# Camera buying guide



## duncanp

After countless threads on what to choose, film or digital, and then what kind of film or digital camera I have decided to hopefully sum it all up into one thread that will be updated regularly.


*Film or Digital?*

Quality:

Digital cameras, especially Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras (DSLRs) are starting to match the quality of 35mm film. If you printed a 7x5in print from a 6 mega pixel (mp) or higher resolution camera, the difference between that and the quality of a 35mm film print at the same size would be indistinguishable. However with cameras 6mp-8mp the difference would start to become visible at A4 size prints at 300 dots per inch (dpi). Higher resolution cameras 9-16mp have no problem producing A3 size prints at 300dpi some models even being able to produce good quality a2 prints e.g. the Canon EOS 1DS MK II which is the best DLSR that canon provide.  Fujifilm Velvia 35mm slide film scanned at a very good quality the equivalent to 16mp, the same as the Canon EOS 1DS MK II.
If you were to scan a medium format 6x4.5cm slide you get the equivalent of around 48mp, large format 4x5 around 240mp! And large format 8x10 960mp!!
The resolution of the image is not the only thing that affects quality, the lens you use can have a great influence on this as well, the Canon L lenses are probably the best lenses around. Also the ISO rating of the film or the ISO you set your digital camera to affects the quality.

Costs:

With DSLRs dominating the camera market many people are ditching film and going digital, Film camera bodies are very cheap now and there is a reasonable amount in good condition second hand and cheaper, a top of the range 35mm SLR the Canon EOS 1V only costs £1259 whereas its digital equivalent the EOS 1DS MK II costs £4589. Medium format photography is also becoming very cheap and more available to a wider range of photographers, especially the Bronica ERTS / Si. With a lot of competition in the DSLR market DSLR prices fell by 23% and a budget DSLR can be bought for £325 (Nikon D50 body only).
Extra costs can be lenses, which normally work for both film and digital. Lenses design for 35mm cameras or full frame DSLRs will always work on a DSLR with a APS-C size sensor or any other size. A lens designed for a DSLR with a APS-c size sensor or anything smaller than full frame, will work on a 35mm SLR or a full frame digital camera but it will cause a lot of vignetting around the edge of your pictures. The main cost in film photography is sometimes the cost of film and getting it developed. Whereas in digital photography all you need to do is buy a memory card and keep reusing it, giving you the opportunity to shoot as much as you want at a minimal cost.


Although film cameras are getting less expensive and have better quality, especially if you move into medium format or higher, the costs of film and film developing really add up if you want to take a lot of pictures. The costs of digital cameras are coming down and are much more affordable. The fact that you only need to buy one memory card and reuse it means that you can shoot practically all the time and digital means you also get instant results on site, so that you can reshoot if you need to.


*Digital SLR / SLR style or super zoom / Digital Compact*

If you are thinking of buying a digital camera there are three main types ^.
The costs of each vary and each have the advantaged and disadvantages.

*Digital Compact:*

Most people nowadays have one of these and the price of them can vary from £30 to £300+, ranging from around 10mp to 1. Due to their size and ease of use many people have them on them the whole time and do not need much knowledge to use them. If you just want something for everyday snapshots, a digital compact is good, they normally have around a 3x optical zoom, set scene modes such as portrait, and auto mode and program mode.

A small amount of suggested models for a range of prices:
Nikon Coolpix L4 - £95  4mp, 3x: 38-114mm
Nikon Coolpix L3 - £109  5mp, 3x: 38-116mm
Canon PowerShot A540  £165  6mp 4x: 35-140mm
Fujifilm F30 - £259  6mp, 3x: 36-108mm, Huge ISO range:      100-3200 
Sony DSCT30 - £299  7mp, 3x: 38-114mm
Canon IXUS 800 IS - £299  6mp, 4x: 35-140mm, Image Stabiliser
 *SLR Style or Super zoom:*

These are ideal for someone who wants to take photography a little more seriously and not take snapshots the whole time. These look like a DSLR and normally have manual exposure and more options to give you better control over your pictures. On average they have a 12x zoom about 36-432mm. although they have big zooms the majority are not well suited for fast actions sports and nature photography as they have shutter lag, where you press the shutter button and the shutter opens around 1/125 sec later. I use one of these as they are not as expensive as DSLRs and there arent many extra costs like lenses as you have on fixed lens. If you want there are accessories such as wide angle converters that give you a better wide angle lens and there are also telephoto converters. For mine, a Panasonic lumix fz-20, I have a filter adapter and filter set that allows me to use UV, FD and polariser filters.

A few of the best SLR styles:
Fuji FinePix S6500 - £195       5mp, 10x: 38-380mm
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 - £299  6mp, 12x: 36-432mm
PowerShot S3 IS - £299  6mp, 12x: 36-432mm
Fuji FinePix S9500 - £329       9mp, 10.7x: 28-300mm
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1 - £559  10mp, 5x: 24-120mm
 *Digital Single Lens Reflex:*

These are the top of the range digital camera you can get. Loaded with feature they give you almost unlimited creativity. Suitable for all kinds of photography, the only downside is the cost of extra lenses can top that of the price of the camera body.

Beginner DSLRs (Body only):
Nikon D50 - £325  6mp.
Pentax *ist DL - £329  6mp
Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) - £429       8mp
 Amateur / Enthusiast (Body only)
Canon EOS      400D - £650  10mp NEW!!
Nikon D80 - £699  10mp NEW!!
Canon EOS 30D  £749  8mp
Nikon D200 - £1069  10mp
Canon EOS 5D - £1599  12mp, Full frame
 Will add lens guide later,

Feel free to ask any Qus


Here's a database with all currently sold cameras, i made it mainly for my IT GCSE but it will help here as it has a list of current cameras.

http://www.duncanphilpott.com/cameradatabase.mdb


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## duncanp

can someone sticky please.. .took me ages..


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## EBphotography

Thanks Duncanp. Great guide. I use an SLR style camera, Kodak Z740, and I am happy with it. I do a lot of nature photography too!


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## Don Simon

Good idea! I'm surprised there isn't already such a thread, given how many times people ask the questions you've addressed here. The only thing I'd really question is the bit about resolution. There are so many factors involved that the whole issue of resolution in film and digital is a pretty grey area. One thing to remember is that you can have the best glass available, on the most expensive camera there is, and it won't do you much good if you're printing from your DSLR with cheap ink and the wrong kind of paper in the wrong printer, or handing your films over to a lab whose staff don't know or care what they're doing. The one other thing I'd add is that compact or zoom digitals do have one specific advantage over DSLRs - you can compose the shot using the LCD screen. Anyway those are just some minor issues, I agree this post should be stickied and with updates and input from some of the various experts here we could have a pretty comprehensive guide. Great job!


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## Unimaxium

ZaphodB said:
			
		

> Good idea! I'm surprised there isn't already such a thread, given how many times people ask the questions you've addressed here. The only thing I'd really question is the bit about resolution. There are so many factors involved that the whole issue of resolution in film and digital is a pretty grey area. One thing to remember is that you can have the best glass available, on the most expensive camera there is, and it won't do you much good if you're printing from your DSLR with cheap ink and the wrong kind of paper in the wrong printer, or handing your films over to a lab whose staff don't know or care what they're doing.


I think there used to be a thread like this one, but it went _poof_ and disappeared last time the forums were reorganized. I let a mod know about it, but I don't think anyone was able to find it again. But hey, we can make this thread even better than the last one (and I think duncan's done a good job of achieving that already)! ;-)



> The one other thing I'd add is that compact or zoom digitals do have one specific advantage over DSLRs - you can compose the shot using the LCD screen. Anyway those are just some minor issues, I agree this post should be stickied and with updates and input from some of the various experts here we could have a pretty comprehensive guide. Great job!


Good piece of info. I think I'd add to this that there is one brand of DSLRs (Olympus, I believe) that actually has a feature to preview the image live on the LCD by using a smaller, secondary CCD sensor, which is pretty cool. Also, the nice thing about DSLRs is that they have _muuuuch_ nicer viewfinders than point-and-shoots, which makes them especially nice to use in bright environments where an LCD would be hard to see.

Let's keep this thread going... ;-)


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## Weaving Wax

Thank you. That helped me a lot. I was looking into getting an SLR, but wasn't sure if I should go film or digital...well, I still don't know for sure, but your guide helped!


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## duncanp

Weaving Wax said:
			
		

> Thank you. That helped me a lot. I was looking into getting an SLR, but wasn't sure if I should go film or digital...well, I still don't know for sure, but your guide helped!




Thanks,



ive pmed corry about stickying it


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## bigfatbadger

YES!!! STICKY!!!!!!!! STICKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## duncanp

lol a bit avid...


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## Rv5

i would really like to see what you have for that lens guide.  that would be very helpful!


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## PNA

Great job.....I beleive many will benefit form your indepth explainations.


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## duncanp

thanks


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## Alex_B

Great review!
Have to comment on some details though:


			
				duncanp said:
			
		

> Digital cameras, especially Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras (DSLRs) are starting to match the quality of 35mm film.


Totally agreed!



			
				duncanp said:
			
		

> Fujifilm Velvia 35mm slide film scanned at a very good quality the equivalent to 16mp, the same as the Canon EOS 1DS MK II.


Here I do not agree. I use both 35mm film and digital. In terms of actual resolution a High-Res Scan does not reach the quality of full frame digital. To give some details:

35mm: EOS 100, Fuji Velvia 100F (fine grain film, actually the grain of the new "F" Velvia is comparable to the good old Velvia 50). 

Scanner: Nikon 5000 ED, my film is usually scanned with no sharpening and no GEM grain reduction, as I do all this in a later step using Photoshop for sharpening and NeatImage for grain reduction.

digital: EOS 5D, RAW converted with Bibble

Same lenses on both cameras.

It is true that nominally (as in pixel counting) I get a higher resolution with my scanner and therefore larger files, however, that scanner resolution is well resolving the film-grain even on fine grain films, and you lose a lot of sharpness in the scanning process. Hence the effective resolution (as in resolving details in an image) is much lower. Subsequent electronic grain reduction and sharpening gives a much cleaner image of course, however that helps resolution only little.

To summarise, at least in my case, the 13 MP digital images appear of higher effective resolution. Also not to forget that the effort to get a comparably sharp and clean image is much larger when scanning.

Anyway, I also tried a drum scanner, then results are improved on the 35mm side, but still far from perfect and far from the projected slide.

Just as advice for all those out there who are scanning slide or negative film, switch off grain reduction on your scanner and spend a bit of money on third party grain reduction software. When I started doing this I started loving my slides again


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## duncanp

Alex_B said:
			
		

> Great review!
> Have to comment on some details though:
> 
> 
> Totally agreed!
> 
> 
> 
> Here I do not agree. I use both 35mm film and digital. In terms of actual resolution a High-Res Scan does not reach the quality of full frame digital. To give some details:
> 
> 35mm: EOS 100, Fuji Velvia 100F (fine grain film, actually the grain of the new "F" Velvia is comparable to the good old Velvia 50).
> 
> Scanner: Nikon 5000 ED, my film is usually scanned with no sharpening and no GEM grain reduction, as I do all this in a later step using Photoshop for sharpening and NeatImage for grain reduction.
> 
> digital: EOS 5D, RAW converted with Bibble
> 
> Same lenses on both cameras.
> 
> It is true that nominally (as in pixel counting) I get a higher resolution with my scanner and therefore larger files, however, that scanner resolution is well resolving the film-grain even on fine grain films, and you lose a lot of sharpness in the scanning process. Hence the effective resolution (as in resolving details in an image) is much lower. Subsequent electronic grain reduction and sharpening gives a much cleaner image of course, however that helps resolution only little.
> 
> To summarise, at least in my case, the 13 MP digital images appear of higher effective resolution. Also not to forget that the effort to get a comparably sharp and clean image is much larger when scanning.
> 
> Anyway, I also tried a drum scanner, then results are improved on the 35mm side, but still far from perfect and far from the projected slide.
> 
> Just as advice for all those out there who are scanning slide or negative film, switch of grain reduction on your scanner and spend a bit of money on third party grain reduction software. When I started doing this I started loving my slides again



ok , thanks for that


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## chris82

great thread duncanp,ive been looking for an upgrade in cam im currently using a bog standard olympus x-715 digital cam,i am thinking of going for the cannon EOS 350D rebelXT,so could you please give me some details on it.thanks


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## duncanp

chris82 said:
			
		

> great thread duncanp,ive been looking for an upgrade in cam im currently using a bog standard olympus x-715 digital cam,i am thinking of going for the cannon EOS 350D rebelXT,so could you please give me some details on it.thanks



ITs a good camera... the only thing it has ever been marked down on is handling, due to its small size.

Features

 8.0 MP
 3 fps with up to 14 image burst
 E-TTL II flash system
 DIGIC II
 7-point AF
 DPP RAW image processing software
 Separate RAW/JPEG image recording
 USB 2.0 Hi-speed/Video Out
 Compatible with EF/EF-S lenses/EX Speedlite flashes
 PictBridge compatible


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## Cades83898

I've been taking pics for a long time. I loved my russian Zenit 35mm that was built in 1975 and my digital Kodak DX6340 was good for starting out in digital photos. However, now I want to step up and regain some of the manual controls I lost when I switched from the Zenit to the Kodak. No, I can't go back to the Zenit as the light meter no longer works and I need something digital. So, I need advice on a new camera. It will be for play and work. I like to take architecture, landscape, and wildlife photos. I am also launching a new website (www.reefallure.com) were I'll be selling live corals so I need manual focus and good macro capability with a wide depth of field so I can get all of the organism in focus. This is what I want:

BIG ZOOM
good macro
Manual focus (for taking pics of things inside aquariums)
Manual f-stop for control over my depth of field
Option for additional lenses 
High quality pics

These are the cameras I'm looking at so far:
Canon Powershot S3 IS
Sony DSC-H2 or H5
Kodak P712
Kodak P880

Basically, Iwant to get as close to a DSLR as I can without the bulk (lugging around multiple lenses on vacation) or the expense. Any advice or recomendations or other suggestions would be highly valued by me! 
Thanks


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## Rob

Cades83898 said:
			
		

> Basically, Iwant to get as close to a DSLR as I can without the bulk (lugging around multiple lenses on vacation) or the expense. Any advice or recomendations or other suggestions would be highly valued by me! Thanks



In my opinion, a Ricoh KR Digital will do what you want perfectly. It does not have manual focus or zoom(!), but from what you've suggested I would honestly recommend it. Have a look on www.dpreview.com and do a side-by-side compare on different models to look at features.

BTW, this post would probably be better being moved into General from this thread!

Rob


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## Tolyk

ZaphodB said:
			
		

> Good idea! I'm surprised there isn't already such a thread, given how many times people ask the questions you've addressed here. The only thing I'd really question is the bit about resolution. There are so many factors involved that the whole issue of resolution in film and digital is a pretty grey area. One thing to remember is that you can have the best glass available, on the most expensive camera there is, and it won't do you much good if you're printing from your DSLR with cheap ink and the wrong kind of paper in the wrong printer, or handing your films over to a lab whose staff don't know or care what they're doing. The one other thing I'd add is that compact or zoom digitals do have one specific advantage over DSLRs - you can compose the shot using the LCD screen. Anyway those are just some minor issues, I agree this post should be stickied and with updates and input from some of the various experts here we could have a pretty comprehensive guide. Great job!


Well, the new-ish Olympus E-Volt 400 allows you to view on the LCD screen, but I don't really find it to be a perk, as you can't really use it with hand held photography, you get a lot more camera shake, so I always end up putting my camera up to my eye anyways. With my little digital point and shoot, it has a viewfinder, so what I'm seeing through it quite what I'm shooting.. I find it's more of a negative..

However, the the E-Volt, having the feature available but still being able to see through the lens is definitely a perk. Up to the eye for hand held, through the viewfinder for tripod work.

Well, my opinion on it at least


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## duncanp

this has 1000 views now


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## John_Dean

Hello Duncanp. Great guide.  I do a lot of nature photography. And I am painter.I use Fujifilm S5600, and I am happy with it.

Good Luck !


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## loves_guitar

Hey Duncanp, could you do an edit with your top post and include in brackets some North American prices for those of us on this side of the pond.

Thanks.


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## Mad_Gnome

The initial section of the post referenced the EOS 1V and the EOS 1DS MkII. The EOS 1V currently retailes for around $1,700 USD, and the 1DS MkII is roughly $6,800 USD. Both of these prices are body only.

Digital Compact:

A small amount of suggested models for a range of prices:

Nikon Coolpix L4 - $115 &#8211; 4mp, 3x: 38-114mm
Nikon Coolpix L3 - $120 &#8211; 5mp, 3x: 38-116mm
Canon PowerShot A540 &#8211; $170 &#8211; 6mp 4x: 35-140mm
Fujifilm F30 - $260 &#8211; 6mp, 3x: 36-108mm, Huge ISO range: 100-3200 
Sony DSCT30 - $420 &#8211; 7mp, 3x: 38-114mm
Canon IXUS 800 IS (SD700 in the US) - $290 &#8211; 6mp, 4x: 35-140mm, Image Stabiliser

SLR Style or Super zoom:

A few of the best SLR styles:

Fuji FinePix S6500/S6000fd - $395 &#8211; 5mp, 10x: 38-380mm
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 - $310 &#8211; 6mp, 12x: 36-432mm
PowerShot S3 IS - £299 &#8211; 6mp, 12x: 36-432mm
Fuji FinePix S9500 - $380 &#8211; 9mp, 10.7x: 28-300mm
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1 - $439 &#8211; 10mp, 5x: 24-120mm

Digital Single Lens Reflex:

Beginner DSLRs (Body only):

Nikon D50 - $500 &#8211; 6mp.
Pentax K110D - $450 &#8211; 6mp NEW!!
Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) - $540 &#8211; 8mp


Amateur / Enthusiast (Body only)

Canon EOS 400D - $740 &#8211; 10mp NEW!!
Nikon D80 - $950 &#8211; 10mp NEW!!
Canon EOS 30D &#8211; £749 &#8211; 8mp
Nikon D200 - $1500 &#8211; 10mp
Canon EOS 5D - $2820 &#8211; 12mp, Full frame
Sony DLSR A100 - $700 - 10mp NEW!!
Pentax K10D - $920 - 10mp NEW!!


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## robodupre

Thanks for the information, it helped me out tremendously. My friend passed this other link to me and I thought I would pass it on. The website discusses photography, and the gentleman in the video offers great tips that have helped me as well. Check it out:

http://homegarden.expertvillage.com/interviews/photography.htmhttp://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=21041310


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## RSdreamphotos

I, too, have to thank you for the information. I'm looking to upgrade to an SLR very soon. But I have to make a reccomendation for people who can't quite afford the step up to the SLR. 
For the past 2 months I've been using a Kodak P880 zoom camera. I've been amazed by the quality of photo that it takes. I believe being on sale and after rebates, it came out to $299 USD.
Great little camera with all the manual features.

Here's the stats that I can remember off hand while at work:

8MP
24-140mm (35mm equiv) Schneider-Kreuznach Lense
f/2.8-4.1, 
wide-angle lens, 
Manual zoom,
Extra 2x Digital Zoom
Manual focus ring,
Flash Hot Shoe
Shutter speeds of 16 sec - 1/4000 sec


My only dislike is that the body is pretty small and there's 16 buttons on the body that don't accomodate large hands very well. Other than that, it's a great camera for those who don't want to step up to the SLR yet, and for me it's been a great learning tool or "stepping stone" to the digital SLR.

Rob


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## Emma14

This christmas im getting a Samsung 'Digimax S600' Digital Camera with 6 million pixels 3x optical zoom , 5x Digital Zoom and 20Mb internal memory-SD compatible upto 1GB... Any good? Anyone used it before? i have no idea what it will be like. but for £149 i guess it should be okay


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## Groupcaptainbonzo

Digital zooms are not worth a light ( it is just like cutting the middle out of a picture and just using that bit. But of course that means that your 6 mega pixle camera is now a 3 Mega pixel or 1 mega pixel or what ever you are cutting out. If you get the choice use OPTICAL zoom . then you are still using all 6million pixels).so forget that bit. The rest is a really good  camera that will allow you to print sharp pictures at A4 at least. and with a little luck you may get away with A3. (Handy if you want to make an image A3 and just print the middle (A4) bit... You should enjoy this and get some good results


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## redtree84

I adore landscape photography,and really want to pursue this passion! Im looking to purchase the Canon EOS 350D as at the moment the bog standard digi cam doesnt cut it,even though ive made some nice shots. Just wondered if some peeps could foward some tips for what camera to purchase? Im fairly sure itll be a DSLR,but as to which im not positive! So all recommendations welcome!


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## Nefertiti

*Hi..I've recently bought a Canon Powershot A630. Though I've been doing photography for quite some time now, but never used a digital camera before. So if anybody used it, please share your opinions. *


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## IMD_McHugh

Okay so im under the impression that Caon are better that Fuji, but heres the deal. I'm not a pro photographer, I'm not trying to be, But I am looking to take photography more seriously, and was contemplating a cheaper model that most serious photographers. 

So I found a Fuji s5600 for £137 and a Canon SS IS for £170, and was wondering what to go for here?

Any help/advice is appreciated.


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## CMan

Personally, I would choose the S5600 as it is more SLR like than the S2/S3 IS.

Here are good reviews of both. The Fuji review is of the S5500; but it is very similar to the S5600.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms5100/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/


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## IMD_McHugh

Grateful for the Advice


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## gubak

Thanks Duncanp!

Really nice guide!


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## duncanp

Here's a database with all currently sold cameras, i made it mainly for my IT GCSE but it will help here as it has a list of current cameras.

http://www.duncanphilpott.com/cameradatabase.mdb


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## Bynx

Help from database 4 years old?


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## xjoewhitex

Bynx said:


> Help from database 4 years old?


Great help with old technology I guess lol.


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## ps5050

How about an update? How have things moved on since 2006!


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## asmireet

r they available in India too...


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## Rao Kat

How much is your camera?


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## malv

Hi, i'm new to this forum and your guide  really helped me. You answered a lot of my questions


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