Camera Suggestions

I get asked a lot what kind of camera do I think someone should get.  Remember on Monday when I said my husband thought Raw vs Jpg need a flow chart?  That question needs a flow chart, an input and output chart, and a dose of psychic ability.  Unless you are my BFF I probably don't know enough about what you want to do with your camera to answer that question well.

So what camera do I tell people?  If they want something basic I usually point them towards Kodak Z981, Nikon L110 , or the Nikon P100.  Then I quickly follow that up with the following.  The best advice I can give you is to go to flickr.com and use their camera finder. (The link is directly to that portion of the website.) Look at the photos taken from the cameras you are looking at.  If you want amazing macro shots off of your point and shoot that will help you find the camera that can do that.  Next, go to a camera shop and talk to them.  Yes they want to sell you a camera but they want you to walk out with the one you are happy with.  When you talk to them remember to listen to them too.  Sometimes we get so set about a certain brand that we don't listen to the fact that the camera can't do what we want it to.

Here is an example of the we want a certain type of camera because we want a certain type of photo.  People often look at one of my photos and say, "Oh I want to take pictures just like that and to do that I must have the exact same camera as you do."  No you don't.  While I love my DSLR to pieces it does not make the photographs better.
This is probably one of my favorite photos I have ever taken.

Pretty isn't it?  Ok I think it is pretty anyway.  It was taken on a Fujifilm Finepix S700 It's a great picture and can be blown up to at least 11x14.  I know this because my husband's Christmas present from a few years ago was of his dog and was taken with that camera.  The only reason I gave up that camera was because I had outgrown it.

What do I mean by I outgrew my camera?  Well first off it was only 7.1 megapixels and it was time to get something with a little more pixels going on.  Secondly, my dream has always been to develop my own photos, remember RAW vs Jpg, so I wanted something I could do that with.  That's why I have a Canon XSI but if I had the money I would be upgrading.  I have nothing but love for that camera.  It's taught me a ton.  It's given me the opportunity to do this little side business of selling some art shots and doing photography for people at affordable prices.   I never tell people I'm a professional.  I'm not but I like to think I'm better than average and I'm striving to be a professional.  Now I want Canon EOS 5D MarkII but that's a little ways down the road.  For now I'm hoping to make the step-up to the Canon EOS 60D by the end of the year.  It's a goal but to reach that goal I have a few others to reach first.

Happy camera shopping!!

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