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Quite a few people ask me for camera advice - what camera should I buy? My first question is usually -- what do you intend to use it for / what features are you looking for? If they say "I want a long zoom" or something similar, then it makes it much easier, as you limit the field significantly. However, if they say - "something compact that I can carry around, moderately priced" then about 80% of the cameras these days meet that description.
How do you respond to the question?
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I always say I don't know. I only have experience with two cameras and I am blinded by brand loyalty.
--Don
Nikon D3100 with Tokina 28-70mm f3.5, (I like to use a Vivitar .43x aux on the 28-70mm Tokina), Nikkor 10.5 mm fisheye, Quanteray 70-300mm f4.5, ProOptic 500 mm f6.3 mirror lens.
http://donschaefferphoto.blogspot.com/
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www.stevesdigicams.com
very good site. rates every camera. I personally send camera requests there.
Nos an modica tantum nostri somnium
"We are limited only by our imagination"
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Yeah, Steve has pretty good reviews, but they tend to be a bit consistently glowing. dpreview gives a little more "warts and all" coverage of cameras, but he gets pretty hung up on laboratory style testing (which is good - most of us can't or won't do that kind of testing). Personally, however, I like Luminous Landscape for camera reviews. He isn't as hung up on micro analyzing performance but deals with issues of equipment usability - which is what most of us really want to know.
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I ask them what their expected use for the camera is. If they want something they can carry around a lot with being cumbersome, I avoid every other camera suggestion other than pocket size. No matter how great the camera is... if its too big for them to carry around, then they won't. Hence they won't use it.
If they suggest a camera primarily for around the house shots of their kids etc, then I would suggest some of the image stabilized units.
If they don't want to do a lot of post processing of photos... which most don't I would suggest something in the 4 mp range. No sense buying into the megapixel craze if all they want is a point and shoot for 4x6 photos. An 8 mp camera for joe consumer is just plain ridiculous.
etc etc etc...
Nos an modica tantum nostri somnium
"We are limited only by our imagination"
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The first thing out of my mouth is to ignore anything a salesperson says about digital zoom.... after that, I usually talk more about features than brands & models... for example, when my Dad was shopping for my sister for Christmas, i told him that having a cam that shot in 2:3 would be better becasue she will mostly just be printing straight from the cam... stuff like that...
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Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ10
Image Management/Editing:ArcSoft PhotoBase4
Advanced Image Editing: Adobe PhotoShop 7
