New to photography, should I upgrade?

Before you jump in to buy a new camera or ND filters etc. I would suggest practicing your understand and technique on using ISO, Shutter and Aperture first. Go out and shoot something in good day light. You shouldn't need very high iso in a well lit day light. Is combination of things that could effect sharpness on your photo. Adding ND or 10 stop filter to the mix wouldn't help you if you can;t get your image right in the first place. When doing landscape I always shoot in manual and get the exposure and focus right first before I throw in my ND or 10 stop. Using grad ND is not too bad but when using 10 stop your whole shutter speed setting changes.
 
I have no intention of getting the ND filters yet. It was more of a question for the future!

I was away over the New year with my family and we went out on walks. I took some landscape pictures including some shots aiming directly at the sun (well not directly but was going for the sun burst/glare look over the hills). Took pictures of my family in strong sunlight, used flash to fill in the shadows and took some indoor photos. As I was doing it I was checking my results on the screen and adjusting as I thought right. I'm pretty sure the first bunch of photo's I have will be slightly blurry as the shutter speed was too slow. Desperate to get them off the camera now though......probably just to find how much I have to learn lol
 
I started with an A350, the 18-70mm lens you have and a 70-300mm Sony lens which were all bought cheap. Had it a year and a half before upgrading to a Nikon D7000 with the standard 18-55 and 55-300 lenses. I wasn't very good back then, but even using a tripod and taking pictures around f11 and focussing around a third into the scene (good basic techniques for landscapes) my pictures were mostly extremely soft with the Sony kit, there was a lot of blue and purple fringing in areas such as tree branches too. I got on immediately better with the newer Nikon kit and could go above ISO400 if needed without pictures turning to mush, the image quality was far better from the word go. Most people will tell you that photography isn't about gear and for the most part that's true, but I wouldn't want to use one of those Sony's again especially with the kit lenses, even though I still had a lot of fun learning. The new Sony mirrorless models are supposed to be superb but they aren't cheap, as your kit won't be worth much you have the freedom to pick any brand if you have the budget. You can buy used equipment with warranties from WEX and MPB if you can't afford new
 
Scirocco_09 said:
I started with an A350, the 18-70mm lens you have and a 70-300mm Sony lens which were all bought cheap. Had it a year and a half before upgrading to a Nikon D7000 with the standard 18-55 and 55-300 lenses. I wasn't very good back then, but even using a tripod and taking pictures around f11 and focussing around a third into the scene (good basic techniques for landscapes) my pictures were mostly extremely soft with the Sony kit, there was a lot of blue and purple fringing in areas such as tree branches too. I got on immediately better with the newer Nikon kit and could go above ISO400 if needed without pictures turning to mush, the image quality was far better from the word go. Most people will tell you that photography isn't about gear and for the most part that's true, but I wouldn't want to use one of those Sony's again especially with the kit lenses, even though I still had a lot of fun learning. The new Sony mirrorless models are supposed to be superb but they aren't cheap, as your kit won't be worth much you have the freedom to pick any brand if you have the budget. You can buy used equipment with warranties from WEX and MPB if you can't afford new
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The older 18-55 and 70-300 lenses aren't terribly good, and the Tamron 18-250 may well offer better optical performance. Having said that, the later SAMII 18-55 is pretty good, especially for a kit lens. I have a 70-300, and while it's not that bad, it's some way behind a beercan.
 
I'm getting impatient waiting for my lead to arrive! Can't stop looking at newer cameras. Seriously considering the Nikon D3300 or a second hand D5200...
 
Got my first camera about 2 years ago and went to Iceland about 4 months after - I bought the camera on the premise that I'd be able to get better shots than with my phone - which was right - I did... but even last month I only learned about bracketing shots and exposure blending for the first time - and on that trip to Iceland I could have got much better photos with the knowledge I have now compared to then - I understand the exposure triangle for instance completely now and find I am totally on top how exposure works but during that trip even though I was shooting on manual I didn't have the confidence to adapt to situations properly with the best settings for that given moment selected in Camera...

There's a heck of a lot to learn about photography - composition and exposure and lighting etc. and I still have loads and loads to learn - but that is photography, it's an art and a craft and it takes time to get good at it, but it is fun, and very addictive... my 700D is a very capable camera but I've got to a level now where I understand how it's limiting me so I'm going to be getting a new body this year at some point - the ISO performance, autofocus and burst rate I find limiting me, the IQ I find is very good though, but obviously there are better sensors out now with improved dynamic range too (80D for example) but I'll still happily go out, have fun, and learn as I go until I upgrade - and there are times where I'll get the shot I want with it. Sometimes investing in lenses can make more sense than upgrading the body as well.
 
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