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Hi,
I am no great photographer nor experience with camera but recently while in the dentish waiting room, I pick & read a ameteur photographer magazine.
My son is also growing up & maybe interested in photography too.
Any suggestion what camera to start with?
I do not really want to get a SLR but maybe a smallish camera for him.
The magazine showed Ricoh cappeo??,
Any otehrs can suggest?

I use a Kodak Z650 for my photos. It's a nice camera to start with, if you can afford around $230. There are some similar models of Kodak within various price ranges. Mine has a 10x optical zoom and digital zoom that goes way out there. If you go look through some of my pics, you can see some shots using the zoom, with a tripod. This camera series has all the bells and whistles, similar to an SLR, but you can use it either way..using the PASM settings or automatic features, instead.

There are many cameras out there. Depending on your needs, I'd go with something similar. Digital cameras are growing in pixels and options all the time. What I would look for, is highest megapixels, highest OPTICAL zoom. These pictures, within optical ranges, will make for some beautiful images.

Good luck.

Bump!

I thought this thread deserved a little more action! I can't be the only one here that wants to share what kind of camera they're using or would suggest to beginner or professional alike.

Come on now... let's get posting. I may wish to invest in a new camera some time and info provided here, could be helpful.

OK....A Camera to start with.....How about a digital pocket with auto focus fixed lens like Kodak Easy Share CX6200 (2 Megapixel) or any other digital pocket camera so your son can learn about composition first.

Then the next step is a manual SLR (I use Braun DN60) so your son can understand more about ISO, speed and any other basic things about photography including how to put a film into the camera.

Next...a digital SLR. With this, he can apply all his knowledge about basic photography, shoot anything he want and take a great pictures with a great technique and a great composition easily.

Finally...share them will ya?

"Composition is the most basic and important thing in photography."

If you can afford it, go for the SLR.
Canon and Nikon have affordable models.
They have built in flash light, and you can use automatic settings and get good quality pictures. Now, whenever you want, you can switch to manual settings and compose your artwork and experiment anytime!

My Kodak has all the settings available on most SLR models. Plus the automatic settings for us lazy types. You can go into a bunch of different modes and experiment. Not sure how far the settings will go, because they're still a mystery to me.

A friend sent me a short lesson on all the settings, but I'm usually perfectly happy with the auto settings. Sometimes, I'll change where the point of focus is, to enhance and bring certain things to the forefront.

Hi,
Thanks for all the info.
Okay, lets itemised into categories for me
A) Digital pocket
B) SLR
C) Digital SLR

Any others?

1) Can anyone assist me in identifying with each category what features or info?
2) Can we also give the pros & cons to each category?
3) Can we give a few made & model for each category?
4) Finally, Personal comments/opinions/experiences on each model

Thanks
Ps Mechanoid Angelwing,
Since I am no photographer nor my young son and you seems to know, could you advise/enlighten me to the "jargons"/language used in photography e.g ISO.
Maybe a brief step by step how he can proceed to learn from a novice onwards

thanks

Hey ... I didn't look to see where you're located, but if you have a Borders books, they've got an awesome "Digital Cameras for Beginners" book that will explain, SLR, ISO, and ALL the other settings realy well. I"ve just been a cheapskate and haven't bought one yet. They've actually got a couple cool books on Digital photog.

My Kodak Z650 is a pretty good camera, but I DO have probs getting the right settings down when trying to macro something. There's really no macro setting. There is a "close up" for objects under 18 inches, but when ya want to take a picture of a bug's butt, it gets difficult. Close-ups of small flowers, unless the light is perfect, gets tricky too, but I think if you know how to use the PASM settings, you can work it all out. The bad thing about my camera is that there are only a couple lenses you can buy for it.. a polarizer and a wide angle.

For Kodak cameras, go to www.kodak.com and look... you can find every digital cam they have on their website.

SLR cameras have a wider range of lenses you can use for telephoto, etc.

For a beginner, who really wants to have a half decent telephoto, Kodak makes several Z models that are under $250 or in that range. Personally, I'd go with as high of megapixel as you can, no matter which you get. Mine is 7.1, but now cameras are coming out in the ten megapixel range.

Megapixels make ALL the difference in the world for enlarging or resizing photos and keeping them clear. The higher the number, the clearer your images.

OK... that's enough for this time... I'm sure some of the other photo guys and ladies here, can put me to shame for good information. But, I hope I've helped a tad.

Ya....that book is good, it explains almost every info you need about photography.

Don't worry about advices, you can find a lot of photographers here in this forum. Just ask, and I'm sure you'll get the answer.

Hi all
Thanks

Sometimes it is difficult to ask because your knowleledge is so limited.
If you do not know what is available what can you ask?
Also, as I mentioned the "jargons" are one of those I do not know what it mean or how you define it.
to the experince photographer or those who ahd some interest, you probably understand and get the meaning but for the "blank sheet" it is a bit lost.

Borders books?
I think in the nearest big city near me, i.e. Birmingham in Uk there is a Border Book shop but to be honest, I hardly venture to the city.

Which caterory does the Kodak Z650 falls into?

Any photographer care to start educating me in photograpy? even if it is your experience so I know where I can go & where not to go

But initially, I need the basic, I think

How would one define a good picture?
Is it colour, sharpness or what?

In a camera, megapixel, the more the better or the make of the camera or the lenses or the speed of the "close & open" I think shutter??

Hope you all can explain
Thanks

How would one define a good picture? hmmm.....

good, in art, including photography is relative to the person who enjoy it. For example, there's a picture ... then I say "Wow, it's a great picture", but the others say "hey, it's a bad one .. look at the composistion and the color, bla bla bla..."
so, if you find something interesting, just take it's picture, make sure you have a correct composition, technique and lighting. If you feel it's good enough, than try to get some opinion from someone, first your family member, next your friend, then....the other photographer. If most of them said it's a good one......hey! you've taken a good picture.

about sharpness will be explained below (lens).

about colour, colour can be manipulated by changing the exposure (using aperture or speed) in my "the dark hill" photo, actually the sky is not that dark because the sun is not set yet, I reduce the exposure 2 stops by rising the speed 2 scale so the film got less light and the result is, the sky seems darker and I can get the colour gradation.

=====

lens:

In SLR camera lens determines the angel of view, in the lens if self there is an aperture ring that determines the Depth of Field (the lower the number, you'll get sharp in focused object, blur on foreground and background (my "the bee" photo) and you'll get more light that captured by the film because the aperture opens wider. The higher the number then you'll get sharp pictures including foreground and background) but you'll get less light.

speed:

Speed determines how fast your film capture an object, the value, usually
ranged from 1 to 2000 (1/1 second to 1/2000 second) it also determines the amount of light captured by the film or censor in digital SLR the faster the speed you'll get less amount of light.

megapixel:

megapixel only determines the size of the photo, the size of 2 megapixel is about 1600x1200 pixel wide, the bigger the megapixel you can print the result in a bigger paper without resizing the image (it can reduce the quality of the image).

PS: other photographer, if there is something missing or incorrect in my explanation, please add or fix them.

If you don't know what ISO is then do NOT get a D-SLR or SLR unless you can afford what MAY become an expensive paper weight. Even if you can afford such a paper weight I'd advise against it because all the buttons, modes, assesories, etc., that go along with it can be overwhelming. Grow into it. See if you like it. A point and shoot is a good start. The 200-300$ range offers a selection of cameras with more than enough pixels, buttons, modes, to take great pictures while learning about things like ISO. Then step up to a D-SLR later if still interested. Canon makes excellent cameras. I have a Canon 570 IS, couldn't ask for better. Whatever you get I'd recommend one that uses NiMh batteries you can recharge. Good Luck.

Gawd what a goof I am, aCCesSories. Sorry.

After not having taken any photos for years and years, I bought a Canon 960 IS camera recently and I have never looked back. It is really good fun to use and takes nice pitures with hardly any effort at all.

I would recommend this camera to a first time photographer as it is quite easy to use.

Well I just point mine and click many times and what are rubbish I delete what are good I save the trouble is every photo good or bad is with its own special quality and I am always reluctant to get rid