Babies, Cameras.
As most of you know, my wife and i are expecting in a few weeks, which to be honest i’m excited :). However i wanted a camera to take loads of pictures. My current camera is a single shot wait 5 mins then take another type [yes i'm exagerating a little] so i decided to move to the next level, a digital SLR.
What type? Well a few friends and a lot of reviews have told me about the Nikon D60 and to be honest this looks like it’s a nice camera. I was a little worried about the images it produces until i looked on google and most of them are stunning for what i need it for, then i noticed this page, it was exactly what i wanted to see, family images using the D60, after all that’s mostly what i’ll be using it for…..Thanks mate….sold :) [oh great he's a Architect Evangelist for Microsoft:)]
Great camera, I personally like Panasonic Lumix stuff. But trust me you will still need a point and click camera too - think about getting a good camera phone, a 5MP, like Samsung Tocco, Nokia N96 and LG Viewty.
All the best.
Hi Paul. Thanks for the nod. I bought the camera for the same reason and have since Mother’s day have taken almost 4000 pictures. This camera is so good, you won’t want to put it down. I take it everywhere. Definitely spring for the 55-200 lens. That’s the one I use the most.
Also, these books have been invaluable: The Digital Photography Book Vol 1 & 2 by Scott Kelby, and Photographing Children Photo Workshop by Genny Felch and Allison Tyler Jones.
Enjoy!
Clint Edmonson
Oh gawd, don’t get me started on cameras, I’ll be here forever and a day
Personally unless you were looking at expanding past family snapshots I’d have recommended the Olympus DSLRs as better value if you were set on needing a DSLR although Nikon/Canon are a better bet for expanding past that, not due to the camera itself, but due to the family of devices available for them. Remember it’s all about the photographer not the camera though, the camera just makes options open to you, you still need to see the photo in the first place
Mark, got to agree compacts still have a place, but camera phone?! Don’t even go there unless desperate. Phone is for phoning, any camera is a bonus but should only be used when nothing else is available. My current compact is a now ageing Canon A620 to backup the Nikon D80 and for me if I was looking at replacing it then I’d be going Canon again as the G9 has no real competitor as a compact replacement for a DSLR
It is a case of what you’re going to use it for though. A D60 for me is lacking in the bracketing and DOF preview for me to consider but then I’m looking at different types of photos than yourself. Now if only I could wrestle that Hassleblad of a friend of mine, although I know damn well he makes better use of it. Actually I was just reckoning up my full list of want equipment and it is amazing how the camera itself is such a small percentage of that.
Oh as for books, errrr, dunno at that level as I learnt my way up in the film days so my learning curve was totally different to what it is now and the stuff I read now is more to do with lighting off camera.
Best thing to do is learn the camera by using it so it becomes instinctive. Don’t rely on auto, it’s lazy, often not the best photo, and you won’t learn anything from it. Once you know your way around the camera then you can concentrate on the art of getting the photo without worrying how to get the camera to do what you want.
Oh and as a side note: If you get really serious about photos you’ll realize why I use Windows and not Linux (although OS X is a more than viable alternative as well) It’s call Photoshop (although with my web work its more Adobe Creative Suite as Dreamweaver/Flash are killer apps as well), Lightroom and Capture NX2. Give me viable Linux alternatives and I might reconsider, oh and GIMP isn’t a viable Photoshop replacement before it gets a mention