Help me pick a camera. (Newb alert)

Dublo7

I didn't know where to post this thread: It was either H/A, Tech, or here.

Anyway, I'm looking to buy myself a camera. I'm dying to get into photography, and I need a decent camera to set me off.
High zoom capability is very important to me. Of course, I also want something that will give me a lovely crisp photo.
Should I go digital, or with analogue?

I'm not really sure how much I'm willing to spend. Not an astronomical amount though - I'm just a poor student.

Thanks.

UnknownSaint

Photo thread would have been ideal for this?

Anyhow, there are a lot of what-ifs involved. Most important is basically how much you're willing to spend, would need you to be a little more specific on that.

Dublo7

I'm looking maybe to spend ~400 Aussie dollars. That's around 350 US dollars. To be honest, I could probably deviate a bit higher, but I'd like to see where that price would lead me.

r-jasper

i just spent aussie $1100 on this. Canon EOS 400D.

10megapixel i got 2 lenses with it.
probably didn't need that many mega pixels, but it's a REALLY nice camera.

Dublo7

Where abouts did you get it from?

r-jasper

'digital city' in sydney.

erisian pope

Get the Canon SX 100IS. It has 10x optical zoom plus image stabilization on an 8 megapixel camera. It can shoot RAW and is almost as close as a point-n-shoot can get to being an SLR.

Dublo7

erisian pope wrote: »

Get the Canon SX 100IS. It has 10x optical zoom plus image stabilization on an 8 megapixel camera. It can shoot RAW and is almost as close as a point-n-shoot can get to being an SLR.

Wow, that's a pretty good price. I'll do a bit of reading about it.

Have you had personal experience with that camera?

MKR

erisian pope wrote: »

Get the Canon SX 100IS. It has 10x optical zoom plus image stabilization on an 8 megapixel camera. It can shoot RAW and is almost as close as a point-n-shoot can get to being an SLR.

Not until someone hacks the firmware. :P

Dublo7

What do you guys think of the Nikon Coolpix 5000? It's a few years old, but my dad has one that he hasn't used it for a while now.
I almost completely forgot about it, until now.

erisian pope

MKR wrote: »

erisian pope wrote: »

Get the Canon SX 100IS. It has 10x optical zoom plus image stabilization on an 8 megapixel camera. It can shoot RAW and is almost as close as a point-n-shoot can get to being an SLR.

Not until someone hacks the firmware. :P

No shit? It doesn't do RAW? I could have sworn I read that it did. Crap. I know you have one, so I defer to your superior knowledge.



EDIT: I know the Canon G9 shoots RAW. It's a 12 megapixel camera with 6x optical zoom and image stabilization.

saltiness

I just want to chime in and say that getting a camera with a large zoom factor is actually a bad way to get into photography. Zoom makes you lazy and focus more on fucking around with the fancy camera rather than making a nice photograph. I'd go for something with less zoom, maybe 4x so you can train yourself on composition rather than just zooming in and out until the subject is in the center of the frame. Or if you decide to up the ante and get an SLR, get a prime lens or the basic standard zoom.

Dark Moon

Dedicated "What Camera Do I Buy?" thead in H/A. I'd give it a good look through - there's a lot of good advice in there, and people are very quick to respond to additional inquiries you may have.

Dublo7

Thanks a lot guys.