Friday, August 8, 2008

Attention Photographers!!!


Since so many of my Blogger Buddies are also Phabulous Photographers, I need some advice from y'all! :-)

My camera (which was old-old-old.... we're talking a first generation Kodak "EasyShare" from way back when) finally gave up the ghost at the beach last weekend. It lived a good long life.

So now it's time for me to move on to bigger and BETTER things. Yesterday, I had to go to Sam's Club to pick up a case of water, a huge bag of Puppy Chow (since Diva now eats THREE times a day) and I was perusing the camera section but realized I know NOTHING about camera equipment, so I thought I'd ask the Experts in the Blogosphere.... so c'mon D'Arcy, Sugar, Sheye, Carin, Laurie, Michele, Louise, and everyone ELSE out there who is a photographer - offer up your advice!

What do those of you who are photographers (either professional or amateur) suggest?

Keep in mind I like to keep it somewhat simple (I don't want to drag a big bag full of lenses and accoutrements everywhere I go), but I also want something that is going to take really good pics, and be fairly user friendly. (I also like the cameras that have the option of taking little short video movies...)

Thoughts? Suggestions?

7 comments:

Unknown said...

hmm, i don't know about the short movie option, but I know for myself and most professional photographers...it's Nikon all the way!!!

Unknown said...

I can get into more specifics if you want, but Nikon is just the best.

Louise said...

I'm not really the right person to ask, but I'm here anyway (because apparently I can't ever shut up.)

First thing to consider is how much you want to spend. You can spend $100 for something somewhat decent or thousands for something spectacular. I'm pretty sure from your post that you're not up for spectacular, but there is a lot of room in the middle.

So check your budget, then look at the options within that. I think it is a good idea to go for the most megapixels you can afford.

As for lenses? Well, I have two. And the right one is NEVER on the camera when I need it, so if you're doing more things just around home and all, get a fixed lens. But I'll tell you that even though I get tired of changing lenses, I want a minimum of two more for my purposes. And if you get into changing lenses, from all the research that has been done for me (because I definitely didn't do it myself), Cannon and Nikon are the options. I have a Nikon D50. It's a lower end "really good" camera. Lower end doesn't mean it's cheap, and the two extra lenses I "must have" are over $1500 combined. (Which means I can't have the "must haves.")

But there are really, really good point and shoots out there for a lot less money and a lot less hassle. Again, I say megapixels. Oh, and if you go with a fixed lens, optical zoom is better than digital zoom. That is about as important as megapixels.

Michele said...

Well, I would've suggested Canon Rebel XT but then with being the DSLR you would be buying lenses and stuff and that's just not what you want... that's what I generally use but I also use and I love is a point and shoot which I think is perfect for you and I HIGHLY recommend is Canon PowerShot SX100 IS.. perfect zoom, and video and does so much and super easy to use and very inexpensive and I can get a bazillion shot on just 2 batteries!! Good luck!
Mountain Retreat

Laurie Brandriet Keller said...

I'm a Nikon Chicklette and just bought their Cool Pix L18. It was only $150 and maybe a little less. I'm a little rough with a camera so that's why I stayed in that price range again this time. I'm going to graduate to a Nikon SLR from Santa, I hope! My professional photographer friends all use Nikons. Glad to help ... you are such a sweetheart!

HWHL said...

Excellent advice, ladies! I believe a shopping session is in order VERY soon! :-)

I will be "inflicting" my photos on you soon!

Thanks again for your thoughts, comments and suggestions!

Sugar Jones said...

How funny, D'Arcy... most photographers I know use Canon... It's almost like the Chevy vs. Ford wars... both will do what you want.

HWHL: I was also going to suggest a Canon Rebel. Super simple to use and gives you a great shot. You don't need to get a ton of lenses, but if you did want to, they aren't going to set you back. And if you have a Calumet near you, you can rent really cool tricky lenses for special occassions or just when you get a wild hair.

For video, I am going to be buying a FlipIt. They have a USB plug in that pops up and connects directly to your computer. It records up to an hour of video and is the perfect format for a YouTube or blog vid.

Have fun shopping!