How long is a piece of string?

LandyLiam

LandyLiam

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Name
Liam
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Hello all,

I'm looking to move my photography up a level after sticking with compacts since digital appeared (I did have a basic SLR 20 years ago though). Currently using Panasonic FS10 and a FT25 for mainly landscape photos in the mountains, quite fond of night photography too, especially messing around with torches. With a budget of £300 i'm now looking to buy a basic DSLR (Canon 1100 or Nikon 3100) or a high end Bridge camera (maybe a Panasonic FZ72 for that lovely looking 60x zoom!). Can't quite decide what to go for, do I pick something that will meet my current needs (probably a DSLR) of go for the Bridge that will open up a new world of zoom photography for me? getting advice is like asking how long is a piece of string :) but all comments welcome.

In the meantime here's a few of my favourite pics so far (i'll blame any imperfections on the cheap cameras ;) )

Cheers

Liam


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A piece of string is twice as long as half its length.

Hey..at least I answered 1 question

lol
 
and there was me assuming it was 4 times its quarter length :D
 
Welcome to TP Liam - You've come to the right place that's for sure. There's loads of helpful folks who will only be too pleased to help you spend your money if you ask them!!!

Look forward to seeing you around :smiley:
 
Well the string is getting longer! i've now included CSC cameras in my list, the Panasonic G5 is nice, and the G3 is now only £199 in Argos, but if I get a lens changer, do I go all the way with a DLSR :help:
 
Welcome to TP :)

It would help to know what sort of pictures you want to take.

....and the string is as long as you make it....:D
 
Well I would especially like to improve my night photography, so i'm told a DSLR is way to go. But I do a lot of hillwalking and a few friends in the same boat now leave there DSLR at home in favour of the compacts. So maybe a bridge camera would come out more often, and if I had the FZ72 with the 60x zoom I might go try stuff I'd never thought possible with my current 4x zoom. Also don't want to spend more than £300 (ish), so maybe I should avoid changable lens in case i get tempted :) . A week ago I had no idea about sensor sizes, but now i'm concerned the bridge camera sensor may be too small for the night pics, i'm not looking for ultra high quality pics, so maybe I should just bite the bullet and go bridge, sure I could always upgrade next year ;)
 
I'm trying to stick with Nikon/Canon/Panasonic for comparison purposes, although I did hold a Sony HX300 a few days ago and it felt good, menu system looked easy to operate. Once i've definitely decided what to buy, i'll go to the shop and compare others to it and see if there's a last minute change of mind. I know i'll be happy with whatever I end up with either way as i don't know enough about photography (yet) to appreciate the finer details :)
 
I should add, I may be swung by any deals going in the shop. I see new models are being announced, that should force a few price drops, but i don't think i can hold off more than a week!
 
Popped into Tesco today to get some sandwiches for lunch just as they were putting out some sale items, managed to pick myself up a lovely Lumix TZ18 for only £30 :wideyed: sure that model is a couple of years old but its my first digital to have shutter priority setting so got to play with the moon tonight.

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I know I have some way to go yet but I was well chuffed with this shot, just wait til I get my good camera :)


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and a little shot of the mourne mountains from my garden with a 60 sec exposure
 
Hi Liam, nice shots there :welcome:
 
Cheers, borrowed a friends Nikon D50 to play with to see if I will cope with the bulk of a dlsr, something lovely about that bulk though. Inspired me to hunt the attic for my old Konica TCX slr, eventually found it so used it for some target practise with the D50 :)

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Brought back old memories of changing the film and rushing off to the chemist to get it processed (and waiting for days to get it back again).
 
the rain finaly went this evening and i was rewarded with a beautiful starry sky so it was time to test out the dlsr on a long exposure, and boy was i impressed!

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this is the dslr on an 8 sec exposure (so much brighter than my compact on 60 sec), couldn't believe how bright it was! just have some work to do on the settings though, for some reason it wouldn't take a picture on autofocus so had to switch that off, flash also insisted on coming on too, can't seem to switch it off on shutter priority.
 
Hi Darren, which bridge did you have and which dslr did you go for?
 
I had a Panasonic DMC-LZ20, I have a Nikon D3100 at the moment but am going to look to also get a Nikon 5200 as my second camera once I have some spare funds lol. you can get a 3200 for £330 after the cashback offer Nikon have at the moment so if it was me I would try and get the extra funds for the 3200 if you go for the Nikon.
 
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