Big Choice!

What is your opinion?

A few of you know that I am relatively "Green" to photography.

I was planning on purchasing a new camera... But after some replies to my posts I'm thinking it may be wiser to keep my current camera (Nikon Coolpix L120) and focus more on How to take a picture, and Editing. What say you?

I have many more questions, but will first see what the response to this is, so I don't ask any questions that don't need to be asked. Because some of my questions may be answered here.
Thank you all so much, you have all been very nice to me,
BC

If it has more advanced settings than "flower","mountain" and green box, then I'd practice with that camera and focus on the "how to" part. If you can't really control the settings then I'd move to something that gives a little more control, like a used canon t2i/550D.

Also, I'd steer clear of editing too much in the beginning, I wasted significant hours of time trying to polish up images that weren't really worth the attention.

I would get a cheap used body and 50 1.8 or even one of the newer 18-55 lenses with IS. That is how I started. I had a p&s with long zoom before that and the difference is crazy. For me the ability to take multiple exposures quickly, control exposure time and shoot in RAW really opened my eyes.

At first I flipped the camera to manual mode and made a bunch of terrible photos. That is how I learned how shutter speed, aperture and depth of field work (somewhat, I am still learning!) But the more you practice, the more the pieces fall into place.

That said, it is a big choice because once you get a SLR a lot of people become addicted and there is a never ending stream of gear to buy.

Well, honestly, I'm all for "skill over gear", but I really prefer the ergonomics of a DSLR, too. If you're sticking with photography, then you'll probably want a DSLR sooner or later, so might as well get one now.

I kind of agree with whats already been said, but I have a question for you.

Where do you see Photography going for you? Is it just a hobby? Do you want to become a professional and make money? There is obviously something in between, but if the answer is that you want to be a pro and make money I think also getting used to and honing your skill with a SLR will be important.

Good luck!

Bonecollector wrote in post #17416450
What is your opinion?

A few of you know that I am relatively "Green" to photography.

I was planning on purchasing a new camera... But after some replies to my posts I'm thinking it may be wiser to keep my current camera (Nikon Coolpix L120) and focus more on How to take a picture, and Editing.
BC

Hey, Bone

When I regained my interest in photography 8 1/2 years ago, I bought a point sand shoot, much like your CoolPix (mine was a Sony H-5). I soon got very addicted to digital photography. All I wanted to do was to create awesome photographs! But I didn't know what I was doing so I knew I needed to practice.......a lot. So, that's what I did!

I took that little Sony all over the place with me, and shot for hours almost every day. Almost all of my spare time was spent looking for things to photograph, and shooting. Almost every day I would shoot photos of anything and everything that was visually interesting to me. Then I would come home and download the photos. Then I would spend a lot of time examining the photos. I would scrutinize every shot, constantly asking myself, "what could I have done to make this image a little bit better"? Then I would go out and shoot the same things the next day, trying to take photos that were a little bit better than those I took the day before. I would repeat this day after day after day...........usually with the same subjects.

I was specifically interested in wildlife photography, so I bought annual memberships to three different zoos. I would go to one of the zoos any chance I got. Any time I had a day, a morning, or an afternoon off, I'd be at one of the zoos. I would shoot the same animals in the same pens day after day after day. Always, I would get home, download, and scrutinize. Then I couldn't wait to get to the zoo again the next day to do exactly the same thing!

Every day, the same subjects. But that was very helpful, as it made me very aware of subtle changes in the light. In fact, more than anything else, all of that practice taught me about light. Sure, I could change my settings.....and that might make a little difference. I could edit a little differently....but that didn't really make any significant improvement. But the light - that was what made one photo so much better than the others! I started to stand by the critters at the zoo and just wait for the light to change ever so subtly. Even a very slight shift in the cloud cover would make the scene come alive to me! I would wait for long hours just to have the light be a little, tiny bit different. Or, if I was struggling to get a good shot because of the light, I would move all around the area trying to find an angle that would work with that particular light. But always, always, it was the light that would make the biggest difference of all! Well, both the light and knowing how to shoot it.

After about a year of such intensive practice and learning I finally got a DSLR. But I was slow to use it, as I found I could take better photos with my little P&S. That was because I had gotten so familiar with it. The DSLR was new, and therefore I didn't know all of the little nuances as to how it would render a scene. So it took me about 6 months to finally shift from using my P&S to using the DSLR all of the time.

Regardless of what camera equipment you use, you really need to spend hundreds upon hundreds of hours shooting, scrutinizing, shooting, scrutinizing, until you finally become capable of producing excellent imagery. And the gear you use for all of that practice (in my opinion) really doesn't matter very much.

Oh, and one final thing: For some kinds of shooting, the editing process doesn't really matter that much. I make some minor adjustments in iPhoto, but most of my "final result" edited images look very similar to the original file. For what I shoot, the way I shoot it, and what my images are used for, editing just isn't very important.

Bonecollector wrote in post #17416450
What is your opinion?

A few of you know that I am relatively "Green" to photography.

I was planning on purchasing a new camera... But after some replies to my posts I'm thinking it may be wiser to keep my current camera (Nikon Coolpix L120) and focus more on How to take a picture, and Editing. What say you?

I have many more questions, but will first see what the response to this is, so I don't ask any questions that don't need to be asked. Because some of my questions may be answered here.
Thank you all so much, you have all been very nice to me,
BC

Personally... while I also started out with a midrange zoom p&s - now days, you can get an older dslr on ebay for cheaper than $350 - more like $200.

I still pull out my little Cannon S3 is for light use.. but the difference between a dslr crop sensor and that little guy are pretty substantial. also for learning off camera flash.. how to manipulate raw files for learning proper exposure... well, a dslr will serve you better there.

You can learn with your current camera, no doubt - but an older dslr with a good 50mm lens will server you well too, and let you learn things about wb and exposure that may not be available in the current camera (depending on if raw is available or not) I will say when buying used, get one that has the software CD's that came with it - that way you will have some sort of raw converter to mess with without additional cost. (Canon dslr cameras come with DPP on a CD when new)

In between... a hobby, that pays.

Not a professional, but eventually do weddings, sell pics, portraits, photograph for a magazine etc.

Bonecollector wrote in post #17418470
In between... a hobby, that pays.

Not a professional, but eventually do weddings, sell pics, portraits, photograph for a magazine etc.

Then it's my opinion that the more quickly you learn on an DSLR the better, because you'll be headed that way anyways, right? I mean there is a reason(s) the pros use DSLR instead of the small point-and-shoots. I wonder, if you asked the pros why they used DSLRs vs Point-and-shoot, I bet the answers would be all over the place. Also, as has been mentioned, why not, when prices are pretty good for used entry level equipment.

I'm not going to be a pro, will probably never sell any of my shots, but I don't need any justifications or reasoning for spending $$$ either, I just like toys and 'gear'...

How much do you think I could get a Canon EOS 5D Mark III for used?

Bonecollector wrote in post #17419125
How much do you think I could get a Canon EOS 5D Mark III for used?

Good question! It's a shame that you are not able to look at the classifieds here on POTN, otherwise you would be able to do that research for yourself. I will try to do some research for you and respond here with some "leads" that might be of help.

Thank you!!!
I really appreciate it!

Bonecollector wrote in post #17419125
How much do you think I could get a Canon EOS 5D Mark III for used?

Ok, here's some current info which should be of help to you:

POTN member WolfProperties has one listed for which he/she is asking $2300

POTN member raptor3x appears to have sold one 2 days ago for $1950

POTN member Wojcikj has one listed for which he/she is asking $2500 (it is "LNIB")

POTN member Bcaps appears to have sold one 6 days ago for $1800

POTN member zhengf2 has one listed for which he/she is asking $2070

WHEW! It ill be so much easier for us once you're allowed to see the classified forums! I know that there are some solid reasons for the new rules, but there are instances in which they appear to be ridiculous, as well.

Thank you very much!

What camera do you have?

Tom, nice story above!

I learned on a simple 35mm film camera. By simple I mean the only electronics was (is) a button battery to drive an needle for the spot meter. No option is available to change metering mode. Aperture is set manually with a ring on the lens, SS is set from a knob on top of the camera that also could set the ISO. At the time I had a 50nn f/2 and 135 3.5 of course all focusing was manual. It did have a nice split glass and micro prism focusing screen. Once in high school I burned a ton of B/W, developed it and made my own prints.

Wouldn't trade that experience for tuition to the country's best photo school.

So I'd suggest anything that you can get your hands on that offers full manual control. A point and shoot will be just fine. The only other thing I suggest to new shooters is that if you go with a DSLR, spend at least as much on glass as you do on the body. Maybe twice as much.