I Need Advice on Digital SLR's
 

Do any of you have any preference on cameras. Which one is better Nikon or Canon? Which produces better quality, and is more user friendly? Thanks in advance.

- they're expensive as all hell
- nikon

it doesn't matter if it's user-friendly. if you're going to buy an SLR i assume you want to pursue photography seriously in which case you are going to need to know your equipment.

Ok, well I am it is my major, I just wanted something to hold me over for at least a year or so. Then upgrade and get a better one.

don't get an SLR if you're only going to use it for a year. you won't get your money's worth.

Well, I was thinking about a canon rebel, but I am also thinking of something more durable than that.

nikon d60 or canon eos 400d are entry level dslr and retail at about $1200au

you can take good pics on a happy snapper though. all the ones i have posted on here are shot on an a550 powershot. i am going to upgrade to a canon eos in a coupler of months

i have this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_PowerShot_S5_IS



so far has produced excellent shots. macro/supermacro capabilities.

Well, my major is photjournalism, and I still have a film camera canon eos 3. However, the technology is moving towards digital so I need something that I can afford, and is still good. I would say my budget would be around 1200-1400.

i would go for one of the nikon SLRs if that's really what you're looking for.

I do like the nikon D60.

edit- I do have to go and check them out.

cool cantanky. you got a wide and a tele?

I might get this on the side.

it doesn't come with lenses but you can get in super close. however you obviously lose image quality in doing so, i don't really use the zoom function at all.

i'm probably gonna go for the eos 400d or the 450d with twin lens kit. i have done a photography course but havent been able to afford to upgrade my happy snapper to a real camera but i just scored a great contract for july which gives me a decent amount of spare dosh, so i may get a macro to go with it.

photog classes are bollocks.
i've never taken a class in my life. either you've got talent and you've got an eye or you don't. it's innate, not something that can be taught.

yeah mostly wasn't about taking photos, it was when i was 18 pretty much before digital cameras, so it was a 6 month dark room course. but i sold all of my dark room gear when i was about 25.

however i disagree, you can teach people the basics of a decent image. where to place something in a frame, how to avoid ugly background and foreground clutter. i do also agree that you can't teach talent. you can teach technique. but hey i just do it for fun. i may exhibit at a mates pub when i have had plenty of fun when i get my dslr.

edit: also how do you know classes are bollocks if you have never taken one.....

and i love the selfpotrait you posted in the photog thread

i actually have taken one now that i think about it (against my will i believe...) in high school. they told us WHAT to photograph and HOW to photograph it
also i think things like "rule of 3rds" and not to cut peoples heads off and about mergers and stuff which is bullshit because it completely depends on the photograph and what YOU as the artist want to happen and the point you want to get across

oh thank you btw

Really good advice.
I have an S3 IS (which I'd actually recommend, it's not much different from the S5 and it should cost less).
Catank, zooming (not with digital zoom) shouldn't make quality worse...lenses are pretty good.
macro can focus up to 0cm ha ha.
an amazing site to help you making up your mind is www.imaging-resource.com . Have a look there.

imo the basics of photography are interesting and fun to learn, even just reading and experimenting.

i'm talking about when you get WAY WAY WAY in close.

the macro/supermacro functions are brilliant though. i've got a close up of my eye (and a bunch of other peoples.) which i want to do something with.

way way way in with the digital zoom activated?

btw, that sure is a nice camera.

semi-off topic:
Too bad to see how newer sensors are getting worse (imo) coz all those automatic noise reductions features that supposedly widen the "usability" with low light but actually flatten a bit the sharpness of pics :(. It's like a new Mpx war, but with ISO...

just switch everything to manual

I meant "automatic" as in : built in with the ccd sensor.

cool.... can always freak out the white balance a bit by balancing on a darkish colour to lighten up the shot which will decrease the noise, but that does defeat shooting at night a bit.

man, I just think it's not good to make things with better "specs" to boost on ads and worse actual visual performance. like compact cameras with *insert pretty high figure*Mpx cameras with little sensors, which will just make the images look worse (see here for example)...Was a general "complain", not a practical problem to me. My s3 works wonders.
Always on "all manual" settings.

I like Nikons.

p.s. to TP ---> keep in mind I was talking bout compact cameras, not SLR with big-ass sensors ;) .

by the way i've been meaning to ask you this: is your signature a cheap shot at me because honestly i'm not offended by it but i just don't find it particularly amusing, much like alien asshole's nazi thread.

you mean mine? oh no way, it's a thing from the "Be your own pet got censored" thread...lemme search a sec...

oh okay because i can see the connection obviously but i don't know why i wouldn't publish violent songs because ive written a lot of violent things but thats a story for another day...
that girl and i have basically the same hair

" But three Get Awkward tunes were removed from the album's U.S. version at the last minute, having been deemed too violent by Universal Records. (Universal releases Be Your Own Pet's albums through a deal with the band's U.S. label, Ecstatic Peace.)
"Blow Yr Mind", "Black Hole", and "Becky" all appear on the international version of Get Awkward, released by XL Recordings.
Yes, Universal, an imprint of the Universal Music Group, home to such family-friendly artists as Eminem, 50 Cent, Marilyn Manson, and (formerly) Nine Inch Nails, thinks these songs are too violent to be heard by American audiences. Yes, this is the same company that once put out records by a band that calls itself ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. However, none of those acts features an adorable, barely post-teenage blonde girl as a frontwoman, as Be Your Own Pet do."

here

it is always the way though. they do it with everything.

Audio - we end up with companies like behringer and alto trying to make gear cheap enough so anyone can get it but the quality is shite. Now the big old school companies like Lexicon and DBX are doing cheap shit that is pretty garbage as well but atleast of a higher quality than the other cheap shit.

Good article you posted there too. I can totally relate to that with the whole sample rate issues that plague the audio world. People will buy a sound card that will do a 24bit/192khz sample rate with shit preamps over one that does only up to 24/48 with good preamps.

I do notice some noise on my pics, but i put that down to the fact that it is a digi compact that cost $200 and that i had the image quality set on medium for my travels. it is alot less noisy set on superfine but could be alot better.

aha.
thanks for clearing that up.

arent she and i like the same age?

I don't know how old she is and I don't know how old are you either, actually..she reminds me of an ex of mine.

--on topic

TP: agreed 0%.
it's a bit lame to see top brands "lower" standards to get on the same level as worse competitors, but ultimately it's up to the buyers to choose the best stuff. sometimes it's worth to buy older stuff even in the "tech market" :).

yes but if you don't know what you are buying you need to find reputable dealers that deal in quality secondhand as well as new gear.

thats why i am always in the gear threads giving advice, i have noticed that some think they know quite a bit about things audio on here but in reality most know nothing. even with 10 years experience in pro audio i have tons to learn from my peers....

i am always wanting to learn new things, makes my life way easier

Presenting my new Camera. I went with this one, because I didn't need to buy a lense, since I already had one.

Which one rewinds the film faster?

gmku, you are lovely when you use that tone of voice.

I'm lovely all the time, but thank you.

ops, that was an agreed 100%, actually.