I have had camera after camera and my husband got me a camera for Christmas which I took back :rip: and decided to invest in a higher quality digital camera. My goal was to get good indoor pictures at different events for my kids and at the same time take good quality sport pictures and close ups of my pets etc...

 

So I went to a review website and put in what I wanted out of a camera along with a price range and it came up over and over with the same camera so I went for it. I remember Aly aka Feathers words a camera is only as good as it's lense so I kept that in mind .

 

So now I have a camera with bells and whistles so to speak but how the heck do I take good pictures. I had the manual but I still didn't understand everything. So I went on a search and found this awesome website Easy Photography which provides information you need to know about taking good pictures with a camera that just has auto focus, to those with manual focus and even those that are higher dynamic cameras.

 

I am determined to learn this camera but I have already found with the simple easy tips that he gives that I am getting better pictures and I am learning. So I wanted to share this site with you if you are interested in learning how to use the camera you have to get better quality pictures or if you have a camera with manual setting how to set the setting in different situations.

 

So lets hope my pictures come out nicer like some of our awesome picture takers like Feathers, Bea and more...

 

Edited March 9, 200817 yr by Elly

So I went to a review website and put in what I wanted out of a camera along with a price range and it came up over and over with the same camera so I went for it. I remember Aly aka Feathers words a camera is only as good as it's lense so I kept that in mind .

 

 

Good girl!! :grbud: The digital part is easy, just about any company can get that bit right, but a flash camera with a crappy lens is crappy. The cheapest of cameras with a good lens is GREAT. This has meant that a lot of non traditional camera makers, like Samsung and Panasonic, have come on to the market and because they aren't really into lens technology they have outsourced their lenses, putting in Schneider and Leica lenses. You couldn't ask for better.

 

Great site, Elly.

 

 

Feathers.

I've got my eyes on a sony SLR at the moment... would love any SLR but I am a brand man and my brand is sony (Laughing out loud). They need to bring out a budgie breeding game for little kids on Playstation 3.... sorry went off topic there...

I went with a Digital and figured if I could get a high quality Digital that was affordable it would be better then a cheaper SLR, I hope I was right in my thinking there. According to the website, the FZ series Panasonics which I got work very much like the SLR and they hold settings needed as you zoom in and out which is cool.

 

Aly I got a Panasonic and it does have a Leica lense in it. I have to get my manual setting together though so when I take my pictures everything is flowing together. I understand the concept of the features just making them go together where they are 2nd nature when I am in the different events. The first camera they recommended for me was an Olympus but I decided against it because it didn't have a rechargable system (which I remember you said get a camera that has their own rechargeable battery) vs having to buy double AA's which is which this one required. It is silly to have to keep paying and paying for batteries. This battery holds a charge for up to 250 pics take or give too because I also have the video/sound with it which I also found interesting that you can get camera's just with video and no sound.

 

I did it through the different review sites they of course direct you to affiliates that have the cameras cheaper then an actual dealer or conventional store so I did go that route and made sure I went with one with good rates, reviews and have been around for a awhile vs just the cheapest price and I got a warrenty on it too.

 

So I am off to play in the snow and work on pictures outside (which isn't hard (Laughing out loud) because outside pics are the simplest), will work on action pictures.

Edited March 9, 200817 yr by Elly

i am going to have to check out the website, my husband brought our digital camera at one of the duty shops at a airport and i have never been able to work out how to get a good close up so hopefully i will be able to learn how to use our camera by checking at "easy photography"

Great site :grbud:

I really want a new camera too. I only use my phone camera at the moment. i event though it is really handy because i can take it with me everywhere, it doesn't take the quality photos a 12-15mp SLR would take

Edited March 9, 200817 yr by **Liv**

Great site and congrats on your buy! I think I need to learn how to ue my camera properly. I've had it for about 6 years and can take pretty good photos but have never bothered to learn what all thoses extra settings mean :grbud: ...

thanks for the camera site, l can hardly wait to see your pics :grbud:

i am going to have to check out the website, my husband brought our digital camera at one of the duty shops at a airport and i have never been able to work out how to get a good close up so hopefully i will be able to learn how to use our camera by checking at "easy photography"

closes up are usually done by a macro setting, if you have the manual look under macro setting once you can set that correctly they are pretty simple , and usually the camera will have an auto focus so you set it to macro and then push the shutter button 1/2 way down and let it adjust then snap the picture.I posted my pictures and you can see the quality difference, the first 2 pics of Niketa pulling are with the old camera the other pictures are the new camera, though I have to set I think the ISO or something better because the snow was a bit bluish in a couple pictures even though I had it on snow mode.

thanks Elly,i finally found my manual for my camera and found where the macro setting is and i took a photo of one of my budgies faces and it is so clear. Yeah, now i can take some nice clear photos.

excellent deb, look forward to seeing the pictures

Elly,

 

GREAT camera!! I am truly astounded that you remembered so much from a post so long ago. Good choice to steer away from the Olympus too. They are one camera manufacturer that has suffered a bit from going digital. Once renowned for their lens quality they stupidly started to make "all-weather" cameras (you know like the adverts where the dogs crunches a camera and drops it into a bucket) and put plastic lenses in them. Truly awful. They still have fantastic cameras, you just need to know which ones are which.

 

I think you are getting confused between an SLR and a digital, Elly. Mine is a digital SLR. You are still right thought. You did much better getting the panasonic than getting a cheap SLR. There really is no point in getting a digital SLR unless you have around $2000 Aus dollars ($2,500 USD) and that doesn't include a lens. The cheaper ones are made out of cheap plastic bodies and will easily crack if dropped or banged heavily. You can hit mine with a hammer and it won't break... and it has been dropped a couple of times. I worry about the lens, not the camera. In Sarawak at the begining of the year I slid off a soaked ceramic tile footpath and got thrown out of my wheelchair which landed on the side. The first thing I did when Jacquie came to rescue me is ask her to take the camera (which I bravely protected )

 

I am currently lusting after a very fast lens that is $2,850.00. Ordinarily the speed would not be a factor, but I take a lot of high action photography in low light conditions where flash photography cannot be used (like gymnastics competitions).

 

Liv, the camera companies have you thinking exactly what they want you to - the more megapixels the better. It simply is not true. Not unless you want to create an image capable of being blown up to cover the side of a building. The last item in the article Elly posted above points out the reasons quite well. Once again, a 12mp camera with a crappy lens is crappy. A 3mp with a good lens is much preferable. You won't find a pro SLR over 10mp, in fact most of them still do 6 - 8mp.

 

By the way, I ALWAYS have my trusty 5mp camera with me. I LOVE that camera! My SLR only gets dragged out when I am on a Photography expedition or travelling.

 

 

Feathers.

Edited March 10, 200817 yr by Feathers

SLR and digitals are 2 different cameras but yes I understand the digital part of the SLR I think I forgot that part right (Laughing out loud)...

 

I had an Olympus back when I was younger before digitals came out I absolutely loved it but here is the kicker I bought 3 Olympus in a row because I loved the quality and guess what they all broke within 3 years all for different reasons, ticked me OFF and I called the company and they basically said toughed. It was not user error either.

 

I am glad I was thinking right. Tim had said did you get the type with the interchangeable lense. I said no because the ones that we could afford right now would be the lower quality and I would rather get high quality digital he got it. ''I would love to have an SLR camera but it doesn't even fit my needs it would be more because I would want it (Laughing out loud) plus you have to know what you are doing with these camera it is not a point and shoot. It is a waste if you don't know how to use the camera correctly especially considering the amount you pay for it.

 

I do take good advice seriously and remember it and I have to thank you for all the good advice. When I went to look for a camera I just kept thinking of those 2 key things that you had mentioned to me. It made me also feel that I made a good decision when I found this site and said that Panasonic was an excellent camera for zooming. The picture I took of the squirrels nest is in our woods which are 50 feet from our house and in a Popular Tree which are about 40ft high that nest was on the tippy top so I am very impressed with the picture. The robin I posted under the feathers friends contest was right out our window and you can't even tell that there was a window between so I was happy.

 

I still have to work with it though on the manual settings my biggest challenage is indoor picture & indoor sports pictures. I am going to see if I can use the PANNING mode and get Merlin in flight that is an excellent way to check out that mode .

Fantastic Elly,

 

I have a couple of friends with that panasonic series, including my mother. They take such crisp, bright photos. Now you have it you'll be spending the next couple of months testing it by the sounds of things. I look forward to the photos.

 

The type of digital you got ARE great point and shoot, take anywhere cameras. Digital SLR's are big and bulky and quite a weight to lug around. Most people are better off with non SLR's, they are much more convenient and portable.

 

 

Feathers.

Elly,

 

GREAT camera!! I am truly astounded that you remembered so much from a post so long ago. Good choice to steer away from the Olympus too. They are one camera manufacturer that has suffered a bit from going digital. Once renowned for their lens quality they stupidly started to make "all-weather" cameras (you know like the adverts where the dogs crunches a camera and drops it into a bucket) and put plastic lenses in them. Truly awful. They still have fantastic cameras, you just need to know which ones are which.

 

I think you are getting confused between an SLR and a digital, Elly. Mine is a digital SLR. You are still right thought. You did much better getting the panasonic than getting a cheap SLR. There really is no point in getting a digital SLR unless you have around $2000 Aus dollars ($2,500 USD) and that doesn't include a lens. The cheaper ones are made out of cheap plastic bodies and will easily crack if dropped or banged heavily. You can hit mine with a hammer and it won't break... and it has been dropped a couple of times. I worry about the lens, not the camera. In Sarawak at the begining of the year I slid off a soaked ceramic tile footpath and got thrown out of my wheelchair which landed on the side. The first thing I did when Jacquie came to rescue me is ask her to take the camera (which I bravely protected ) :hap:

 

I am currently lusting after a very fast lens that is $2,850.00. Ordinarily the speed would not be a factor, but I take a lot of high action photography in low light conditions where flash photography cannot be used (like gymnastics competitions).

 

Liv, the camera companies have you thinking exactly what they want you to - the more megapixels the better. It simply is not true. Not unless you want to create an image capable of being blown up to cover the side of a building. The last item in the article Elly posted above points out the reasons quite well. Once again, a 12mp camera with a crappy lens is crappy. A 3mp with a good lens is much preferable. You won't find a pro SLR over 10mp, in fact most of them still do 6 - 8mp.

 

By the way, I ALWAYS have my trusty 5mp camera with me. I LOVE that camera! My SLR only gets dragged out when I am on a Photography expedition or travelling.

 

 

Feathers.

 

aaawwww **** i recently got one of the all-weather camera's, but i guess i cant complain as i was looking for a cheap, first camera for all conditions as i use it for surf photography but also other things like taking photos of Bing , the reason i got it was because it is the cheapest underwater camera out there, doesnt have a big bulky extra case to take it into the water and it does take reasonbly good photos, i have the 790 sw model and have a few images to show you how it performs...

it's good for outdoors...

 

 

 

 

and close-ups...

 

 

 

and good at capturing colours...

 

 

i would just like a larger amount of optical zoom (mine has 3x) but i would have to pay AU$500-600 for the next one up with 10x optical zoom and 10mp? or 12? and thats way to much for a 15 year old to afford... (or is it :hap:) i cant remember

 

and also, the more megaixels does actually improve the image quality as it has more pixels to show every detail, its better to have a camera with several hundred pixels than having like 500 (just an example) isn't it?

Edited July 30, 200817 yr by Andrew

What awesome Photo's!!!!! Great camera

Great photos Andrew. You have a good camera and take a very nice photo. Do you surf or did you cheat and take these from the beach?!?!

i do bodyboard and do take photos from in the water, but this day i took them from the goyne out on the beach, you get a better angle and its easier to focus

I find the hardest pictures for me to take are the indoor ones when I am taking pictures of my daughter at her dance recitals or in the church when they have a function.

 

Great pics