I need advice from the Pros!
 

Hey guys, I'm looking at buying a camera "for my wife" (kinda for me too lol) and I'm wondering what your opinions are on a couple different models. I'm using my credit card rewards points and I'm looking at a Canon T3i 18mp with the lens for about $660, and also the Nikon D3200 24mp with the lens for about $610. Nikon also has the D5100 16.2mp with the lens for about $590. I read all the specs on the cameras and I think I'm leaning towards the T3i so far. Is there anything else I should consider? What would you guys go with? My wife knows nothing about photography, she just wants a nice camera lol. But I would be willing to learn and get more in depth with features and the tech side of photography. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

EDIT: after more consideration, the D3200 is looking pretty attractive because it seems more beginner friendly. You can use an iPhone app to remotely take pics and transfer them to your iDevice too, which seems kinda cool :)

Any of those are good starter cameras and you will get a lot of use out of them. I've personally have never shot with a Nikon, but I know plenty of people swear by them. I've owned my Canon T1i for several years and I still feel that I haven't been able to get the fullest potential out of it. Plan to invest some additional money in lenses after a while too.

This is a great site to read up on digital photography reviews:
Digital Photography Review

thanks man, I value your opinion since you have some really nice shots of your ride, hopefully that will be me soon :)

I had a Nikon d5100 for a couple months its an excellent user friendly camera. Takes amazing photos and video only drawbacks I noticed is there is no focus motor body and it has 11 focus points. Other than that its awesome.

Recently upgraded to a Nikon d7000.

If you don't mind buying used you can look at fredmiranda.com at the classifieds you can pick up camera bodies and lenses for low prices. Also you may want to get a 35mm f1.8G lens they go for 150-160 used or 200 brand new.

GL with your searching

T3i hands down

I have a d3100 & a d5100, and would jump for the better sensor in the 5100 in a heartbeat (3200 is higher res but still not on par with 7/51).

I cant speak for the canon, but I would probably listen to hky over anyone else, though.

:tup: cant hardly go wrong w canon...order an extra battery so you can switch them out .....charge one while you use one. :tup: GL!

Oh-and order me one too-one of mine just died! Lol

+1 for Canon
I also like Sony's DSLRs

:iagree: mr. Bc has a sony cybershot dsc-t20 and the stupid little compact thing takes great pictures....even does video...:tup:

Yeah don't go with the t3i, you can view the specs here Canon T3i vs Nikon D5100 - Our Analysis

The d5100 has better picture quality, a little bit larger sensor (1.5x instead of 1.6x), lower noise at higher iso, built in HDR and so on.

But its your choice not ours

[QUOTE=1slowa$$G35;2010405]Yeah don't go with the t3i, you can view the specs here Canon T3i vs Nikon D5100 - Our Analysis

The d5100 has better picture quality, a little bit larger sensor (1.5x instead of 1.6x), lower noise at higher iso, built in HDR and so on.

But its your choice not ours[/QUOTE]

:iagree: you really should hold it before you buy it....the Nikon was small when i got my canon...the canon grip 'fit' my hand better.

Thanks guys for all the input, although I have to decode some of it lol. I'm gonna do a whole bunch of research before I buy, and try to find a place around here that has all of them so I can try them out a bit.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

:tup: good call wayne! :tup:

best buy usually has most of those kinds of cameras in stock. a camera store, tho, would be better as their sales people probably have a better idea of what the product is

do those even exist anymore? LOL, all of the camera stores within 100 miles of me have closed in the last several years.

there are some... but not many. most of them are smaller local shops, since wolf camera etc have gone online only

Yeah I was gonna hit up a best buy or an hhgreg or something, I'll do a search for an actual camera store first though...


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

So I went to HHgreg and bestbuy, none of the people really new much about cameras but I was expecting that. I liked the feel of the T3i's grip, but the simplicity and ease of the D3200 attracted me a little bit more I think. I'm gonna do a little bit more reading up and then make my decision, but as of right now the D3200 is the first pick for me.

I'm looking for an entry level dslr as well. Good thread lols.

Funny thing, I went out to play with some and ended up liking the d3200 best for some of the same reasons.

Maybe the specs aren't fully the best but does seems easiest to learn plus the phone ota connectivity might be pretty convenient to have.

Tapatalk & such etc

either one of those are good cameras. in fact, i tend to favor the lower end nikons for first time DSLR buyers. they seem to be just a tad more user friendly compared to the rebels but it's really six of one, half dozen of the other.

So what did you end up getting Huck? Post sample shots will ya.

I haven't gotten yet, but I think I'm gonna be going with the Nikon 5100. I ended up doing a side by side comparison of features. If a camera had a better feature than the other two, I gave that camera a +1. The D5100 and the T3i ended up tying for first place, so I'm gonna do the Nikon since its a lot cheaper. I'll be getting it for the wife for Christmas, so I'll post up pics after she opens it up. :) thanks again for all your advice!


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

Well I bought the D5100, but I was a little disappointed because I had looked on amazon and thought I saw it for about $450, which is a lot better than the $600+ the T3i costs, so I was happy. But I went to purchase it today and saw that that price had been for just the body, no lens. I ended up paying just under $700 for the camera, stock lens, 2 year warranty, memory card, hand strap, and carrying case. I think it's still a decent deal, just more than I thought it was gonna be.

Anyway, when it gets here pics will soon follow! Now if I can just find someone to buy the wheels I have for sale, everything will be great!

I think you made the right call with the 5100. It's a great unit and you should be able to grow with it.

I wish I had found this thread sooner. You should realize unless you take the time to learn how to use a DSLR and manipulate it to create the shot you want there is basically no difference between a DSLR and a point-and-shoot camera.

I've seen plenty of people who buy a DSLR and leave it on "auto" the whole time expecting the camera to do all the work. These same people are the ones who leave scathing reviews complaining that their images have actually gotten worse than if they had their coolpix or what have you.

My point is that the camera is just a tool and all cameras operate based off the same principles of exposure time, aperture, and filmspeed (ISO). Unless you learn how to use all the extra features and flexibility that a DSLR provides then there won't be a difference between photos that were shot with the DSLR and one that was shot by a cellphone.

Good luck!

That's what I'll be learning after I get it. I want a camera that's ABLE to take better pictures, and once I get it I will learn HOW to take better pictures.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

you, sir, have the right attitude :tup:

Hahaha try telling my mom that ;)


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

Finally! When I put it in her hands her mouth dropped to the floor, so that's a success for me :) Here's a sample shot after playing around with the setting for a second, there's more to come later on...


http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h9...ps74bee70e.jpg

Great choice and a great start. The 5100 is more than capable of doing a lot more once you know your way around a D-SLR. You'd be surprised how little of a difference there is between these and the Full-frame $10K counterparts for normal use. Your next investment should be either a AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G or a Speedlight flash. If you take a lot of indoor shots, the flash is going to be a godsend and will make your images a 1000 times better.

A few easy tips without spending a dime:
-use anything you can that will steady the camera (a tripod would be best) or make sure the room/area is well lit. The kit lens it comes with isn't "fast" since your aperture is probably limited to f/3.5 at 18mm and goes all the way down to f/5.6 at 55mm. This means the camera has to either slow down the shutter speed (longer exposure....more blurry cause by movement or vibration) or increase the ISO (more sensitive...but more noise in the images). By having the camera as still as possible, you'll get sharper pictures without having to spend money on expensive lenses.

-IMO, the best setting to use if you're just starting out but want to be creative is "A" aperture priority and let the camera meter the shutter speed. Then just use the exposure compensation button (it's that +/- square button) to make it lighter or darker.
***Basic rule of thumb for aperture (simplified):
---Smaller aperture number means a bigger aperture opening and a larger number means smaller aperture opening. You either let more light or less light enter the camera.
---Larger aperture has less stuff in focus and creates that blurred background look (low numbered f-stop), Smaller aperture (higher numbered f-stop) will have the opposite effect and will have more of the scene in focus. A drawback to smaller apertures (higher f-stop number) is that it lets in less light...so the camera has to leave the shutter open for a longer duration or increase the ISO.

-For portraits, always shoot at above 50mm or higher to avoid unflatering destortion....especially women. You just need to stand farther back. They also look best in "portrait" since it doesn't distract you from the main subject of the image. You've got a gorgeous girl, no one needs to see the Mountain Dew on the table :icon17:

This:
http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1356984257

vs. This:
http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1356984277

You may know some of this stuff already, but I figured it might help others.

Thanks for all the advice man, that's what I've been reading as well. I basically just need to spend a lot of time wi the camera and keep experimenting since I learn by doing.

I took it out with the wifey and her car the other day and did a little photoshoot, it came out alright. One thing that confused me at first was that I was taking a pic with certain settings, one pic came out perfect and the next (with the same settings) would come out completely washed out. Somehow I had changed my shutter speed so that it was open for like 3 seconds. Don't know how... Anyway, came up with this

Attachment 60306
Attachment 60307

The wifey took the last one so I'm trying to teach her about framing the subject, getting the whole thing in the pic :) also, I know I added a lot of effect to the pics, but I kinda like the spacey-not-quite-real overboard look.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new fangled science stuff

was your ISO set on "auto"? if so, the camera was making an exposure adjustment, just not shutter speed or aperture.

No I had everything on manual, I think 120 ISO and maybe 1/30 shutter speed. Somehow I changed it though and the shutter was staying open for like 3-4 seconds, getting way over exposed.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

If you like that look, check out how to create a true HDR image. Your camera should be able to bracket exposures which makes it really easy to do. Some even have software build into the camera. I think the 5100 has it...not sure though.

The D3200 has an actual HDR setting built in, my camera has auto bracketing which I haven't read too much about. I guessed that it was a form of HDR so I have it on the highest setting (2.0?). Gotta read more of the handbook to learn. :)


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

I just looked it up and the 5100 does have it built in too. There's a YouTube video if you google it... Otherwise you can auto bracket shot (3) +\- 0.3-2.0 EV and put it together with photomatix. Bracketing basically means it takes multiple shots at different exposures without having to move the camera to change settings...in fact this might be why your earlier shoot had the exposure way off...you might have left bracketing on. I'm not familiar with the 5100 layout, but it's either a setting in the menu or a button that says "BKT".

Sweet, more for me to learn hahaha. Thanks for the heads up, I watched a few of the videos, now I gotta go play with it. I wish I had the camera with me today at work, there was a crazy fog this morning that would have made for a nice photo. This is what I was able to capture with my iPhone :)

Attachment 60400


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

:confused: :icon14: uhmmm. I thought you bought this camera for wifey?!:icon17:

Shhhh Mrs. BC! Hahahahahaha

Yes ma'am I did, but my ulterior motive was the hope that she would quickly lose interest in it like she does her other stuff, then it slowly and subtly becomes my camera. :rofl:

Besides, she's not gonna learn all the features, so I'm asking all the questions do I can get the most out of it. :tup:


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

The best kind of present to give is one you want yourself...

Have fun with the new camera, most helpful is just to experiment with it, once you learn what all the settings are