Moderator Note:

Fourteen (14) posts from the 'Photography and Critique' thread moved to the 'Digital Camera' thread.

Thanks.

Hello Guys

I am going to replace my 2 year old 7mp sony camera with a new one.

I am currently looking and caught eye on Sony latest compact DSC HX5V

Could you guys look and provide feedback if its a good buy.

Thanks

Pls help me to choose Between

canon 1000D and Nikon D3000

It's totally upto you what system you want to get into. Please note that once you do choose a 'system' (in this case either Nikon or Canon), you would not really want to change into some other.

The D3000 and the 1000D both are very good entry-level D-SLRs in their own right. It's YOU who would need to make a final decision. I also wanted to ask the kind of experience you have in handling cameras (both digital as well as SLRs).

i have never used DSLRs in my life .... i wanted to buy a entry level DSLR..

what i have been using was a Kodak.. and a Samsung Digi cam

Nikon is good company which provides VFM Dslr's to general public.But you have to also look into the aftersales service provided by the companies.

Wish to buy an entry level digicam.......budget is as low as possible.......7.1-10 mp 3+optical zoom......any recommendations??

Also.....is there a market for second hand digicams??

@aarunn: Well, I would personally advise you to use a digital camera for a few months (if not about an year or so) atleast before moving onto a D-SLR. Digital SLR is serious business; please do not think that you would buy a D-SLR and learn everything thereon. Although, there are people who do such antics, but I would rather take the orthodox way than do it otherwise. Rest, well, you are your own boss!

Haxor, if it's pure value for money product then Nikon and Canon BOTH provide VFM D-SLRs. The EOS 1000D now costs Rs.21,000 odd with bill! How much more cheaper can it get!?

hey parth i have a spare NEW Digicam for sale . 8 mp ,3x zoom . with battery and charger + 2gb card .all is still packed as it was a gift . it is Kodak c140 . if interested pm back .

I completely agree with Aryan. Only 25% of my investment in photo equipments is the camera body, the rest is mainly for lenses and a few other accessories.

As Aryan has pointed out both are equally good cameras and when you buy a DSLR you're buying into a system with its own set of lenses and other accessories, so you have to decide on that. I personally would recommend Canon because I'm a Canon user and they also tend to bring new technologies and features into their low end bodies and lenses faster than Nikon. Otherwise there is not much to distinguish between the cameras of both brands except in the details. There was a time when Canon was the indisputable leader in image quality and noise control but that's no longer true.

One thing that is very difficult to control in a digicam is the depth of field .. because of their small sensors and small focal length lenses. Due to their small sensors they are also prone to produce more noisy images than DSLRs.

I don't see why you can't get a DSLR directly and learn things from thereon. You can now get a entry level DSLR with a kit lens for about the same price as a prosumer digicam. With so many online resources on basics of photography its pretty easy to figure out things and play around with the features/parameters on the DSLR. The current crop of kit lenses are also not that bad and are decent enough for beginners. Only when you shoot with better lenses do you realize that they are not that good! ;-) And once you start shooting you tend to realize what kind of subjects you like more and based on that you can invest in more lenses.

The orthodox route would be to start with a manual SLR, learn the basics and then move onto a DSLR.

Ofcourse, if somebody wants, he/ she can get a D-SLR and start the learning process thereon. But, it is a tough learning curve, simply because of the fact that a D-SLR has plethora of options (starting from different creative modes like Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual, Program modes to things like Ev compensation, flash compensation, custom WB and MANY more such options to take care of) which can really confuse someone who is just starting out with photography. Eventually, what he/ she would end up doing is shooting pictures on "Auto" mode, which can also be done in a digital camera! One more thing which I feel a newbie would really miss on the D-SLR is the 'zoom' ability provided on a digital camera. A kit lens of an entry level D-SLR like the 1000D doesn't offer anything more than 55mm at the telephoto end, which is somewhere around 42mm on a 35mm SLR or 3x zoom. Compared to a latest generation digital camera which offers anything between 15x to a whopping 24x optical zoom, the 3x optical zoom of the kit lens might seem 'paltry' to the newbie.

But, then again photography has never really been about the zoom power. I still feel, a person who is starting out on photography must use a digital camera for atleast a few months, if not more, before moving onto a D-SLR. That way, it would really be easy and comfortable for the user when he/ she holds a D-SLR for the first time. But, then again with the falling prices, it's hard to justify getting a digital camera first and then getting a D-SLR, eventually.

Then, there are the different photography "modes" which a newbie is always after. A person who is just starting out on photography is generally after a "do it all" sort of a device (a camera, in this case). By "do it all" device I simply mean a camera which can not only take decently wide photographs, but also can zoom right into the action when the need be within a split second, and can also shoot some detailed macro photographs! Now, this is simply not possible with a D-SLR. One needs specialized equipment to shoot different genres. For example, a true macro (1:1 magnification) would need a macro lens, which can cost anything between Rs.17,000 for the Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro lens to well over Rs.30,000 for the newest macro lens from Canon - the 100mm f2.8L USM Hybrid IS macro lens! Likewise, to get a decently wide shot, one would need atleast an 18mm lens (the kit-lens can satisfy this) or for a decent zoom range, one would require anything between a 135mm to 200mm focal length range zoom lens, which DO NOT come cheap.

That's how I went about it. I used to have a film SLR way back in the year 2000-2001 (a Canon EOS 30), which I used for 3 odd years before I moved onto a digital camera (the Canon Powershot S3 IS) and then ultimately to a Digital SLR (the Canon EOS 400D), although I still have the S3 IS with me. Unfortunately though I had to sell off the EOS 30 because of certain issues.

Exactly, and there's nothing wrong in shooting with auto mode at first and then exploring the other modes as you get comfortable. I still think that you have been seriously considering photography as a happy then one should get a SLR directly but if one is not sure if they are gonna get serious with photography then it probably good to get a super/ultra zoom digicam and see how things go from there.

I agree the zoom that is available on the new super/ultra zoom lets you shoot almost anything but a kit lens with a 55-250 lens is not a bad combination either. When you talk about the specialized lenses I guess you also know that the results are in a totally different league to what you get with a digicam.

I followed a even more conventional route (blame my friends for that!) .. a fully manual Vivitar 3800N to Canon EOS Elan IIe (EOS 50e) and Canon EOS 40D. After I got my Elan IIe I realized it was stupid to advice that you should always start with a manual SLR. The Elan IIe let me do the same things as the Vivitar and a lot more. Getting a DSLR was out of question at that time because they were still in the developing stage and no where as advanced as they are now. It did help me a lot that I had a few photography enthusiasts around me (one of whom still shoots with manual SLR and thinks that only when everything is done manually is it photography) who could critique my pictures and share techniques with me.

The thing I miss about the Elan IIe is the eye controlled focus, hope Canon figures out a way to get them into their DSLRs.

I hope I'm not interrupting anything.....as I said before in the last post that went almost un-noticed......need an entry level cam......7.1-10 mp 3+optical zoom....(these numbers are just some guess work as I have NO knowledge about cameras) I wish to buy something that'll not make me wish to switch fones every time I want to take a pic (2mp Nokia 5130).

Should be realiable+cheap as bank bal is a lil low due to the recent R15. Don't know how much my budget should be ..... I guess the cheaper the better

Is there a market for 2nd hand cams....

@puneet...PM sent bud

EDIT: Alright google to the rescue.....got a few prospects.....got a little confused Then found a good match for my requirements......It's Olympus FE-26.

Olympus FE-26 Technical Specification:
Olympus FE-26 Price in India

@ Aryan and Rags thanks for the valuable inputs.... im using a Digicam for couple of years

then pls suggest me a good Point shoot/ bridge cam... in which i can learn Manual modes and all

What say abt Fuji HD 2000?? which comes around 15k

Exactly what I want to say. A newbie doesn't really know how well will he adapt to this "hobby" called photography. I have known of people who got their D-SLRs and have not really used them because they are too "confusing". I was hence saying, one should get a cheap digital-camera at first and see where this "hobby" develops, from there.

If you are suggesting to purchase the 55-250 along with the 18-55mm, well, then that is again an extra 10k worth of investment over and above the 20-25k worth of investment in getting a D-SLR. Moreover, I am not so sure a newbie would find it too comfortable changing lenses frequently, to "zoom in" and "go wide", if you get my drift.

Good to see the kind of experience you have with cameras. I am sure we can see a few shots from your end, which would undoubtedly blow our minds. Please do share a few of your work with us on the P&C thread, if you can.

Thanks.