Relatively New to Photography... A little help please?

Tetragrammaton

Tetragrammaton

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Michael
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Hi everyone.
I am almost completely new to photography (bar taking several photos with simple point-and-shoots).
a little background information...
It is my 15th birthday on the second of august, and i wanted to buy my first camera then. I will recieve around £300.. and i was wondering if the Fuji FinePix s9600 would be a good start...? I plan on taking nature shots, but seeing as i will have just started, i will be experimenting with different things...

Well, many of you will be experienced photographers, so if you could give me any advice (what camera i should buy, any books i should look into, anything that will help me) i would sincerely appreciate it.
-Michael
 
Hi Tetragrammaton,
Welcom to the forum.
I have no opinion on the s9600 as I have never used it myself.
The best advice I got was to go along to a local camera shop a hold a few cameras and see what feels the best.

Hope to see some good pictures soon
 
I am also new to photography but the book 'Understanding Exposure' has been recommended but a few people.
 
Understanding Exposure is in my "To get list" aswell :thumbs:
 
Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera
by Bryan Peterson. Well, i guess i will buy that along with the camera :)
 
I have it on order too. :)
 
What kind of nature shots did you have in mind? Small stuff like insects, medium stuff like birds or large stuff like horses?

My other half has a Fuji 6500 and he loves it to bits.
 
You could also look at a used DSLR - The Nikon D70/70s are excellent cameras and there will probably be a Canon equivalent within your buget.
 
Get your bum down to the local library, join and then enjoy the facilities, any book to do with photography will be available to you, just ask! 'Idiot's Guides' etc.
Local schools run courses that are FREE!
Jim
 
AliB said:
What kind of nature shots did you have in mind? Small stuff like insects, medium stuff like birds or large stuff like horses?

My other half has a Fuji 6500 and he loves it to bits.
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well, it will probably be the medium to larger side of things. Squirrels, Foxes, Horses, anything in those ranges. Also, by nature, i meant not only animals, but trees/rivers/mountains etc. Living close to Cumbria, i can go up there and take lots of nature related pictures. Also, pictures of the night sky - stars and the like. The 6500 also looked nice.

You could also look at a used DSLR - The Nikon D70/70s are excellent cameras and there will probably be a Canon equivalent within your buget.
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I Just looked at the Nikon D70 on Ebay, and it was selling for £130 with 4 minutes to go. So, when it comes closer to the time, i will definately take a look at Ebay and such for this. I actually read up on the Nikon D70, i liked what i read, but first hand it costed quite a bit.

once again guys, thanks for the info :)
-Michael
 
HI,
I think you get a SONY A200 with lens at 280ish, comes with a camera bag as well. I think it is a good starter. Hope this helps.
 
Grave Robber said:
You can buy a brand new Olympus E410 kit for £300 :)
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I'll 2nd that good choice the kit lenses are amongst the best on any entry level Dslr. Twin lens kit cover 28-300. :thumbs:

:nono: As a beginner I'd stay clear of the Fuji S9600 its a difficult camera to master but once mastered can give good results.

Could consider the Panasonic FZ18 can get good results straight out of the box.

For me I'd go for the E-410 Bargain prices now.
 
I just got the Nikon D70 loving it at the mo going to get a new lens but at the mo i love it

Oh and im new to all of this :)
 
Welcome!

In my view bridge cameras like the one you mentioned are a waste of time. You don't gain much over a compact camera of the same price, but you have the same bulk and weight as a DSLR. If you're serious enough about photography to carry the thing around frequently then you will want to upgrade to a DSLR in the near future, and then you've wasted your money because you'll never use it again. If you don't get serious then you would have been better off with an ultra compact, because a camera that you have with you is worth any number that you leave at home! On the third hand, if you buy a compact and then get serious then you'll still want to get a DSLR, but the compact will sit in your pocket when you don't have the DSLR on you.

You can afford a DSLR with your budget. The Nikon D40 is 270 and you get 30 cashback by sending off a form, so net 240. This is a very capable camera, much more so than any bridge camera. I have one myself for times I want to go light, and it honestly produces images as good as a pro grade camera in almost all conditions; it just requires more 'nursing' from the user. You'll also want a Hoya 52mm circular polarizing filter for nature shots, which is cheap on ebay or ridiculously expensive in any normal camera store.

As for compacts, AFAIK there are only two on the market with all the features that I think are actually useful - 28mm wide angle zoom, optical image stabilization, 3" screen and moderate pixel density - and they are the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 and the Canon Digital Ixus 860 IS. Both are under 200. I would buy the Canon but there's no difference really.

Don't buy Understanding Exposure. It's a useful but not deep book with lots of padding, and you're not going to come back to it after a second reading so save a tenner and take it out of the library.

Get a book on photographic composure and/or learning to 'see', which is much more important than your gear. I'm currently reading Learning to See Creatively, which is good so far. Good website btw here: http://photoinf.com/
 
The Fuji 9600 is a decent enough wee camera, but to be honest you can get a Nikon D40 or D40x NEW for the same sort of money (or less if you shop about). I'm sure you could probably also get something nice from Pentax or Samsung or Canon for that sort of price too.

Best thing to do (as suggested above) is to go along to a camera shop and try a few different cameras out.
 
Well, I bought three Ansel Adams books many years ago when I was using film. Have recently taken up photography for the second time and still find those same books worth re reading. You should be able to find them in your local library and "The Camera" would be a good one to read first. If you then wish to become involved in digital manipulation, you could do as I have recently and obtain one of the "for Dummies" books. Although Adams worked mainly in large format monochrome, his instruction in basic photography is still relevant in this colour/digital age. Best wishes for a very interesting photographic hobby ahead of you
 
Go for a DSLR - something like a Nikon D40 or D40X (I'm biased that's what I've got). Google "DSLR beginner" and see what comes up - you'll find plenty of options. But take a trip to a camera shop and hold your chosen camera first. You'll be surprised about what a difference that makes. I'd agree with the comments about "Understanding Exposure" - it's a good book, but as a beginner it'll make your head spin. Head down to your local Waterstones or wherever and have a browse through the photography section - flicking through the books will give you a good idea about what appeals to you. Read the reviews of each on Amazon and make up your own mind.
 
Outlaw said:
I'll 2nd that good choice the kit lenses are amongst the best on any entry level Dslr. Twin lens kit cover 28-300. :thumbs:

:nono: As a beginner I'd stay clear of the Fuji S9600 its a difficult camera to master but once mastered can give good results.

Could consider the Panasonic FZ18 can get good results straight out of the box.

For me I'd go for the E-410 Bargain prices now.
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I shall third that. I think either the olympus e410, e510 or a secondhand canon d400 or Nikon D70 would be a great way to go. You will learn so much more, I think, with a beginner level dslr than with a point and shoot and you will be able to save yourself the swap over from point and shoot style to dslr. Both those Olympus models got very good reviews almost everywhere.

In terms of books, the best I have found is John Hedgecoe's 'the new manual of photography'. I am finding it fantastic in explaining from the basics, right through to digital editing. IT is a lovely hardback, with examples throughout.
 
Don't buy Understanding Exposure. It's a useful but not deep book with lots of padding, and you're not going to come back to it after a second reading so save a tenner and take it out of the library.
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I agree with this. I bought the book after many recommendations on the forum but find it a little long winded and not very interesting. It's certainly not a book I would want to keep reading. Just my opinion and I am sure that most people will disagree with me, but I didn't think much of some of his photos anyway.

Back on topic, the Nikon D40X is a very good camera. I bought it mainly because it was relatively light and I have problems with arthritis in my hands. The disadvantages of it though, are that it has the Auto focus motor in the lens and not the camera which limits the lens that you can use if you don't want to focus manually.

The other problem I found was that it did not have a bracket facility, so you couldn't take 3 shots in quick succession at different exposures to use for HDR, unless you had the camera on a tripod.

There is no Live Preview, so you must use the viewfinder, and you do not have a Depth of Field Preview button.

As this is going to be your first DSLR you probably won't miss these features, but although I love my D40x I am planning to save for a D80 which has the extra features.
 
hillwalkinggirl said:
I agree with this. I bought the book after many recommendations on the forum but find it a little long winded and not very interesting. It's certainly not a book I would want to keep reading. Just my opinion and I am sure that most people will disagree with me, but I didn't think much of some of his photos anyway.
Click to expand...

I bought this book a while ago and at first having read through the first few chapters I thought 'what a waste of money :thumbsdown:' I went back to it some time later and have totally changed my mind :thinking:

The book has some excellent advice, suggestions and tips. A tenner well spent :)
 
I've got the S9600 and I love it. It's easy to use and loads of features for when I get a bit more experience.

I've had mine for about 6 months and I'm only just starting to scratch the surface as to what it's capable of doing.
Personally I think that it's a great camera to begin with - my only complaint at the moment is that it's slow when shooting in Raw but not so slow that it's unusable.

I was a bit concerned after buying the S9600 that I should have saved a bit more and got a DSLR straight away but in truth I'm finding this a great camera to learn on and no doubt I will get a DSLR in the future but there's no rush and I can learn as much as I can while I've got the S9600 and when I do upgrade all the settings will make more sense and won't be so daunting!

There's one for sale on here: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=65605

Nothing to do with the seller, but it's a bargain at this price!

Another recent thread worth looking at is this one
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=64554&highlight=bridge+camera

Not the S9600 I know but a good indication of what a bridge camera is capable of and discussing jumping from a bridge camera to a DSLR.

Ian
 
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