Need camera advice

[smokey982]

It appears our camera has produced legs and walked away. I had a Nikon P500 digital camera that was only a couple years old and is now no where to be found. So it looks like I'm in the market for a new camera. Neither my wife or myself are very knowledgable at photography. We've owned several point and shoots over the years and always seem to use in auto mode. But my wife has always complained that our pictures never turn out that great. So I've been wondering if a DSLR would be the way to go. I really liked my 36X zoom on the P500 for using at football games. And from what I've read the DSLR's are all in mm (instead of X zoom). So most of the cameras would typically be a 3x-4x zoom out of the box (that may take some getting used to). I've noticed several good deals on DSLR cameras for black friday. Best Buy has a Nikon D3200 for $499 and it seems to get great reviews. I'm just wondering what's the biggest differences in a DSLR camera and just a standard digital camera (like my old P500)? Does a person need to have much knowledge about the manual controls on a camera to benefit from a DSLR? For the money, is the D3200 the best bang for my buck or is there a better camera out there in that same price range? What exactly would I gain in buying a DSLR over a good digital camera?

 

[Frank Jr.]

Most amateur photographers to include myself that own expensive heavy DSLR cameras still want a smaller camera for convenience. I can't recommend a certain type or model camera no more than I can recommend what type car you should buy. I will say if you are wanting to upgrade from a point and shoot type camera, the D3200 is a competent camera. Before you spend your money at Best Buy take a look at B&H Photo here. This is where I do most of my shopping. Also there are many sites on the internet that could provide you with valuable information. Check out Ken Rockwell. While many photographers will disagree with him on many levels, I find his advice and information for beginners to be sound.

 

[smokey982]

Thanks for the reply. That price is about the same as the Best Buy Black Friday price except it comes with an extra lens, memory card, and bag. It looks like a great deal to me.

http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Best-Buy/Ad?page=17#viewer

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[Frank Jr.]

Thanks for the reply. That price is about the same as the Best Buy Black Friday price except it comes with an extra lens, memory card, and bag. It looks like a great deal to me.

http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Best-Buy/Ad?page=17#viewer

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If and when you go to Best Buy, make sure it is the D3200 and not the D3100. B&H Photo and Adorama, are both offering a similar deal, but with the D3100, not the D3200.

 

[. Raine]

Amazon.com has Nikon P500's with 36 x if you wanted to get the same camera as what you had.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004M8SVHK/?tag=satell01-20

 

[Jimbo]

Smoky,
Make sure, if you go to Best Buy to Handle the camera and see how it feels in your hands and if you are comfortable with it.

If so and you can get a better deal at the online place, go that route.

Last thing you want to do is to order a camera online that you have never played with.

 

[navychop]

Amazon.com has Nikon P500's with 36 x if you wanted to get the same camera as what you had.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004M8SVHK/?tag=satell01-20

A 36X OPTICAL zoom is great! I've never had more than 12X without buying another lens. But beware: Any camera talking about "zoom" without saying "optical" is probably selling on the "digital" zoom, which figures I absolutely ignore as they are worthless.

 

[smokey982]

A 36X OPTICAL zoom is great! I've never had more than 12X without buying another lens. But beware: Any camera talking about "zoom" without saying "optical" is probably selling on the "digital" zoom, which figures I absolutely ignore as they are worthless.

The P500 that I lost had a 36x optical zoom. That was what I really liked about the camera. I could take to college football games and get some great close up pics of the players on the field. But I guess the zoom isn't a total deal breaker because it's not really that often that it was used for that. My wife uses the camera for birthday parties and my daughters functions (piano recitals, dance recitals, ect). And she's the one that was never really satisfied with the picture quality. That's why I'm thinking a DSLR would be the way to go. Am I wrong in this thinking?

My fear is that since neither one of us know much about the manual controls of a camera, would it be a waste spending the extra money that it would cost?

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[klang]

In what way are you/she dissatisfied with the picture quality? In automatic mode I would expect most cameras to perform somewhat similar.

 

[JAG72]

My fear is that since neither one of us know much about the manual controls of a camera, would it be a waste spending the extra money that it would cost?

The big question is how much do you want to learn the manual controls. If you have no interest in learning then I would skip the dslr. The nice part is that it does have an auto mode like all other cameras while you begin the learning process.

 

[smokey982]

We always used the camera in auto and I feel that's why we could never get certain pics to look good. I would love to learn how to use the manual controls but I just don't know the best way too do that. I definitely don't have time to take a class.

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[AntAltMike]

I like the Brownie Starmite.

 

[mperdue]

Buying more expensive equipment is not the answer. A DSLR will only perform better if the person using it knows how.