Choosing cameras

As above, take a look at www.dpreview.com to comare the D60 and D80.

As a 'beginner' I'd suggest the cheaper one till you get used to the controls.

Did you Google it first?

does anyone have any experience with the nikon D60, compared to the D80? I am a complete beginner to photography.....aside from the point and shoot camera. THe D60 is quite a bit cheaper than the D80 and this is my reason for thinking that its a good beginner camera.

No they are same, there is no difference between them. Now a days every other electronic item is made in china any where in the world.

there is difference, made in China sony camera have no gurantee.

No difference is there between "made in china camera" and "made in Japan camera". They are all the same just brand matters.

I got an idea now about it. i'll search a lot to know better.

btw, alam, i dont think sony is better than Canon or Nikon. IMHO, i think Sony is only popular in advertising and many people, who is not necessarily knowledgble about camera choose Sony since the brand is more popular in other appliances. Hence, they would assume its a better brand than NIkon and Canon. well, thats what i thought.

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Guess it can mean the same thing then, though all but 1 of these just say it's the blurring; http://www.google.com.qa/search?q=define%3A+bokeh&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

well at least according to a few of the groups I belong to anyway! I think this still applies to this from Wiki, as the highlights are enlarged and blurred. The shape of the Bokeh also varies depending on how many blades the iris has. Cheap 5 blade irises show a pentagon bokeh, but any with an even number will always show a circle!

Alam, Sony is better than what? Casio, yes, Canon, not really!

are you sure baldrick; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

sony is better, but make sure -Made in Japan- is written on the camera.

THe blurring is a product of shallow depth of field. On a PNS camera you can generally get this by setting the dial to "portrait" mode (little head icon) or if there is some manual control, by setting the aperture as wide as possible (f2.8 most likely) [Chelsea - picture below, the aperture was f1.4 to get the front slippers in focus but blur out the back rows.]

To check for manual, see if the dial has an "M" setting, if not Av/Tv or Ae/Te settings will help.

Tallg, Bokeh refers to the halo effect made by out of focus lights, including the sequines seen below

The "blurred" effect (sometimes called 'bokeh' I think) is created by using a wide aperture. On a DSLR you can set the aperture and different lens can have different maximum apertures.

I am not aware of a point'n'shoot that lets you set the aperture, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. However, you're limited to what the built in lens can achieve, which is unlikely to be enough to create the blur effect you desire.

You may be able to achieve something similar in photoshop. I've never tried though, and I can't imagine it would look as good.

As for manual mode, the camera's instruction manual should talk about it, so in the shop ask to see this. It may also be obvious by looking at the camera itself.

I often see (and envy) photo effects having a blurred vision in the background while a clear image of the subject in the middle. I think u can do that in photoshop (am i right?)but my main question is can u achieve that in a point n' shoot (NOT DSLR) camera? if yes, what should u look for in the camera specs when buying to know if its capable of producing such effects?

and also, how would u know if a camera has a manual setting? is it written conspicuously in the store's display shelves or u simply have to research for yourself in the net?

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Adnan, You are kinda right. Above ten on an APS sensor isn't going to gain much. The sensor size remains constant but more pixels also equals smaller pixels & more gaps in between so while resolution is up, light gathering ability does not increase significantly. Unless you go to a full size sensor (read, expensive SLR / medium format) you will not gain much except a bigger hole in your wallet!

Did you Google it first?

Choose between Cannon and Sony, they both are very good. Stay between 7-10 MP of resoulution as above this may not be helpful.

might be helpful

http://digital-cameras-corner.blogspot.com/

Bravo baldrick. well said. i knew your a pro.;)

hope u continue to give us other tips concerning photography. really appreciate it. thanks man

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Check out you Coolpics here: www.dpreview.com

High ISO allows you to capture more light for the same shutter speed and aperture, but at the expense of more 'noise'.

It's a bit of a 'cheat's' way out of setting up the shot properly in the first place. The only time I consider upping the ISO is for hand held shots.

For decent night shots you need a long shutter speed (say 10 - 20 seconds or even longer) and a tripod to keep your camera dead still.

With auto cameras, the camera will give the best shot it 'thinks' you want to see, not necessarily the shot you wanted to take. With Manual, 'you' tell the camera exactly what you want it to do.

For more detail, look at this and follow the links.

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/226360

Did you Google it first?

Does Nikon coolpics cameras have manual setting?

by the way, what really is the explanation why cameras that are capable of manual settings are much better than those cameras without such function?

also as per advises iv heard, this manual setting (along with high ISO) is good to obtain great night scenery photos. whats the explanation behind?

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even though you buy a good digital slr but you don't use a good lens then you might as well use a handy PNS with a manual control. The crispness of the photo depends on what type of lens you used.

"Masunod nawa ang iyong kalooban!" 

The best web site to get good reviews is

www.dpreview.com

Other than 20x zoom capability and noise control, Canon Sx10 IS is no match to Panasonic LX-3. SX10 is bulkier than LX3 but yet its censor is smaller (1/1.63" of LX3 versus 1/2.3" of SX10).

As of today, for pocket-size camera that can almost be as good as DSLR, I would think is Panasonic LX-3.

It has a larger-than-average censor of its class that allows you to take great night shots and better dynamic range. It can shoot also in RAW and has full manual control/mode. The macro can go as near as 1cm. Its Leica lens is 20mm wide, which is ideal for landscape shoot! You can choose to shoot in 3 different formats: 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9.

I haven't seen one in Qatar yet though.

For this budget the best buy Now is a New Canon Model.Cool one...

Canon Sx10 IS Its 10 Mega Pixel with 20X Optical zoom..

BUt we are unfortunate its launched in Japan , singapore and US only and when I enquired with Salam they are expecting it in Qatar only by April 2009 LOL . we are in a third world country.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=17630

Here's the deal with sharpness ... PNS cameras save their files as .JPG files. The algorithm used generally boosts sharpness, contrast and saturation to give what the manufacturers would consider a 'good' photto for use on a 6x4 print or web/email use. DSLRs have the ability to save in .RAW format, which then needs some degree of 'post-processing' in Photoshop etc. These cameras also enable larger print sizes (Up to A3 with little degredation) and poster sized print for viewing at a distance (Did you know billbaord posters are printed at 1DPI [1 dot per inch]!) they look good because of the distance viewed at.

In summary, yes, PNS can be fine, but if you want to progress deeper into your hobby, at least make sure your camera will have Full Manual control.

Did you Google it first?

chelsea if your aim is just to take photos of family, friends, parties, vacations and the like, then go for a user friendly (point & shoot)digital camera. if used properly,the new models of point and shoot cameras (any brand)can really take great pictures...

DSLR/SLR is for people who wants to take photography into another level and can be really expensive.

shall we necessarily buy DSLR/SLR's or a user friendly (but can also be expensive) digital camera would suffice?

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the expensive one is not necessarily the better one. the ability to capture true colors, the degree of sharpness, the reliability of your camera in all weathers and accidents is also a consideration. youve made a good choice. go for the ones with more frills, and where you wont have trouble finding additional lenses, etc.

Not really much editing. Take a look at this:

If you look at the EXIF info you will see:

Exposure: 30 sec (30)

Aperture: f/11

ISO Speed: 100

Exposure Program: Manual

If your camera is not capable of these settings you are going to struggle to match the results.

To sum up - make sure that what ever camera you opt for has a fully manual setting.

try setting your camera on manual (if it has one), set your shutter speed for maybe 5 seconds and your aperture smaller (say f18), ISO at 100 and most importantly use a tripod. goodluck!

Hey guys,just wondering,those night shots u see in the net,taking buildings and cityscapes with all the colorful lights and speeding cars like bullets,how do u do that?can u do that in a simple click to night mode or it is edited through photoshop or Ulead? because i hav a camera now (Panasonic Lumix),and i set into night mode, put it in a timed shot to be steaddy, well, the result still sucks man. so im thinkin, are those night shots u see are edited or u just simply had to buy SLR cameras to have those results? any tips and suggestions will be fully appreciated! thanks habibi's:)

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I cannot believe how expensive cameras are here. My camera broke recently and they wanted 700 QR to fix it.So I went shopping and found a nice one for about 1100QR. But, just to be sure I did some online shopping and discovered that the better model of the one I saw here was only 750QR online!

a lot of point and shoot cameras are within your budget and almost all of them can give good results (brand doesnt matter).

nikon d80 (a digital single lens reflex camera)can give you excellent results as well but only if you know how to use it. d80 and the likes are expensive and require frequent adjustments to get excellent results. It is use mainly by creative photographers only.

.get yourself a nikon, d90...

.

.Prepare to pay more than Qr 5k..

.

... in South Africa. I shot with a Canon EOS 350D and my friend shot with a Sony "Point n shoot" and some of his shots were better than mine. The Zeiss lens it uses is fantastic and has a bigger aperture than I can really afford on mine. The colour reproduction was excellent too!

However, all that said, if this is your #1 hobby you really should invest as much as you can to get the best results.

Did you Google it first?

Try the Canon S5 IS. I think that it is the best digicam next to a digital SLR (Nikon D80). The price is within your budget.

review...http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/canon_s5is.html

It always seems impossible until it's done.

As far as i know Nikon has good lens same quality than sony but not so good interface for the user (i had one nikon once and the quality was good)

Cannon is good quality also and better interface

and Sony has good lens and good interface but is a little more expensive

if u like pics, and like to set the option before take a pic nikon is a good option