Info about starting photography?

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Phil K

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I've had a couple of digital cameras- nothing cheap by any means, but hardly something someone serious about photography would use- but am thinking about getting a better camera and getting into photography. The camera I have now is a very stylish-looking finepix model that's very small and slim, so designed mainly for portability. It's great for taking to a party or event when i don't want to carry a big camera, but frankly the picture quality (despite being an 8 megapixel camera) isn't great. The flash is harsh when it's on, and when it's not the pictures are never very sharp. I really just want to take photos in natural light- whether indoors or out- and have the pictures represent the real thing, regardless of the (im)perfections.

Obviously I won't spend too much money to start with (my budget would be about 200-250 GBP) but I'd like some advice on what to look for when buying a camera. Nothing huge- I don't need lots of equipment, but of course I don't mind it not being a 'trendy' pocket-sized camera.

What brands and models would you recommend for someone like me but who wants a good quality photo? Are lenses really important at this point or would the camera as it comes suffice?

Any photography tips in general are more than welcome.

PS: I don't know any of the technical terms, so when you talk about cameras and such could you explain some of the terms too?

Thank-you!
 
Lenses are the MOST important thing when capturing images.
IF you are going to go cheap, make sure it's not cheap lens. You can have a cheap body...but lens is what makes the image quality.

Also, with digital cameras, you can change the settings. So play around with the one you have now. Perhaps upgrade the memory stick to the best one you can get - there are better memory sticks than others in terms of how fast they capture an image.

I use a Canon 40D, but have used Pentax and Nikon in the past and found these to be decent. Go for an SLR over a point and shoot model if you are serious about your pics.
 
Lenses matter a lot. You could have a great lens from the 70's with a 2009 camera, and it would be fine. Lenses matter VERY much. Kit lenses kinda suck, but I would just stick with one for now. You should try to get something like a Nikon D40, it is a little above your price range, but it will start you out with a DSLR. You should learn how to shoot in manual mode. Learn about shutter, and aperture, and ISO and everything. Never limit yourself on what you read/learn. Talk to lots of people about it, read lots of articles and books about it. The more you read/talk the more you'll learn. I guess you can just stick with your point-and-shoot for now until you learn the finer points of photography like "the rule of thirds" and all that. But if you truly want to get into photography, you should actually wanna "make" your own pictures, not let the camera do it for you, so you'd want a camera that will let you shoot on manual and let you dictate the shutter, aperture, ISO, depth-of-field, etc. Like I said, the D40 could help you with that. It's a entry-level DSLR. 6MP but you can learn a lot from it until you decide if you actually wanna keep on with photography and decide to get a better camera. Good luck
 
any sort of Canon, nikon "digital SLR" camera, the little ones you've gotten are refered to as point-and-shoot but the SLR is much better, though more expensive
 
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