Do i need a DSLR?

kopite1979

kopite1979

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Hi all, I love admiring good photos and finally decided I need to produce my own.
I own a kodak z740 which is far from what I need so I'm thinking of upgrading.
I mainly take pictures of landscape, mountain ranges, sunset/rise and then alot of general close up items.
My upgrade would need to be easy to use, preferably compact and lightweight.
If you could throw some recommendations at me and let me know wether I'd be better off with a DSLR or not I'd be grateful.
 
Perhaps maybe a bridge camera, wouldnt have to keep swapping lenses so you could do your long range photography then also do some macroplus on most of them youcan shoot hd video, if your shooting anything thats fast paced though ie sports racing buy a dslr as bridge camera cant focus that quick but for what youve listed i think its a good option but someone might come in and completely disagree with you, also depends on how much you want to spend , you can buy a bridge camera for about £300 or less but a DSLR varries plus you would also have to look at buying a lens which would bring you up to about £350 or more, you can get them cheaper but the lens is the most important thing with a dslr, better to spend more on the lens than the body.

Hope this helps
 
I was thinking approx £350, could maybe stretch it a bit further for better results if I wait a little longer. Wouldn't mind going second hand if need be.
90% of my filming would be slow paced but I'd like to film a bit of mountain biking now and again
 
only you know if you want to move to a DSLR, I was like you a few years ago and wanted a DSLR and but unsure about the investment but went for it anyway (after some self debate/justifying) and got Canon 400D. XXXD range is the lowest level range of DSLR from Canon. They are fantastic! So happy I did it and the quality of the images from the very start kept me going. You can use like a point and shoot and you grow in to AV/TV/M modes and your images will continue to impress more. Canon has made it easy to dip your toe in in terms of price and user interface. What every you do be sure you like the brand & body before you invest a lot in lenses. Personally I've had nothing short of a great experience with Canon. But know your subject it may help you decide which brand suites you. pound for pound general rule of thumb Canon for things that move, nikon for thing that don,t. last word on this don't worry about getting the later great all singing all dancing device, get something new or used in the XXXD range or equal Nikon nothing more required for first DSLR
 
Question - Do I need a DSLR?
Answer - Everyone needs a DSLR.
 
I don't think a DSLR is a must have for you - compacts/bridge cameras produce lots of DOF which makes them good for landscapes, macro is also one of their strengths.

A Canon G11 would be ideal if you could find one within your budget.

You do need to think about the future though and if you think you may widen your photography interest you could find that the compact/bridge options has limitations

Simon
 
kopite1979 said:
If anyone has any model number recommendations that'd be great
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You sound like the perfect customer for a mirrorless compact system camera. Check out Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung.
 
Yeap sounds like mirror-less is the way to go. Small, portable, good video capabilities and bigger DoF for those landscapes. Check something like the EPL2 or the GF1 you can buy either of those for couple hundred and search for a second hand 14mm/20mm Panasonic to pair them with. You might need to stretch a bit further than the 350 but these are good cameras and the lens is brilliant, especially the 20mm.
 
The thing that attracted me to a DSLR is the fact you can put slides into the lens to give different effects
 
You can use filters with micro four thirds cameras too.
 
kopite1979 said:
The thing that attracted me to a DSLR is the fact you can put slides into the lens to give different effects
Click to expand...

I think you mean a filter system, like Cokin or similar. You can fit them on to anything.

Edit: crossed post with WW :)
 
vrapan said:
Yeap sounds like mirror-less is the way to go. Small, portable, good video capabilities and bigger DoF for those landscapes.
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I'm loving the bigger DoF of my G1.

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This may just be my pet subject but the same lens on different camera bodies with different sized sensors gives the same DoF.
 
Hmmm food for thought. I very much doubt I'd go so intense with photography that I'd need a top of the range model so maybe a "bridge" camera would be ideal? Any models I should look out for then? Smaller body would be preferable
 
Done a wee bit of digging and I think the nikon D3100 would suit me. Are there a good variety of lenses for this? Incase I decide to go slightly more technical
 
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