good camera?

[NYCrestie]

just wondering what everyone shoots with

its time for me to get a camera, because te one i have really sucks! Snapping a bad pic would be a step up for me, lol.
i was thinking about the canon rebel xt, but thats merely based on what ive noticed alot of people using and of course its GREAT price. ive never shot with anything besides and point and shoot before and am worried that i will be overwhelmed with a SLR.

well this should get the ball rolling, i have many questions but we will start here

-Tony

[Anthony Caponetto]

I'd say stick with a point & shoot camera vs. SLR unless you're already familiar with all the settings on a camera.  Either way, I always tell people to spend an afternoon reading the user manual that comes with their camera.  It's amazing how much that will teach you about photography basics and how to use your particular camera.

For point & shoots, the Fuji Finepix S5100 (or whatever the latest one is) is a great camera, especially for the money.  It has an awesom focus assist lamp that allows the camera to focus in poorly lit areas.  Has a pretty good built-in flash too.

I have the Canon Dig. Rebel, but unless you want to make poster sized prints out of your photos, a good 3-4 MP point & shoot (like the Fuji I mentioned) is all you really need.

Also, make sure you're taking pics in a well lit area...a lot of people think their camera is to blame, but it's usually lighting (or lack thereof).  The dim light makes the photo dark and also makes it hard for the camera to focus.

[NYCrestie]

my camera is at the very least, years old, and has seen better days, lol

i checked out the fuji s series cameras and look good on paper. i checked out the s5200 which is the newer one i believe
any experience with the canon equivelants? like the s2?
the specs on that cam are here
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=381966&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation#Focus%20Control

and for the fine pix s5200
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=393344&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

the canon seems to have a better macro with the super macro feature
but the fuji has a little more control it looks like with iso settings and a few other things

damn, u just made my camera hunting harder, lol

[Matt Yates]

 Well I'm not by any means a photography buff but I will tell you what I use. I have a Nikon coolpix  L1. It was affordable (around $300)and works well for my purposes(my Geckos) Its got 6.2 megapixels and 5x zoom So I am able to take good close up shots. It works well for posting picks of my gecko and is very user friendly.I hope that helps you in someway.
Matt

[The_Royal_Family]

I need a new camera. Any one want to give me theres?

[Anthony Caponetto]

It all depends on how much you want to spend.? I'm serious when I say that lighting is key, though.? If I had $1,000 to spend, I'd buy that S5200 and a nice set of lights and umbrellas.?   I wouldn't spend any more than that on a camera until you have good lighting equipment.

Here's the lighting setup I have...? http://alienbees.com/digi.html

[Matt Yates]

 You are right Anthony lighting is Key.How much did you're lighting set put you back?

[Anthony Caponetto]

Hey Matt,

I think it was $599.  Click the link in my post above and it'll take you right to the page to buy it.

[NYCrestie]

ok quick one for you anthony
maybe im missing something, but i dont see how you can use those flash units
the fuji has no external flash connections

[Anthony Caponetto]

The Alien Bees have optic sensors to tell it to fire when the camera's flash is triggered...no wires needed.  Works great too.

[NYCrestie]

very good to know

i will be using my camera for everything, and the time is drawing near.
im getting excited about getting a new camera. ive been reading alot of reviews, and am leaning very heavily towards that fuji.
just trying to find a good deal on it now i think. unless someone throws out another cam that i overlooked

[b|ue Ash]

I've had several camera's through out the years, I still have two 35mm. I had a very nice Sony Cyber Shot DSC-F505 (something like that.) Great camera, good optical zoom, but after 6 years it kinda hit rock bottom and didn't work properly anymore.

My newest camera is the Sony Cyber Shot T-9. I love that little thing!

Anyone searching for a digital camera, I have one word of advice in addition to the general basics of photography. Optical Zoom is the way to go, don't be fooled by Digital Zoom specially if you want larger photos for printing, or are taking images from a fair distance.

Most of my photography have been of live shows, but in the past few years I've gotten into the fish hobby and I've learned to take some decent photos of that. The more lighting the better so long as it's not over done, resulting in colours that are not true to life.