Shutterbug Strasse

Posted by Zappotista on April 27, 2005 at 13:03:18

In Reply to: Intro to Digital Photography Books posted by Postal Grunt on April 24, 2005 at 13:41:47:

Complete morons can use digital cameras. They've gotten beyond point-and-shoot. Since you can see the image immediately after you've taken it (search: "chimping") even if you've screwed the shot badly, you can review and reshoot immediately.

Since you actually know how to use a film camera, the transition to digital is more in learning what controls to use and when to use them (e.g. auto white balance, daylight white balance, etc.).

The book Vinylly is pimping for his son-in-law isn't bad, it will guide you somewhat in the selection of a digital camera and give you camera features to think about.

Figure the form factor you want - pocket size with fixed lens, SLR size with interchangeable lens, "prosumer" fixed lens, etc.

Figure the largest image you want to make if you're interested in prints which will guide you somewhat as to pixel count.

Most of all, what will your budget stand? I keep a 4mp Canon S-40 handy and use it a lot in place of a 35mm for images that will be reproduce in reports - and believe me for that use, you can't tell the difference.

If you want to do big prints (larger than 11x14), your looking at the top end Canon, Nikon, or Kodak SLRs - or $4k to $8k in cost. There's no subsitute for lots of big pixels on a large sensor.

Checkout dpreview.com and read some of the tests, you'll get the idea how the cameras work, features, etc. and it may help you figure out what level of camera would suit your needs.