Need Camera, no experience, suggestions?

[Tyguy]

I literally have never owned a camera, i suppose this is because all my friends have them and whenever there is something camera worthy I can rely on a friend to take the picture.

Here's the thing, I basically woke up one morning and wanted to start taking pictures. It's sort of a hobby-to-be type thing. I know I can get a cheap camera that takes decent pictures, but I want to be able to take high res photos...I want to stay away from the cheap ones that give everyone and the dog red eye yet I don't want to buy a really expensive professional camera. Maybe the happy medium?

What are some good options?

 

[Lester]

I think the Canon 1000D isn't that expensive
I own a Canon 350D and i got it used for not that much and i very happy with it you can Probably find one of those pro cameras for cheap if they are used

 

[Darkside55]

Buy an SLR.

 

[knut]

Nikon D40 got me into photography for cheap, never looked back since, though I am upgrading later this year to a new body + new lenses, but for the last two years it's been my go-to camera for pretty much everything.

 

[SimpleAssassin]

In the same boat as the OP, just woke up and decided i want a camera and i like photography. Now im just waiting to build the funds to buy a decent one

 

[Krynn72]

Thread is hopeless without a monetary budget.

 

[Dinnesch]

Thread is hopeless without a monetary budget.

Then answer mine which does have a budget.
http://halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=158273

 

[Bob_Marley]

Buy an SLR.

I still keep thinking that means Self Loading Rifle. Which you can shoot things with, but perhaps not in the way the OP originally planned.

 

[Felix]

Get an older mid range SLR used, buy everything used, save money.

http://www.keh.com/onlinestore/home.aspx

 

[Tyguy]

Thread is hopeless without a monetary budget.

well, i'm not sure how much the good ones typically run, but i'd say i could spend around 200 or so, although i'd rather get the best one possible in the 100 to 150 price range.

can somebody post some pics from cameras they like? might give me a better idea of what i need/want.

 

[xcellerate]

I know I can get a cheap camera that takes decent pictures, but I want to be able to take high res photos...I want to stay away from the cheap ones that give everyone and the dog red eye yet I don't want to buy a really expensive professional camera. Maybe the happy medium?

An entry level SLR will be about $500 and is a great start to the cameras. The big players are canon and nikon and at that price range their cameras are nearly the same, personally I prefer nikon because I like the way their cameras feel and the layout of the menus. At this price range the big thing you're missing is an autofocus motor built into the camera, so any lenses you buy later will need to have the AF motor in the lens (AF-S). Which isn't even a big deal, there's tons of those lenses.

But don't get caught up in the idea that nice hardware will result in nice photos. Even SLR's will still fall to some of the same problems point-n-shoots have. Just with nice hardware you have the options to fix the problems. All the pictures on my flickr were taken with a d40x and a lot of them were taken using the 18-55mm kit lens.

 

[Tyguy]

hmm, 500...maybe i should wait a few weeks and ponder if i want it that badly

 

[xcellerate]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2B003_EOS_Rebel_XS_a_k_a_.html#specifications
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...20_D40_SLR_Digital_Camera.html#specifications

The other thing you get is the RAW format, which retains so much more image information compared to jpeg. You'll eventually save your photos to .tif or .jpg or whatever format you want, but RAW allows you a lot more freedom once you get it into photoshop.

 

[The Monkey]

Canon's compact cameras is pretty good, check out them if you're just looking for the basic deal that will do the job. They're fast both at starting up and taking photos and have decent stabilizers.

 

[DreamThrall]

Nikon D40 got me into photography for cheap, never looked back since, though I am upgrading later this year to a new body + new lenses, but for the last two years it's been my go-to camera for pretty much everything.

I've got a D40 as well and I LOVE it. You should be able to find a kit (which is a body+basic lens) for ~$300 USD. It's a little over your budget I know, but it is totally worth it - lots of bang for your buck here.

Here are a couple pictures I've taken with it - no stunning photography skill here I know, but you can get an idea of the quality of the pictures it takes. Mind that these are taken in JPG, not the RAW format:

EDIT: ****, forgot I've got directory listing disabled.

Spoiler

 

[Qonfused]

Used D40 kit, go