Sunday, August 30, 2009
Dad's advice for buying a camera 3
Dad
You've pretty much got my general needs sussed. What would you buy? I'll have to choose something soon cause I'm getting sick of trying to figure it out.
Love Mel
PS Bub is going great. 30 weeks now.
Hi Mel
I can't say specifically what I would choose because I haven't really been studying the reviews. I would do that pretty thoroughly before I made my decision. I didn't do that when I bought my little camera and not long after I bought it I realised that I should have spent a little more money and got one with a few more features. I saw one I would have preferred (think it was a Pentax) but I'd already parted with my money.
My criteria would depend on my situation. I would only buy an SLR if I was planning to do some professional photography, ie trying to sell my photos in some way. For publishing on the net as I do, it's overkill and way too much to carry when travelling, by time you buy all the extras. And without the extras maybe you're only getting a basic camera, but hopefully a good one.
I'm a bit addicted to zoom so I would look for a camera that gave me a good zoom, with a good quality lens and had as big and high quality a sensor as possible. Whether I got something like my fz20 or something smaller would depend on whether I was planning to do a lot of travelling. And I would consider what would I lose by buying the smaller camera—is it almost as good or is there a big difference. If it's close, maybe I'd go for the smaller one. If the bigger one was way ahead, maybe I'd go for that.
It's also important to consider what features appeal to you. eg. I like a camera with a fold out LCD, the more possible angles the better.
I'd also consider what it is made from although I'm not sure how important that is. My fz20 is all plastic. They specify that it should be used within a specific range of temperatures and Thailand goes over that range. So, some of the bits of attached plastic are falling off these days. The camera still works but it is not as grippable. I'm not sure if an all metal camera is better but I suspect it might be. Then again if the all metal camera still has plastic grip bits on it, it might do the same. In the climate you are in this might not be an issue anyway.
When you get a short list, let me know and I'll make a few comments.
love
Dad
PS. Does that mean you still have 10 weeks to go?
You've pretty much got my general needs sussed. What would you buy? I'll have to choose something soon cause I'm getting sick of trying to figure it out.
Love Mel
PS Bub is going great. 30 weeks now.
Hi Mel
I can't say specifically what I would choose because I haven't really been studying the reviews. I would do that pretty thoroughly before I made my decision. I didn't do that when I bought my little camera and not long after I bought it I realised that I should have spent a little more money and got one with a few more features. I saw one I would have preferred (think it was a Pentax) but I'd already parted with my money.
My criteria would depend on my situation. I would only buy an SLR if I was planning to do some professional photography, ie trying to sell my photos in some way. For publishing on the net as I do, it's overkill and way too much to carry when travelling, by time you buy all the extras. And without the extras maybe you're only getting a basic camera, but hopefully a good one.
I'm a bit addicted to zoom so I would look for a camera that gave me a good zoom, with a good quality lens and had as big and high quality a sensor as possible. Whether I got something like my fz20 or something smaller would depend on whether I was planning to do a lot of travelling. And I would consider what would I lose by buying the smaller camera—is it almost as good or is there a big difference. If it's close, maybe I'd go for the smaller one. If the bigger one was way ahead, maybe I'd go for that.
It's also important to consider what features appeal to you. eg. I like a camera with a fold out LCD, the more possible angles the better.
I'd also consider what it is made from although I'm not sure how important that is. My fz20 is all plastic. They specify that it should be used within a specific range of temperatures and Thailand goes over that range. So, some of the bits of attached plastic are falling off these days. The camera still works but it is not as grippable. I'm not sure if an all metal camera is better but I suspect it might be. Then again if the all metal camera still has plastic grip bits on it, it might do the same. In the climate you are in this might not be an issue anyway.
When you get a short list, let me know and I'll make a few comments.
love
Dad
PS. Does that mean you still have 10 weeks to go?
Labels: camera, fz20, Lumix, Panasonic, photography
