Beginner First Camera Suggestions

[shawnriv]

Hello Everyone,

I am heading on vacation next month and am looking for a camera with picture quality holding the biggest importance. I've been using my iPhone 6 to snap pictures and want something a lot better. My budget is $225 and I've came across a few models online: Cannon Powershot S110 and the Sony Cybershot WX350. Out of these two, which do you feel would be the best? And if neither these two, I would love to hear other suggestions for cameras within my budget.

Thank you!

 

[droj]

Get one of those if you want to - why not? If you want to advance, it's maybe less about what camera you have than about learning to judge what's in front of it (light, focus, composition ...) and how that translates into a photograph.

Then, ultimately, you might want to modify some of the camera settings rather than just leaving everything on auto.

 

[archstanton]

Hi Shawn, what specific part of your iphone's picture quality aren't you happy with? Low light performance, ability to zoom, dynamic range? This'll help judge what will make the most difference.
For the first three months of owning a shiny new DSLR (some years ago now) my pictures looked exactly the same as my compact camera pictures! As Rog said above, learning how to compose and see light will make the most difference to your picture quality

Most cheap compact zoom cameras will only be a little better than the iphone 6s sensor, but they will let get you better image quality using the optical zoom than a phone's digital zoom. Otherwise the images will look technically pretty similar, maybe with slightly better noise and dynamic range quality.

For a little more money ($299) you can get a recent-sensored micro-four-thirds camera that *will* get you much better image quality, and the ability to change lenses in a fairly small package.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0721TJJKN44TBD9MS9PV

I'm biased here as I have an m43 camera and many lenses already - and interchangeable lenses aren't what everyone wants/needs - but I love mine and they take great pictures!

 

[Llamaman]

A lot depends on whether you want to take control of exposure or leave everything on Auto.

As a somewhat enthusiastic amateur, I want to be able to easily control aperture and shutter speed and have quick access to exposure compensation, so would look for a camera with at least one control wheel to facilitate that. I can tolerate a larger camera to get that.

It were me, I would be looking at something like a Fuji X20/X30 or a Panasonic LX5, or, as archstanton said - an MFT (or similar mirrorless) interchangeable lens camera.

 

[shreds]

Yep, brand is irrelevant, you need to understand and get used to the exposure triangle of shutter speed, aperture and ISO and how they work together, so any camera that has a manual setting to play with will suffice.

Almost anyone you talk to will have a bias and usually whatever they use will be 'the best ever', so bear that in mind, whether that be Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Pentax, Panasonic etc etc.

I have had cameras from all those over the years and a fair few others too, and to be honest there is not a lot to choose between them.

Then you will have the format wars with Full Frame v Crop Sensor v MFT (micro four thirds) etc, although generally the larger the sensor the heavier and more expensive the camera will be although the picture quality will improve generally with sensor size and price you pay, but there are exceptions.

If you learn the basics of picture taking and composition then you can learn as you go on and for those occasions where you need a grab shot, use P mode.

Lots of folk will tell you to use aperture (A or Av dependent on brand) all the time, but that is not true for anything quick moving when you will need Shutter priority (S or Tv).

You really need to understand the manual mode though before you can progress, as that is fundamental to getting better photos that you take, rather than the camera designer and will be where you take the leap from the iPhone snap, which to give it its credit, is incredibly useful when in its place, even with the odd drawback.

 

[kokolino23]

If I were you, I'd buy anything you can play with. Then you'll learn from there. Aperture, shutter speed and ISO are the magic triangle so if you can adjust them on your new camera would be ideal. Just get on with it and you'll learn if you like photo.

 

[nerv]

i think if you can push your budget little bit higher, you can get something like Sony RX100 mark 1/2/3 either depending on how much you can push your budget. if you don't have issues with prime lens then you can try Ricoh GR (it has APSC sensor).

 

[Llamaman]

Disappointingly, I see that the OP hasn't bothered to login since posting this thread. One hopes (s)he did at least read the replies, but is too much to ask that people at least engage with those that take time to answer their queries?

 

[dean messenger]

without going into the above technicalities mentioned above or going over your said budget . lets narrow the questions down to something simpler first.
so...
1. do you want a small pocketable compact zoom camera, or are you looking to move into the world of DSLR's , and mirrorless compacts ( small compact pocketable sized cameras but with an interchangable lens rather than a fixed zoom.
2. what are your primary things to photograph ( general everyday use for pics of holidays, family, freinds, and anything and everything else , or something specific such as portraits, landscapes, macro etc ).
not everyone wants to take photography beyond a compact zoom, they just want a half decent camera they can throw in a drawer when not in use but pull out and take with them for holidays, parties , nights out etc.
so once that is established its alot easier to come up with suitable suggestions