Hi, I currently own a fujifilm 16 megapixel camera. With my birthday quickly approaching. I have been looking at cameras in the "prosumer" category such as the nikon d200 And canon 40d. If I were to get one of these would you say it would really improve my pictures. Regards, Alistair
Would a new smartphone right now improve what you say to someone better than the old brick phone?
Would a new car right now improve your driving better than your grandfather's car?
Would a new cooker improve your cooking better than one of those old fashion stoves?
Would a computer (with the autocorrect, grammar and spelling check, etc., turned off) improve your attempts to write a novel better then a pen?
No. Technology only makes things easer and faster, but it is still you who improves how you do things.
The way you talk to your girlfriend (or whoever) is no different if you have a old phone or new phone. Just because you asked a girl, using a new phone, out on a date and she says yes, don't mean it was the phone that helped make it work. If you used an old phone, and asked her out, and she says yes, it is how you asked her out, not the phone, that helped.
Some people could cook a more better meal over an old fashion stove that others who thinks a microwave, being the future of cooking, is supposed to magically make a better dinner.
Whatever new camera you buy would only give you a little more advantage over the old one, like extra shooting speed, faster auto-focus, better ISO range, more settings than your old camera had, but it is still you, and you alone, who can only improve your own pictures, because although the camera could freeze an action photography faster than your old one thanks to the extra shutter speed, it is still you who knows when it the right moment to press the shutter button.
A new camera will just give you more options, and with those extra options, you can be more creative, but your photography skills will improve over time by yourself.
To prove a point: I had a Minolta X-700 manual focus film camera, and sometimes some of my photos are out of focus, now I have a Nikon auto-focus digital camera, yet a few of my photos are still out of focus. So that means the new AF camera did not improve my photography, it is still me who have to improve my skills.
And happy birthday, whatever camera you buy, enjoy it, just remember not to blame the camera if it don't help you get better photos, it is just a tool, but it could offer you more options.
I also agree with ghoti's posting up there.