Bridge versus DSLR cameras - advice needed

V

Villegas

Messages
13
Name
Matt
Edit My Images
No
Hello forum, brand new member here, very first post.

Right now I only have a regular compact 'point n click' digital camera albeit a decent enough Fuji Finepix one. I want to upgrade to something that takes proper photographs as opposed to 'snaps'.

Initially I started my research with DSLRs. I didn't reallly want to spend more than £300 and so I was torn between the Sony A200 and the Nikon D40 (both currently available for less than £300 on Amazon). However a friend of mine has told me, today, that he went with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 instead. Apparently this is a "bridge" camera. You'll have to excuse my ignorance as I'm totally new to all of this. He asked me if I'd ever want to change lenses on the camera, but I don't really know as I've never owned a camera with interchangable lenses before!

Am I comparing apples with pears here or is there a vast amount of difference. Initially I just want to be able to take quality, crystal clear photographs both at home, out and about and on holiday. Will the bridge camera do most of what the DSLR will or would you recommend going with the DSLR and learning how to use it properly?

Any help much appreciated, I really don't know what to do!!
 
I have used a Nikon D50 for 3 years on a very casual basis at work (not photography related work!)

Last year i decided to buy a new camera for home and bought the very one you are considering - the Lumix DMC-FZ28. great camera! took it to London at Christmas and got some fantastic shots with it. The zoom is incredible..

BUT...

The pics are more grainy than a proper DSLR under certain conditions. VERY apparent indoors but as soon as the light starts to drop the quality tails off quickly. It is still good but if image quality matters get a DSLR. I've just bought a D450 and it's streets ahead of the Panasonic. Its unfair to compare the two really. Both very good but in different ways.

As for learning how to use the DSLR properly. I used full Auto for years on the Nikon and got some fantastic pics compared to using my wee compact so dont feel you have to get stuck right in. Learn bit by bit, keep reading the forums and it'll soon start to make sense!!
 
i had the same thought as you. i had a budget of £500 and then thought i could get the lumix but instead i followed my heart (and the money demon) to getting my DSLR. oh and btw it not entirely true that you will want live view from coming up from a compact, ive always prefered viewfinders and i actually thought i would need live view. i sort of regret not getting the a200 and i could have afforded a flashgun.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. Still not sure! Is there much in difference in the Nikon D40 and the Sony A200?
 
mastertrinity said:
i had the same thought as you. i had a budget of £500 and then thought i could get the lumix but instead i followed my heart (and the money demon) to getting my DSLR. oh and btw it not entirely true that you will want live view from coming up from a compact, ive always prefered viewfinders and i actually thought i would need live view. i sort of regret not getting the a200 and i could have afforded a flashgun.
Click to expand...



What's a flashgun?! I'm not that bothered about the viewfinder, I want it to take quality photos.....I'm guessing the viewfinder is the only difference between the A200 and the A300 and so bumps up the price?
 
mastertrinity said:
i had the same thought as you. i had a budget of £500 and then thought i could get the lumix but instead i followed my heart (and the money demon) to getting my DSLR. oh and btw it not entirely true that you will want live view from coming up from a compact, ive always prefered viewfinders and i actually thought i would need live view. i sort of regret not getting the a200 and i could have afforded a flashgun.
Click to expand...

You cant get a flashgun for £30 for the sony, thats the difference.

Dont get a Nikon D40, only 6 mega pixels and 3 af points. The a300 has live view and a tilting screen, a200 - £299 / a300 - £329

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vjBb-mHH-w
 
Villegas said:
I want to upgrade to something that takes proper photographs as opposed to 'snaps'.
Click to expand...
Sadly the camera just records what you point it at and 'upgrading' will not make your pictures any more 'proper'.
 
The question here is do you think that if you buy a bridge camera in a few months will you wish you'd spent the money on a DSLR? A bridge will do a lot of what you want but generally the quality of image will not be as good as with a DSLR (not far of with some though). The learning curve with a DSLR is much steeper than with a bridge and so initially you will probably not get the crystal clear shots you want (although on auto they are pretty good straight from the off) but eventually as you learn the controls and about composition etc. your images will become better.
But.....if you buy a DSLR you will almost certainly become a gear whore like the rest of us and will end up selling a kidney to buy the latest must-have lens :LOL:
You choose, join us on the dark side or buy a bridge and have money to spend on food. (y)

Cheers

Andy
 
I went against all popular advice when looking for my first upgrade from a small point and shoot and went for the Panasonic FZ8 - one of the earlier incarnations of the FZ28. I love my bridge camera and have learned loads with it. It cost me £150 at the time (august last year) and is more than worth that amount of money. HOWEVER - I am now at the stage that I want a DSLR and have asked for the Nikon D60 for my birthday. I will keep the FZ8 as I know I'm not always going to want to lug a DSLR plus lenses around with me and I enjoy using it for macro shots.

I'd say really think about whether you will be happy a year or so down the line upgrading again as if you catch the photography bug there is no doubt that you will want to. Buying a bridge camera was the right thing for me to do - I didn't know how much I wanted to "get into" photography and it was a relatively inexpensive investment.

I would not however have bought it for the same price that I could buy a DSLR, if you're looking at >£250 I would buy an entry level DSLR instead. If you decide thats not for you the DSLR is going to have much better second hand re-sale value and you could then use that to fund a bridge camera replacement.

Good luck with your purchase - whatever you choose ;)
 
Andysnap said:
The question here is do you think that if you buy a bridge camera in a few months will you wish you'd spent the money on a DSLR? A bridge will do a lot of what you want but generally the quality of image will not be as good as with a DSLR (not far of with some though). The learning curve with a DSLR is much steeper than with a bridge and so initially you will probably not get the crystal clear shots you want (although on auto they are pretty good straight from the off) but eventually as you learn the controls and about composition etc. your images will become better.
But.....if you buy a DSLR you will almost certainly become a gear whore like the rest of us and will end up selling a kidney to buy the latest must-have lens :LOL:
You choose, join us on the dark side or buy a bridge and have money to spend on food. (y)

Cheers

Andy
Click to expand...



Cheers Andy.....don't think I haven't already priced up the zoom lens (for macro pics?) on Amazon!!

I think you're probably right in that I may end up spending £250 on the Panasonic bridge camera and then wishing I'd spent £280 on the Sony DSLR only a few months later. And, as someone pointed out, if I keep reading the forums and asking (stupid) questions all the time then I may get the hang of it and really wish I'd gone with the DSLR.

One more question......if you had to choose between the Sony A200 and the Nikon D40 as an entry level DSLR for a complete noob what would you go for? Will the LCD screen on the Sony A300 (more expensive) really make a huge difference or would I be better off putting the money towards another lens?

Again, all help much appreciated :)
 
Villegas said:
Hello forum, brand new member here, very first post.

Right now I only have a regular compact 'point n click' digital camera albeit a decent enough Fuji Finepix one. I want to upgrade to something that takes proper photographs as opposed to 'snaps'.
!!
Click to expand...

I have to start and say, Its not the camera that makes a good photo its the photographer.
AS to your question its DSLR every time over a bridge.
With a bridge you are stuck with the one lens and when you look into the viewfinder you are looking at a small screen and what with the shutter delay in pressing the button to taking the shot you can miss it.
DSLR every time.
 
lens - always the lens :) but if your starting up, take into consideration: Bags, Memory cards, Tripod etc etc etc:)
 
Daysleeper40 said:
I went against all popular advice when looking for my first upgrade from a small point and shoot and went for the Panasonic FZ8 - one of the earlier incarnations of the FZ28. I love my bridge camera and have learned loads with it. It cost me £150 at the time (august last year) and is more than worth that amount of money. HOWEVER - I am now at the stage that I want a DSLR and have asked for the Nikon D60 for my birthday. I will keep the FZ8 as I know I'm not always going to want to lug a DSLR plus lenses around with me and I enjoy using it for macro shots.

I'd say really think about whether you will be happy a year or so down the line upgrading again as if you catch the photography bug there is no doubt that you will want to. Buying a bridge camera was the right thing for me to do - I didn't know how much I wanted to "get into" photography and it was a relatively inexpensive investment.

I would not however have bought it for the same price that I could buy a DSLR, if you're looking at >£250 I would buy an entry level DSLR instead. If you decide thats not for you the DSLR is going to have much better second hand re-sale value and you could then use that to fund a bridge camera replacement.

Good luck with your purchase - whatever you choose ;)
Click to expand...



Thanks for that as well. Blimey....this is deffo the most useful forum I've ever seen!!
 
Oh it gets better. Wait till you start asking technical questions, the information that people have on this forum is unbelievable. Someone always knows the answer or can give you a link to a website that can tell you what you need to know.
And its (generally) a very friendly place. Just don't ask about doing a wedding for free....:LOL:
And as to Sony over Nikon, you cant go far wrong with either but I would get meself down to a shop and try them both out. Sometimes one just feels right and the other doesn't.

Andy
 
Villegas said:
Thanks for that as well. Blimey....this is deffo the most useful forum I've ever seen!!
Click to expand...

No problem ;)

I did forget to say hi and welcome though...

:welcome:

Stick around - whichever camera you buy I guarantee you will learn loads by posting here :)
 
Before you buy your new camera you may want to get some photographic books from the library and have a read about exposure and how the various settings like aperture,shutter speed , ISO etc affect the pictures you take and also about DOF as understanding these things may help you make your decision, personally if you go the DSLR route i would go either Canon or Nikon as this will give you access to more used kit and if you decide to upgrade / sell the kit you will have a bigger market, also you are buying into a system which could see you investing heavily in len's , flash, etc for your new camera, you could also look at the used section on TP as you may pick up a used bargain and finally go to a local shop and have a play with the various models available before making a decision.
 
Dogfish_magnet said:
Before you buy your new camera you may want to get some photographic books from the library and have a read about exposure and how the various settings like aperture,shutter speed , ISO etc affect the pictures you take and also about DOF as understanding these things may help you make your decision, personally if you go the DSLR route i would go either Canon or Nikon as this will give you access to more used kit and if you decide to upgrade / sell the kit you will have a bigger market, also you are buying into a system which could see you investing heavily in len's , flash, etc for your new camera, you could also look at the used section on TP as you may pick up a used bargain and finally go to a local shop and have a play with the various models available before making a decision.
Click to expand...



I was just about to order two books off Amazon before buying the camera -

1. Sony Alpha DSLR-A200 Digital Field Guide by Alan Hess
2. Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera by Bryan Peterson

I was set on the Sony A200 before you just suggested the Nikon! I think the best thing to do is pop in to my local Jessops on Saturday and ask to take a look at the Sony and the Nikon D40. Everybody's help and suggestions is brilliant though, can't thank you enough. I can't begin to tell you how much of a complete noob I am at this....I don't have a clue what ISO means, what difference shutter speed makes or anything.....yet (y)
 
The D40 is out of production now so I'm not sure how much luck you will have trying to find one. Definately get to a shop and have a play with all the options in your budget - whichever feels best, go for that one. To be honest knowing less could be a bit of a blessing as if you get too bogged down in all the technicalities it makes it practically impossible to choose! (I've been trying to decide for about 6 months now!)

I'd say all the entry level DSLR's are good at what they do and there are plenty of people who are happy with Sony / Pentax / Olympus rather than Canon / Nikon. Just go with the one than feels right bearing in mind budget / cost of lenses etc.

Edit - that Bryan Peterson book is excellent, I would definately recommend it.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
The D40 is out of production now so I'm not sure how much luck you will have trying to find one. Definately get to a shop and have a play with all the options in your budget - whichever feels best, go for that one. To be honest knowing less could be a bit of a blessing as if you get too bogged down in all the technicalities it makes it practically impossible to choose! (I've been trying to decide for about 6 months now!)

I'd say all the entry level DSLR's are good at what they do and there are plenty of people who are happy with Sony / Pentax / Olympus rather than Canon / Nikon. Just go with the one than feels right bearing in mind budget / cost of lenses etc.

Edit - that Bryan Peterson book is excellent, I would definately recommend it.
Click to expand...


Amazon are currently selling the Nikon D40 with AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II for £279.99 with free delivery. Not bad!

I found a website that I'm sure everyone here has heard of (but new to me) called www.digitalcamerainfo.com earlier. Man alive, I've never read such indepth reviews of products! The Sony A200 got a decent enough review for an entry level DSLR, but as you say I think I'll go to a shop and have a mess about with both models.
 
I'm still using my bridge camera 2 years on - (bought becasue wasn't sure how much i'd stick with this hobby)

Still learning a lot with the camera - venturing away from automatic occasionally!!!

In your position I'd probably spend more time with your current camera - exploring options to really understand how it works - what kind of pictures you like taking - experiment with different pictures of the same thing. Then i'd be more informed when talking to experts about the best SLR and lenses for the type of photography you'd like to spend most of your time doing...
 
Sorry - meant you might not have much luck finding one in a highstreet shop to have a play with although I think I saw one in Boots of all places the other day. As far as I know the D60 is very similar so having a look at that would give you a good idea anyway.

Another website you may find useful:

http://www.camerapricebuster.com
 
Dslr and bridge comparison

3000729668_f5e54bdfe3.jpg

2999887273_01f027203f.jpg


Point is there isnt much difference in quality if your printing a maximum of A3
 
It depends what you want IMO.

If you're wanting a few good pics here and there, you don't want to continue spending money just make a one off purchase, don't really want to learn about photography etc, get a bridge one (I use a fujifinepix 8100sd for my bridge one)

if you want to learn more, don't mind that you're gonna want to buy more and more bits for it, want to manually focus etc, get a DSLR.

A bridge camera will do macro, long distance, close up etc etc etc all itself, a DSLR you need different lenses for the above.

You can get some beautiful pics from either kind of camera though. Both of them you can change aperture and shutter speed.
 
Iwent from a P&S to a bridge camera as I wasnt sure if I would need a dslr, but after 18 omnths of using the bridge camera I found the one lens very limiting and also wanted something faster for shooting motorsport so ended up getting a dslr.
 
Dogfish_magnet said:
And you're point is ? You could post the same picture on a camera phone and it would look the same............. its a snap of some water grass and trees.
Click to expand...
Well, it certainly proved my first point - that the camera just records what you point it at and 'upgrading' will not make pictures any more 'proper'. :D
 
MagicMynx said:
a DSLR will also have a faster reaction to you pressing the button and the shutter curtains going.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that is a particularly good reason (even if it is true - and I'm not sure it is).

With a SLR you might be changing lenses and miss the picture entirely. You might have got dust on the sensor (again) and take a rubbish picture. You might be resting on the way to the shot as carrying the huge weight of bodies and lenses has tired you out. You might not even have been able to afford to go to the shot as the kit has cost you so much money you had to miss the trip. They are just as valid reasons as the speed of the shutter. :wacky:
 
Voyager said:
Well, it certainly proved my first point - that the camera just records what you point it at and 'upgrading' will not make pictures any more 'proper'. :D
Click to expand...

Yes it records what you are looking at ......... but the idea is to use your creative talents to turn a snap into something special and to do that it helps to have a camera that allows full manual control so you control how the image will be recorded and be able to use a suitable lens to achieve the effects you want - if you want to use a single lens and shoot fully automatic all the time then get a PS or a bridge camera or even a camera phone, if you want to take something more than a snap find out how a camera works and how you can influence the camera into taking a more creative image, find out about composition , find out about light, look at some of the excellent images posted on here and start taking photos........not snaps.
 
If you can afford it go for a DSLR.

The simple reason is that you use the body as a starting block and build upon that. BETTER INVESTMENT of YOUR money in the long term.

Buy a basic DSLR lens kit & learn how to use it.

By using it you will learn which additional lenses you need to buy.

In all honesty, as somebody has quite rightly pointed out, its the lens that makes all the difference.

I have a micro compact that I keep with me most of the time, you never know when you might see something that needs photographing.

Then I have a bridge camera that I use for "snaps" when it is not convenient to carry a DSLR and lenses around. This is fine, but the lens is quite bad when compared to the DSLR.
 
Voyager said:
I'm not sure that is a particularly good reason (even if it is true - and I'm not sure it is).

With a SLR you might be changing lenses and miss the picture entirely. You might have got dust on the sensor (again) and take a rubbish picture. You might be resting on the way to the shot as carrying the huge weight of bodies and lenses has tired you out. You might not even have been able to afford to go to the shot as the kit has cost you so much money you had to miss the trip. They are just as valid reasons as the speed of the shutter. :wacky:
Click to expand...

Oh its true all right. I think the point is that if for example you are taking a picture at a motorsport event with a bridge camera by the time it has decided to open its shutter and record the image a moving car will have gone out of shot whereas with a dslr the chances are it wont.

Andy
 
Andysnap said:
I think the point is that if for example you are taking a picture at a motorsport event with a bridge camera by the time it has decided to open its shutter and record the image a moving car will have gone out of shot whereas with a dslr the chances are it wont.
Click to expand...
And my point was that you might miss the sunrise at Machu Picchu for any number of reasons with the 'wrong' choice of kit.

Still, every single camera has some shutter lag - even an SLR - you just have to learn to work round it.
 
Fair enough. And with me dust on the sensor causing a rubbish shot is the least of my worries. :)

Andy
 
Dogfish_magnet said:
if you want to take something more than a snap find out how a camera works and how you can influence the camera into taking a more creative image, find out about composition , find out about light, look at some of the excellent images posted on here and start taking photos........not snaps.
Click to expand...
What an appallingly limited individual you must be if you are seriously suggesting that you cannot be 'creative' or 'compose', understand the use of light with cameras other than SLRs.
 
Voyager said:
What an appallingly limited individual you must be if you are seriously suggesting that you cannot be 'creative' or 'compose', understand the use of light with cameras other than SLRs.
Click to expand...

What a ****** you must be ! i didn't say you 'cannot be creative' or 'compose', understand the use of light with cameras other than SLRs'

i said

it helps to have a camera that allows full manual control so you control how the image will be recorded and be able to use a suitable lens to achieve the effects you want

and

"if you want to take something more than a snap find out how a camera works and how you can influence the camera into taking a more creative image, find out about composition , find out about light"



i suggest you read before you post................
 
Voyager said:
And my point was that you might miss the sunrise at Machu Picchu for any number of reasons with the 'wrong' choice of kit.

Still, every single camera has some shutter lag - even an SLR - you just have to learn to work round it.
Click to expand...

I'd hope that if you were going Machu Picchu to photograph the sunrise you have thought about the kit you would need before turning up with your macro kit ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top