Moving up

[whiteweed]

Moving on from a Olympus Camedia 3.2 MP to something better. I find myself looking at these two driven by price. mega pixels is not such a big thing right now, but probably will be as soon as I start using photo shop more. Here are two options I am looking at if some has a comment I would appreciate any feed back. The auto focus world is something I do not know much about.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...P_Digital.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...gital_SLR.html

[bhorn]

The thing I would recommend most strongly is finding somewhere you can actually try each of these hands on. Unless you are planning on becoming a professional photographer, both of those cameras will work just fine as will the current offerings from Canon, Olympus, Pentax, etc.. But whether you find the user interface a particular brand uses will work best for you is an intensely personal thing. We have a bunch of Nikons at work and I personally find the interface annoying but they are the top choice for many of the people in the office.

Bring a memory card to the store and take a few pictures with each. Wander through the buttons on the back and the menu structure and see how difficult it is for you to use the functions you would use most often such as reviewing photos, zooming in on them, changing the exposure compensation, changing the ISO and white balance, etc..

Once you have found the user interface that works for you, then you can start thinking about what different features, lenses, etc. you need for the particular type of photography you do. Do you take a lot of low light photographs? Then that Nikon might be particularly useful since it goes up to a pretty high ISO while keeping noise fairly low. Do you have specialized things like birds or tiny objects that you photograph? You might want to consider carefully since the really long lenses in Nikon's line (and Canon) are super expensive. Some of the second tier brands like Sony, Pentax and Olympus might have somewhat lower prices. Do you like using classic lenses? Current Nikons can use any Nikon lens going back to the 50's. I think Sony's can use old Minolta lenses but you should check if that is what you want to do.

[ZJ68]

Current Nikons can use any Nikon lens going back to the 50's.

Going back to 1977, with reduced functionality. Older (pre-AI) lenses can damage newer cameras.

[whiteweed]

I have been using my bosses Sony A55 and have been moving about oni it pretty well. I held a D3100 and find it some what bulky after using tha A55 since it has through prism something that lets its size to be kept small, and the Minolta lens are great also. Looks like the A550 has sold on b&h it was used one.

[whiteweed]

Wander through the buttons on the back and the menu structure and see how difficult it is for you to use the functions

Considering this what do B&B users have to add to this. Most of my shooting will be in auto, with some metering. There should be a feature for that on the camera though with the 3 shot burst. I am going to the local shop and would like to here some more opinions as my focus has become price because I see that I can get the megapixels I need (10-14 or so) and stay around $500 for a refurbished camera. The Sony compactness of the Alpha 55 has hindered me because i love the size. Others are larger.

[scottish steve]

It might be the least comforting piece of advice, but it really is the case that there is so little to choose between the main contenders in each price bracket that it's valid to go from one extreme (I like the colour) to the other (spending 2 weeks poring through every single review you can find til your eyes bleed). The lens issue could be an issue if and only if you have something special in mind. If you have no real need to shoot insects from 1cm away or to spy on the people across the park, then most normal lenses will work fine. The A55 has a lovely feel to it- it was on my shortlist for ages. Very intuitive interface, speedy performance and lovely, neutral images which seemed to me at the time, to need almost nothing doing to them. I eventually went for the D5100 due to its increased performance in low light. If you don't plan to expand on lenses, it might even be worth your while checking out a high-end compact. The S95 and S100 from Canon are surprisingly good. Below are a couple of my shots. Which were done with the compact?

[whiteweed]

Nice, that is some big numbers for a point and shoot style camera. The d3100 and the A55 have my eye. Both good choices now just to find a used or refurbish to save some coin.

[ZJ68]

Keep an eye on keh.com for used gear.

[scottish steve]

In an ideal world you'd have a friend with one of each of the cameras you're thinking of, but sadly, you have to spend the money and wait a bit before that first upload of shots. Have you checked out www.dpreview.com?
My advice is to find a review of one of your choices, then go to the "Compared to high iso" section of the review and downlaod the test image from each camera you are considering. Don't just look at it, download and compare the 2 or 3 alternatives at different ISOs. and do the same with the S95/S100 images. It's about as good as you'll get short of renting them out for a weekend.

[StillShaving]

It might be the least comforting piece of advice, but it really is the case that there is so little to choose between the main contenders in each price bracket that it's valid to go from one extreme (I like the colour) to the other (spending 2 weeks poring through every single review you can find til your eyes bleed). The lens issue could be an issue if and only if you have something special in mind. If you have no real need to shoot insects from 1cm away or to spy on the people across the park, then most normal lenses will work fine. The A55 has a lovely feel to it- it was on my shortlist for ages. Very intuitive interface, speedy performance and lovely, neutral images which seemed to me at the time, to need almost nothing doing to them. I eventually went for the D5100 due to its increased performance in low light. If you don't plan to expand on lenses, it might even be worth your while checking out a high-end compact. The S95 and S100 from Canon are surprisingly good. Below are a couple of my shots. Which were done with the compact?

I've been patiently waiting for answer. Which are the S100 shots? Was flash used in the second photo, the one which looks to be a dirty engine of a earth mover? What kind of post processing was done on the "purple" photo, is that some kind of landscape with in camera color-swapping applied?

Overall, I take it that you are pleased with your S100 after using it for a while? I am considering the same camera, but what I am really looking for is a compact that uses AA batteries and takes good photos in low light and with short exposure times. Thanks.