second Deb's recommendation of Canon as a brand. I own two Canons (a Rebel G 35mm SLR, and a Digital Rebel 300D SLR) and love them both like Gollum.

SLR cameras are getting cheaper and cheaper every year; many of them can be found brand new for around $650 online, and if you shop around a little you might be able to find a factory refurb on eBay for under $500.

I'm not specifically recommending that you go to an SLR camera, since you state that you want to keep it simple, but you also mentioned Byron's pics and I happen to know that he uses a Canon digital SLR (I think he uses a 20D?).

Buying a digital SLR is more like buying into a system than buying a single self-contained camera. SLRs consist of a camera body, which holds the electronic workings of the camera, and detatchable lenses which can be easily swapped for lenses with more or less zoom, wider aperture for night shots, or better quality glass for sharper pics. Some new lenses for SLRs also have image stabilization built in, which reduces camera shake and helps you get sharper pics in low light.

Besides lenses there are other accessories available for SLR cameras, such as external flash units that are much more powerful than a built-in flash (ad use their own batteries, too), and remote control shutter releases (for getting in the pic yourself or taking a tripod pic without rocking the camera by pressing the shutter release).

Canon and Nikon are the kings of digital SLR cameras. There are several other brands on the market, but if you want to do a little research to see if maybe an SLR is a better option for you, start with Canon and Nikon.

Canon's entry-leven digital SLR is called the Rebel XTi (model # is 400D). It's very similar to my own camera, but a little more compact and with higher resolution and cleaner performance in low light (which is good for night shots and fireworks pics).

Nikon's current entry-level SLR, I think, is the D70, which happens to be the camera that WDW PhotoPass photographers use. It's similar in most respects to the Canon Digital Rebel series of cameras, but can often be found just a tad cheaper.

There's lots more, but this should give you something to think about before you define exactly what features you want, which will help you to make your choice.

ETA: I checked with Byron in the lunch chat, and he uses a Canon Digital Rebel XTi.

[Photographer]

Nikon has 2 entry level DSLR's now, the D40 and D40X. The X has 10 mp, 3 frames per second and I'm blanking on the 3rd difference.

[Kelly Grannell]

In Canada, for US$500 you can get Nikon P5000 which I highly recommend. Although I'm an avid Canon user, I have to give my thumbs and toes up to the P5000.